Starbase, Texas, Residents Face Eminent Domain Threat Just One Month After Voting for Incorporation

Just a month after residents in Starbase, Texas, voted to incorporate Elon Musk’s vision of a new city built from the ground up, some are being told they may become victims of eminent domain.Officials for the newly christened municipality have informed some of the residents, many of whom are employees of SpaceX, that they might “lose the right to continue using” their property, according to a report from CNBC. The corporate town is considering new zoning ordinances. A recent notice sent to property owners included a “Mixed Use District” proposal for “residential, office, retail, and small-scale service uses.”“Our goal is to ensure that the zoning plan reflects the City’s vision for balanced growth, protecting critical economic drivers, ensuring public safety, and preserving green spaces,” a passage from the public memorandum signed by newly hired city administrator, Kent Myers, reads. “You are receiving this notice because you own the above-listed property that will be located in the ‘Mixed Use District’ and will be impacted if the zoning ordinance is approved.”“The City is required by Texas law to notify you of the following: THE CITY OF STARBASE IS HOLDING A HEARING THAT WILL DETERMINE WHETHER YOU MAY LOSE THE RIGHT TO CONTINUE USING YOUR PROPERTY FOR ITS CURRENT USE.”The city of Starbase also announced a public hearing next month regarding the new mixed-use district for public comments and voting on the new zoning ordinance.Formally known as Boca Chica Village, Starbase is a small residential neighborhood next to SpaceX’s recently built one-million-square-foot factory with an array of tiny homes, Airstream trailers, and single-family homes. Infrastructure for Starbase is already under way, including the construction of a privately funded K-12 school called “Ad Astra,” Latin for “to the stars.”Mr. Musk has advocated for the 1.5 square mile area near Boca Chica Beach along the Gulf of Mexico to become Starbase for nearly four years. He has urged his engineers, technicians, and builders to relocate there as SpaceX’s main offices move from California.Residents in nearby Brownsville and the rest of Cameron County also have long voiced concern about SpaceX’s impact on the local environment, with a consortium of local groups alleging in 2023 that the company polluted nearby waterways, according to the Texas Tribune.“They’re claiming they’re bringing economic incentives, but the rent is going up, the roads are crumbling,” a community organizer from the Rio Grande Valley, Bekah Hinojosa, said to Politico magazine. “It is getting harder to live here. All this seems to benefit is fancy restaurants with SpaceX clientele.”Locals have also complained about the sound from intense explosions during rocket launches and earthquake-esque rumblings that cracked the foundations of homes and even blew doors off the hinges.Earlier this week, SpaceX’s Starship 9, which blasted off from Starbase late Tuesday evening, traveled farther than previous test flights this year, but after an hour in orbit, the rocket began to spin out of control before undergoing a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.”

Starbase, Texas, Residents Face Eminent Domain Threat Just One Month After Voting for Incorporation

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