Council denies petition to remove about 1,830 acres from Socorro’s extraterritorial jurisdiction

The Socorro City Council on Sept. 18 voted to deny a petition asking the city to release several subdivisions totaling approximately 1,830.4 acres from the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ).

City Attorney Jim Martinez explained the statutory process: the statute allows release only if petitioners meet one of two thresholds — a majority of registered voters in the area or a majority of the property value in the area as measured by CAD valuations. Martinez and staff said they had worked with the El Paso County Elections Department and used CAD data to analyze hundreds of parcels and concluded that the petition did not meet either threshold. Based on that analysis, the administration recommended denial.

After the administration’s presentation, a councilmember amended a motion to deny and the motion carried. Martinez told the council that if the petition had been approved by the city in its submitted form, it would likely be returned at the state level or subject to legal challenge because it did not satisfy the statutory requirements.

The petition listed multiple subdivisions (Vista Juanita, Pecan Valley Estates, Grijalva, Athena West, Angels Park and San Luisario among others) and enumerated block numbers; staff reviewed registered-voter and property-value counts across the many parcels and reported the thresholds were not met.

The council’s denial leaves the ETJ unchanged. The city attorney and planning staff recorded the denial in the meeting minutes and will maintain the staff analysis used to reach their recommendation.

Speakers quoted in this article are named in the meeting record and identified by role.