On Dec. 13, Magnolia City Council approved a plan to annex several tracts of land in an effort to clean up the city's boundaries and prepare for future economic growth.

"As we garner the additional businesses that come into our community, we want to make sure we are expanding our footprint so when annexation does happen, those dollars will be captured here and spent in Magnolia," said Alisha Roberts, founder of the Greater Magnolia Economic Development Partnership and executive director of the Magnolia Chamber of Commerce.

During the first quarter of 2012, City Council will consider annexing the five pieces of land, which were selected because of their close proximity to Magnolia's boundaries.

"Several of the areas are already surrounded by the city limits," City Administrator Paul Mendes said. "It's a good time to annex them and bring them into the city."

Annexation

One of the larger areas of land the city plans to annex extends from Magnolia Church of Christ south along FM 1774 to Friendship Lane, and includes several county-owned properties, such as the ball fields, riding arena, county barn and the Justice of the Peace office. Within two years of annexing a piece of land, the city is required to provide services to the area, but police protection must be added within 10 days, or by Feb. 24 in the city's case. According to Mendes, the city has provided water to the larger area of land for several years and just replaced a 3-inch water line with a 12-inch line to provide the area with more fire protection.

"By being in the city, we can extend their sewer lines and make them better facilities," Mendes said. "We're just doing some housekeeping to clean up

our boundaries."

Magnolia, a general law city, may only annex land in its extraterritorial jurisdiction—the unincorporated land surrounding the city. In November, Magnolia expanded its extraterritorial jurisdiction to the east by about 1,100 acres.

"Hopefully by the first quarter of the year we'll be out to 149...and hopefully we'll go out to Mostyn Manor, and then we'd be almost bumper to bumper with the ETJ of Conroe," Mendes said. "The intention is to keep Conroe from moving in and taking some of the viable land in the vicinity of [FM] 149 and keeping us from being able to grow."

Since Magnolia has not annexed land in eight years, the council may annex 30 percent of the city's geographic size in one year. Additionally, since the city is annexing some county-owned property, it will not count against the total number of acres that can be annexed in one year.

Economic impact

Since 1999, the number of businesses within Magnolia's city limits and extraterritorial jurisdiction has grown by 261 percent, from 54 businesses to 193 businesses and two hotels. Although the city's population is 1,393, according to census data, the population within 7 miles of Magnolia is about 138,000 people.

City administrators hope expanding Magnolia's limits will encourage residents to spend more money at home.

"We want people to shop here at home so we can further help the community," said Deborah Rose Miller, economic development coordinator for the City of Magnolia. "It's not a question of build it and they will come; for us, it is build it and they will stay here. The more we encompass city limits to reflect [who] we're already serving is a win-win for everybody."

Although five areas of land will be added to city limits this year, there will be a waiting period until the city receives any new sales tax revenue from any businesses in the annexed areas.

"We'll be annexing [the land] after January, so it won't go onto the tax roles until [2013]," Mendes said.

Mendes does not have a projection for the amount of additional sales tax revenue that will be brought in, but said there are several businesses in the areas already, such as Magnolia Glass and Country Air.

"We're trying to get businesses here, be it retail or businesses that help create jobs for our existing residents and graduates," Miller said. "In Magnolia we're graduating more than 800 kids a year, so if you want them to work here instead of leaving or having to go into Houston, you have to create jobs for them."

Looking ahead

City officials hope several other initiatives will bring more revenue to Magnolia in 2012. In November, voters approved the sale of alcoholic beverages within city limits, which should make the city more attractive to the restaurant industry, Roberts said.

"We think it will boost the enhancement for coming to our community," she said. "Maybe before they relocate or move somewhere else, it will put us on their map for meeting qualifications."

Administrators are also planning to update the city's master plan, which was written in 1999 and included 12 areas of review and several goals that focused on the city's quality of life, fiscal responsibility and growth and debt. At a joint 4A Economic Development and 4B Community Development planning meeting Dec. 15, members of both commissions heard presentations regarding master plan ideas from two developers, along with the challenges the city may face when implementing a future plan.

Meg Belmontes, community planner for the Texas Masonry Council, said there is a redevelopment opportunity along the FM 1774 corridor in Magnolia, which will be expanded to five lanes by 2013.

"It's an opportunity for the community to shape that area," she said. "You can define the character of Magnolia and create a destination where residents can shop, live and work."