Sugar Land City Council Redistricting In Wake of Annexation

SUGAR LAND, TX -- In the wake of the recent annexation of the New Territory and Greatwood subdivisions into the Sugar Land City Limits, the Sugar Land City Council announced plans to redraw the lines for its city council member districts.

The city council approved the annexation of the communities into the city limits in November, increasing the city population by about 30,000 residents, pushing the city population to more than 117,000 residents.

The annexation added new residents temporarily to city council member districts 2 and 4, giving those districts a disproportionate number of residents than is legally allowed, prompting the change in Sugar Land's district boundaries.

Currently, Sugar Land has four single member district city council members and two at-large positions, and despite the annexation the city doesn’t anticipate increasing the number of members because of the annexation but will instead redraw the lines to ensure the districts are of similar population.

Meanwhile, the annexation itself will be finalized on Dec. 12, 2017, during which time, the new residents will be receiving the same city services provided to existing Sugar Land residents, with most experiencing an overall annual savings, and increased services in areas such as public safety, zoning, traffic control, regulatory oversight, street/sidewalk repair and comprehensive planning.

The proposed timeline for the redistricting will begin in May 2018, shortly after the upcoming election of at-large city council members, the first council election in which Greatwood and New Territory residents can participate.

Afterward, the city council would adopt guidelines for the redistricting process.

The plan would then go into place in January 2019.

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