Excitement, fear for Starbase becoming a city

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Will the home of SpaceX on Boca Chica become a city on its own?

Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño approved an election that will be held in May on whether Starbase will become a stand-alone city. There are mixed reactions from residents in the county.

Those in favor are very excited with some even saying they are eager to move to the area.

“Mars is as far as we can go," said James Ray Edwards, a Brownsville chiropractor. "It's a wonderful idea, and I look forward to being the first chiropractor in Starbase, Texas. (It) already exists. It only needs an H-E-B and a McDonald's.”

Edwards has always been in favor of Starbase becoming a city. He named his business after the launch site as he was inspired by the city of Brownsville to show unity as SpaceX began moving to the area.

He said he would happily move to the area if there was enough security for its residents.

“It would prioritize roads and utilities," Edwards said. "It would provide those at Starbase with their police emergency response so that the people around Starbase would be more safe.”

Attorney Ricardo Gonzalez said establishing a police and fire department takes a lot of money and up to 10 years to be established for most new cities.

However, cities can right away begin regulating what type of industry they allow.

“You regulate how construction, what type of construction, is allowed within cities, so you don't have a colonia developing where you might have some people with, you know, with structures that don't meet code the county can't regulate a lot of the development cities have more cities have more regulations, and they have more authority to regulate within their city boundaries," Gonzalez said.

In Brownsville, many people are against Starbase becoming a city. Many say there would be economic and environmental issues in the area.

Brownsville City Commissioner At Large A Tino Villarreal took to social media.

“Most of our citizens are afraid of not having beach access," Villarreal said. "They hear of road closures and disruption of their lifestyle to just go to the beach or go fishing. I also know there is a lot of concern with environmental issues.”

In a statement, Villarreal said he will not let the city’s establishment affect access to Boca Chica and that the voters do not fully represent all the interests of Cameron County residents as most, or all, are SpaceX employees.

However, he does not believe the Brownsville economy will be affected rather it will help.

“They are going to need hotels to stay in, they are going to need restaurants to dine in, they are going to need a zoo to take their kids to and our whole region is going to benefit from that," Villarreal said.

Election day for the city’s creation will be May 3, with early voting beginning in late April. Those who live in the area will be the ones voting on whether to become Cameron County’s newest city.