If a property is within a city ETJ, does it fall under county or city regulations?

We have a battery storage company that just bought a flag lot next to us and I'm looking to make that development difficult/stopped with it being a flag lot with a narrow entrance, close proximity to housing and literally hundreds of feet out of city limits but not sure if it's a county of city issue.

City, but their control may be limited. Does the city have any zoning restrictions that apply?

Ah that's a good reminder. They actually just put in zoning last year and I believe this property falls under a mixed use but warehousing of this nature is not permitted within the mixed use, it would have to be industrial

They might already be working with the city on rezoning. I would think so given that they already purchased the property.

And usually, the owners are required to post a sign on the property that it is in the process of being rezoned for public notice. Check your city's P&Z commission agendas to see if that property is on the agenda.

City is saying zoning only applies within city limits and only a very small portion of the entrance to the property is in city limits.

May have to see if the county can restrict development due to it being a flag lot

Does a portion of the property being in the city limits deem the entire property in the city limits?

Unlikely a flag lot will have any impact.

What type of battery storage? Like one tied into a large electric line? Or rechargeable car batteries?

There's a large utility line, I think LCRA, that is a few hundred yards away from where they plan to connect on the property. They'll have to get easements for that I assume.

The company is ON Energy


Really looking like we might be SOL. What from I've heard they're at least initially planning to only put storage at the very front of the property which wouldn't be close to us. I have reached out to them to inquire about purchasing the back ~3 acres if they're not planning to develop it (the original owner wanted $300k and I'm hoping they might be a bit more reasonable).

We live in ETJ. Everything falls under county jurisdiction. The only thing we have to do is have pools inspected by the city and pass all city regulations because that's specifically written into the developer agreement for our subdivision on the chance we are annexed one day. All other building requirements fall to county.

rme said:

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They might already be working with the city on rezoning. I would think so given that they already purchased the property.

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Yeah they wouldn't have purchased without their ducks in a row to make sure they could go to construction

Looking at their website, all of their front-meter projects are 20 MWh or less which is pretty small. I wouldn't be too worried about it

You're applying logic. I witnessed a company spending millions on a project before realizing there was an unsolvable zoning issue.

Yep, 10MW is really small and pretty quiet.

Good to know, I'm really hoping they might be amenable to selling that back half. When I spoke with the realtor she told me they didn't want that part of the property but I suspect they bought it all because subdivision would've required a variance per county subdivision regulations.

rme said:

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You're applying logic. I witnessed a company spending millions on a project before realizing there was an unsolvable zoning issue.

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As someone who does due diligence on these types of projects, it's possible that I'm being overly optimistic there

canadianAg said:

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Good to know, I'm really hoping they might be amenable to selling that back half. When I spoke with the realtor she told me they didn't want that part of the property but I suspect they bought it all because subdivision would've required a variance per county subdivision regulations.

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The ~3-acre partition sale you're suggesting that you'd like to buy would often be met with County waiver approval since it would create a buffer between a non-industrial use and a planned industrial use.

Don't take anyone else's word for where the city limit line is. Request the relevant annexation ordinances and have them reviewed by a competent surveyor. I find political boundaries aren't where they're thought to be all the time.

canadianAg said:

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There's a large utility line, I think LCRA, that is a few hundred yards away from where they plan to connect on the property. They'll have to get easements for that I assume.

The company is ON Energy


Really looking like we might be SOL. What from I've heard they're at least initially planning to only put storage at the very front of the property which wouldn't be close to us. I have reached out to them to inquire about purchasing the back ~3 acres if they're not planning to develop it (the original owner wanted $300k and I'm hoping they might be a bit more reasonable).

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Out of curiosity, is there a substation near you? How big is that LCRA (Centerpoint?) line? 10 MW and under is distribution level and wouldn't require transmission, although every one that I've done was right next to a substation and had distribution feeders to it.

Couldn't resist....

Yes I should've clarified the point they'd connect to is not just a line but a substation.

A new state law started in Sept of 2023 in Texas. Property owners can petition the city under certain conditions to be removed from the ETJ. Neighbors have done this and the local city has accepted the removal from their ETJ already.