City says Starbase gates are now ‘operational’

STARBASE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The City of Starbase is now a gated community.

During a City Commission meeting on Wednesday night, City Administrator Kent Myers announced that gates installed by SpaceX — which stop people without business in Starbase from driving down city streets — are now “operational.”

“And, again, I wanted to remind the City Commission and the public: The gates were designed to enhance the security and privacy of the community here,” Myers said.

_{A gate near the intersection of St. Jude Street and San Martin Boulevard. (Dave Hendricks / CBS 4 News)}

SpaceX purchased nearly all the land in Starbase, but it couldn’t stop people from driving down public streets.

That changed in May, when voters created the city of Starbase.

Every member of the Starbase City Commission is a current or former SpaceX employee.

On May 29, the City Commission created a process for placing “controlled access devices” on public and private streets.

Three days after the City Commission meeting, SpaceX submitted applications to install gates on Esperson Street, Memes Street, St. Jude Street and LBJ Boulevard, according to documents released under the Texas Public Information Act.

SpaceX said gated streets would reduce the “risk of unwanted visitors,” foster “a stronger sense of community” and enhance “security and safety,” according to the applications.

The company, however, had already started building the gates.

On May 30, when a CBS 4 News reporter visited Starbase, the gate on St. Jude Street had been closed. Gates on Memes Street and Esperson Street remained open.

The City Commission approved the gates on June 23.

“Those of us that live in the city have experienced more than our fair share of events with folks who aren’t necessarily here for the right reasons. Aren’t necessarily here to provide any good reason to be in the city,” City Commissioner Jordan Buss said during the June 23 meeting. “I see a couple of residents on Memes Street shaking your heads there, who were actually involved in a potential altercation with somebody who was here for malicious reasons. So, this has a lot to do with the public safety and security of the people that live here.”

_{The city of Starbase provided members of the City Commission with a map showing the gates.}

Questions remain about whether preventing members of the public from accessing public streets is legal.

“I’m not giving you legal advice, but my knee-jerk reaction is: No, you can’t do that,” Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz told CBS 4 News in June. “Brownsville can’t say: OK, you can’t come in here unless you’re from Brownsville — unless you got business here. If it’s a public road, it’s a public road. Period.”

That apparently didn’t concern the City Commission, which voted to ratify the decision on Wednesday.

“I think that they’re serving their purpose,” Myers told the City Commission. “And we’re starting to get some positive feedback.”