Marfa officials are set to hear from residents about AEP Texas’ proposal to rezone a residential property for industrial use to build a new electric substation.
A public hearing on the matter is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Marfa City Hall.
As the Big Bend Sentinel has reported, the push to use a 4 acre lot on Marfa’s east side for a large new substation has prompted backlash among some locals who worry it would harm nearby property values and the town’s overall aesthetics, among other concerns.
AEP has argued that Marfa is long overdue for a much larger electric substation, as local electric use has grown and the town’s existing substation is nearing the end of its lifespan. Locals opposing the plan, including some nearby homeowners, counter that the company hasn’t done due diligence in exploring alternative sites for a new substation.
Fred Guerrero, a company spokesperson, said at a public hearing on the matter in April that AEP would have to build new transmission lines if the substation were located elsewhere in Marfa, according to minutes from the meeting.
The company is under contract to purchase the property in question from its current owner, but will not move forward with the sale unless the rezone request is approved, Guerrero told Marfa Public Radio.
The city’s own planning and zoning commission has come out against the rezoning plan.
In a 78-page report released in June, the commission recommended that city council members reject the plan, saying the proposed substation would be “larger, taller, and more disruptive to the landscape than the existing one.”
“Modern AEP substations are beautifully engineered but visually severe, out of scale with residential neighborhoods, and as proposed would permanently detract from Marfa’s small-town charm and quality of life across the east side,” the commission wrote in a June report.
At an early July city council meeting, multiple Marfa residents argued that AEP should more thoroughly investigate alternative sites for the substation and be willing to work with locals on the issue. The company maintains its only option is the site in question.
“This is the only location we’ve been able to find in the two years we’ve been searching,” Guerrero said at that July 8 meeting, adding later that the company’s “process isn’t to get outside help.”
The city council hasn’t scheduled a vote on the rezone proposal. As the Big Bend Sentinel has reported, some council officials – including two with personal ties to AEP through current or former employment with the company – have pushed back on concerns about the plan.
Planning & Zoning Commission Chair Stephen Rabourn owns property in the area near the proposed new substation and opposes AEP’s proposal. He wrote in a recent letter to the Sentinel that Tuesday’s public hearing would “likely be the deciding factor” in whether or not the rezoning is approved.
“The city is not responsible for making things easy for AEP,” Rabourn wrote. “But it is mandated to enforce zoning in a fair and equitable way for everyone and every entity operating within the city limits.”
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