Wolff warns of suburban sprawl ‘nightmare' He says areas might have to form cities for city-style amenities.

County Judge Nelson Wolff on Tuesday called for a fresh analysis of suburban sprawl and its impact on government services in light of new census data that reflects 23 percent population growth in Bexar County over the past decade.

Wolff said parts of Northwest Bexar County may be headed to a “nightmare” if the area's population continues to grow without an adequate tax base to pay for urban services that are being demanded outside San Antonio's city limits. He renewed his warnings that some unincorporated areas may have to form cities if they expect to have city-style amenities.

The somber comments came during a Commissioners Court discussion of the census data released last week — and the county's ongoing struggle to keep pace with development in unincorporated areas of Bexar County, whose population grew to 1.7 million in 2010.

Commissioners agreed to seek 100 percent “pass-through” state funding to widen Culebra Road (FM 471) from FM 1560 to Kallison Lane. The vote to seek the $12 million was followed by speculation that other traffic arteries in that area, including Talley Road, will need upgrades — but there won't be as much state funding available.

“All of a sudden, a city the size of Waco is out there in the county with no basic services like you would have in a city,” Wolff said.

He cited data showing most of the county's home building activity will be centered in the area bounded by Culebra and Potranco roads and Loop 1604 and Texas 211.

“I think it would be wise for us to look in a more comprehensive way at these areas,” Wolff said.

“Ten years, 20 years from now, we're going to have a nightmare out there. It's not just transportation. It's the whole idea of how you provide services to people out there that are certainly not paying the taxes to get them,” the county judge said.

The dire forecast reflects two key factors, Wolff added.

“The city apparently is not going to annex anymore, and we can't provide the services without the revenue that the city would have,” Wolff said.

Consequently, he said, “we may need to be looking at the idea that perhaps they (suburbs) should be incorporating to be able to have the tax base to provide services, whether its transportation, libraries, police protection, etc.”

Wolff instructed county planners to step up their analysis of the census data to help commissioners brace for more growth.

“All this calls into question our support for suburban sprawl and the danger of staying down the same road we've been on,” said Commissioner Tommy Adkisson.

“We have one school district where they can't open schools quickly enough, and another school can't close them quickly enough,” said Adkisson, adding, “I want to emphasize mass transit as part of the solution.”

Commissioner Paul Elizondo agreed it's time to prepare for more sprawl.

“I always have the feeling we're behind the curve, behind the growth,” he said.