Fuzzy borders and tribal identities equal headaches for Valley cities

ESCOBARES -- Forty-five years after the state set down laws to govern where and how cities can annex new territories, disputes over territory are still a major headache for fast-growing Rio Grande Valley municipalities.

The point of no return is generally where big-city ambitions clash with the tribal identities of smaller communities. As voracious and land-hungry towns like McAllen, Mission and Brownsville have advanced, more and more of those small communities have chosen to become true cities themselves and found themselves in court battles over difficult-to-define boundary lines.

Earlier this month, the small Starr County city of Escobares joined Granjeno, Abram and other tiny towns that have been sued to invalidate their municipal existences.

Authorities in neighboring Roma say that Escobares incorporated in 2005 inside Roma's extra-territorial jurisdiction, the grey area outside city limits on which the city government has "dibs," should they feel the need to annex more land.

Negotiations between the two cities in the last three years had reached an impasse, said Roma City Manager Crisanto Salinas: Roma was willing to give Escobares its current land, as well as "Old Escobares," a historic section of town, but only in exchange for an undeveloped northern portion of Escobares' current territory.

"We'd be landlocked," said Escobares' mayor, Noel Escobar. "That's undeveloped area with the possibility of development. ... They'll circle the wagons around us."

Fear of Roma's encroaching interests motivated the community's move to become a city, but leaders are now willing to gamble Escobares' existence to ensure that it has a future.

Texas's municipal annexation code does not account for community identity issues like the ones that motivated the Escobares residents - many of whom are relatives and most of whom have deep family roots in the area - to create their own city.

The state assumes that people wishing to incorporate a city are simply seeking more services than counties provide. Residents who want to form their own municipality must get permission from the neighboring cities that might have rights to the land. If the neighboring cities object, residents can demand the city annex them.

But communities like Escobares, Granjeno and Abram chose to incorporate partially to avoid getting swallowed by Roma, McAllen and Mission.

Granjeno won its court battles against Mission and McAllen in the 1990s, holding onto its little patch of land even as development plans for the nearby Anzalduas Bridge made it more valuable and attractive. But the court cases took years and tricky legal maneuvering to win. Granjeno was left without some of the financial resources - like a share of revenue from the bridge - that they had hoped for.

Meanwhile, Abram, another Rio Grande community south of Mission, lost its district court battle against its northern neighbor, then failed to file a brief this year to continue its appeal. Technically, the city does not exist, said Bob Galligan, an attorney for Mission.

The bigger city didn't want to quash Abram residents' independent streak, Galligan said, nor did it have immediate designs on the power stations located next to the community that would have contributed significantly to Abram's tax base. Mission only wanted to ensure orderly development, he said.

"There's a lot of growth to the west there and there's probably going to be a (highway) bypass into that area," he said. "I think Mission wants to be able to make sure that growth is correct and good ... and that develops in the way it should be developed."

Roma, meanwhile, was concerned about cashing in on heavy infrastructure improvements it has made to the eastern edge of the city. While Roma has no limits to growth to the west and north, the water and sewer lines that make business and residential development feasible are already installed on the disputed east side.

"Right now, there's nothing there," Salinas said. "But 30, 40 years down the road..."

Roma's suit asks Starr County's 381st state District Court to declare Escobares' incorporation void or help the two cities set down fair boundaries.

It does not yet have a first court setting.

Sara Perkins covers Mission, western Hidalgo County, Starr County and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4472.