The city of San Antonio may take a more aggressive stance about annexing unincorporated portions of Bexar County, a move that could affect more than 52,000 people living in six areas totaling 87 square miles.

The six are in addition to five areas already under consideration for annexation.

The expanded annexation proposal was discussed Tuesday at a City Council budget session. John Dugan, director of the city's Planning and Community Development Department, said the plan is to add $356,000 to the fiscal year 2016 budget to further study the six proposed areas.

The six are:

The Scenic Loop area, off Interstate 10 north of Loop 1604, an area with low-density development over the Edwards Aquifer contributing zone.

On the far West Side, an area around Culebra Road and Shaenfield Road, outside Loop 1604, a high-growth area where many more subdivisions are planned.

An area near Potranco and Tally roads west of Loop 1604 and north of U.S. 90, also a high-growth area.

Created by Data Visualization Journalist Rachael Gleason

On the Southeast Side, an area near Old Corpus Christi Highway and U.S. 181, where a large industrial park and rail switch yard are located.

To the east, an area mostly south of I-10 east and in the Crestway area that’s also experiencing rapid industrial growth.

To the north, land off of U.S. 281 North, another high-growth area but one-half of which borders Camp Bullis and could require more resource management.

This latest proposal would prove a massive addition to the city’s physical size should all six new areas be pursued in addition to the original five.

Today, the city is 486 square miles. If all 11 areas were added, the city would grow to about 637 square miles — more than 17 times the city’s original size when it was incorporated in 1856. The population would increase from about 1.4 million to almost 1.6 million.

The new proposed areas have been only 50 percent developed, so the population there could more than double to nearly 117,000 people in the next 20 years, city numbers show.

Already, the city is in the process of moving toward annexation of five other areas that make up 65 square miles in unincorporated Bexar County.

Three of those areas — around I-10 west, I-10 east and U.S. 281 — could be annexed in a limited-purpose capacity by the end of this year or early next year. Under limited-purpose annexation, city zoning and building codes apply, and residents in the area can vote in City Council elections, but they won’t have to pay city property or sales taxes. The city must then decide to fully annex the areas in three years or less.

Two other areas — around the Alamo Ranch area near Texas 151 and around U.S. 90 and Loop 1604 — will be considered for limited-purpose annexation late next year.

Dugan said it’s not yet clear when the city would pursue limited-purpose annexation of the six new areas, but it could happen in late 2016 or early 2017.

There are no real development controls in the county, one of the many reasons the city says it needs to annex additional areas, including some that have not yet been fully built out.

Another reason for the renewed urgency is that several bills were filed during the last state legislative session that would have seriously handicapped a city’s ability to annex. None of the bills passed, but their potential for passage later was raised as a concern at Tuesday’s meeting.

“To me, this is the panic button right here,” District 10 Councilman Mike Gallagher said, referring to the legislation. “If any of those gets passed, we need to do anything we can to get quite aggressive in the annexation process.”

However, Dugan admitted the city doesn’t know how any new legislation pursued in 2017, when the Legislature next meets, would affect the city’s plans to add these six new areas.

San Antonio once annexed at a regular clip but that screeched to a near-halt after passage of a state law in 1999 that put more restrictions on how a city could annex and what services it would be required to provide once a new area was added.

However, the city’s decision not to annex hasn’t slowed the enormous population boom in unincorporated parts of the county. From 2000 to 2010, the population of unincorporated Bexar County increased by 88 percent, a study commissioned by the county last year showed.

“I think everybody recognizes the old, ‘If you build it, they will come’ (idea) has really morphed into, ‘You better build it because they’re coming,’” District 6 Councilman Ray Lopez said. “There’s no question people are coming to this community, whether it’s in the San Antonio boundaries or not.”

The city predicts significant growth will occur in southern Bexar County over the next 25 years, an area where vacant land is abundant. But so far, growth patterns haven’t followed that path: development has largely occurred on the northern half of the county, with the vast majority of the current population boom happening in the far west areas, between Texas 16 and U.S. 90.

The city’s long break from annexations, with minimal exceptions, resulted in San Antonio unveiling its large annexation plan last year, focusing on five of 30 areas identified by the city as possible spots to absorb.

District 5 Councilwoman Shirley Gonzales worried about San Antonio taking on more responsibility for new areas — for instance, by law, the city will have to provide police and fire service to areas once they are fully annexed — when there are parts of the city that need better infrastructure. District 9 Councilman Joe Krier also noted he’s heard from many residents who say they have sufficient services in the county.

But City Manager Sheryl Sculley strongly argued for annexation Tuesday, partly framing it in the context of the city’s other efforts to revitalize downtown and the urban core.

“We have developers, homebuilders, perhaps even Realtors, suggesting to people come and live outside of the city, (pay) lower taxes and yet you can enjoy the benefits of San Antonio,” Sculley said. “These are folks who use our Medical Center, our universities, our museums and cultural activities.” They visit downtown “and benefit from city services and yet don’t contribute toward them.”

So far, the city’s efforts to annex largely have been met with opposition. A group of residents in Alamo Ranch is trying to incorporate as a city to head off San Antonio’s annexation plans. At two recent public meetings about the issue, the majority of the attendees interviewed said they did not want to become part of San Antonio.

Generally, San Antonio’s policy is to oppose the incorporation of bordering communities that could hem in its ability to grow. San Antonio is unique among most U.S. cities in that it has not yet been blocked from expanding by smaller cities.

vdavila@express-news.net