The city of Seguin would like to do a land swap with the city of New Braunfels.
At Monday night’s meeting, the New Braunfels City Council heard a presentation from Planning and Community Development Director Chris Looney discussing the possibility of releasing two large agricultural tracts of land in its extra territorial jurisdiction to Seguin.
The initiative stems from the request of the owners of the properties, which are located on the Hwy. 46 corridor that connects the two cities.
Looney said it is plausible the sites will be developed into large single-family residential neighborhoods with commercial development at major intersections likely to follow. He said the tracts “hold tremendous value for future development.”
The tracts in question are bordered by the Seguin city limits line but lie on the edge of the New Braunfels ETJ. Looney said it would be a long time before the city of New Braunfels would be able to annex them.
The city of Seguin currently provides fire and emergency medical services to the area pursuant to a contract with Guadalupe County. Although the properties fall within Seguin’s sewer Certificate of Convenience and Necessity area, the city has a policy that states it will only extend sewer service within its city limits.
In exchange for the properties, the city of Seguin has indicated willingness to release some tracts within its ETJ to New Braunfels, a process permitted by state law.
“We think there are some mutual benefits to the swaps as long as the areas that New Braunfels would receive would be beneficial to us,” New Braunfels City Manager Robert Camareno said.
The city of New Braunfels has identified a few tracts of land it may be interested in negotiating a trade agreement for, including a location off of FM 758 near the New Braunfels Regional Airport that would be strategic for future roadway extensions, namely the TX-130 toll road.
According to state law, New Braunfels’ ETJ can extend for a maximum of 3.5 miles outside its city limits based on its population, which falls under 100,000. Encroaching cities are able to lay claim to land on a first come-first served basis.
New Braunfels Mayor Barron Casteel noted more research would have to be done by city staff before the council could make a decision on releasing the properties. City staff recommended continued evaluation of equitable tracts to bring to City Council for consideration at a later meeting.