In a captivating turn of events, a Texas county gave the green light on Wednesday for an election requested by SpaceX. This election will empower residents residing in the vicinity of billionaire Elon Musk’s pioneering company to decide on the formal establishment of a brand-new city named Starbase. Scheduled for May 3, the voting is restricted to individuals living in close proximity to the launch site, currently situated within an unincorporated area of Cameron County along the U.S.-Mexico border.
In December, over 70 local residents put their signatures on a petition urging for an election to grant Starbase independent status as a municipality. The majority of these petition signatories are employees of the company, with the community also encompassing more than 100 children, as revealed in copies of the petition obtained by The Associated Press. Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño stated that after thorough review, the county determined that the petition complied with the state’s incorporation prerequisites, thus paving the way for further progress in the process.
Judge Treviño expressed anticipation for the election’s outcome, sharing, “If the election passes, this will be the newest town in Cameron County since Los Indios in 1995.” SpaceX declined to provide a new comment, instead referring back to their earlier statement from December. Kathryn Lueders, the general manager of Starbase, had previously highlighted that incorporation would facilitate various procedures aimed at enhancing the area’s infrastructure. Despite this, some local environmental advocates have voiced concerns regarding the potential implications for future development.
SpaceX established its launch site in Texas back in 2014, with only 10 out of approximately 250 land lots within the proposed city boundaries not owned by the company. A county impact study from the previous year reported that over 3,400 full-time employees and contractors are actively engaged at the Starbase site. Elon Musk has been significantly expanding his business ventures in Texas, having made the Lone Star State his home in 2020 and subsequently shifting or expanding operations of several of his companies within the state due to its favorable business environment.
In a notable move, Tesla’s immense 10-million-square-foot Gigafactory, where the groundbreaking Cybertrucks are manufactured, commenced operations near Austin in 2022 and is also set to serve as the company’s headquarters.
