Over 1,000 people express opposition
In the face of public opposition, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is delaying consideration of a land swap that would give SpaceX 43 acres of Boca Chica State Park in South Texas.
Officials were preparing to discuss the matter during Thursday’s Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting. But they announced at a work session on Wednesday that the department had received 1,302 public comments regarding the swap — 1,039 opposing the deal and 263 in support. Some of the most notable critics include Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr., the top public official for the county where the deal would occur, and the Sierra Club.
Noting that robust public response, Jeffery Hildebrand, chairman of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, announced the discussion would be moved to the March 27 work session and March 28 commission meeting.
Hildebrand said the additional time will allow for more transparency and public comment, though he did throw his support behind the swap.
“The land exchange is an extremely valuable opportunity to the department and the state of Texas to provide more recreational opportunities to the public,” said Hildebrand, the Houston co-founder of oil and gas company Hilcorp. “I am committed to moving this process forward and completing the transaction. The opportunity to expand our park system through this land swap is of essential importance to the state of Texas.”
The land swap would give SpaceX 43 acres of Boca Chica State Park, and in exchange the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department would receive 477 acres of undeveloped land roughly 10 miles northwest of the launch pad near Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge’s Bahia Grande Unit.
This type of deal, swapping land instead of buying it, isn’t overly common. But it does happen “when it makes sense for fulfilling the department’s mission,” Cory Chandler, deputy communications director with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, previously told the Chronicle.
SpaceX is building and launching the world’s most powerful rocket in South Texas. Its Super Heavy rocket and Starship spacecraft are being designed to carry humans to the moon, Mars and beyond.
Prototypes have taken multiple flight tests, often ending in fireballs. Nearby environmental groups worry that SpaceX is destroying Boca Chica’s sensitive habitat, particularly the algal mudflats that feed hundreds of thousands of shorebirds. They’re reluctant to see the company acquire more land.
The neighbor defended himself with a piece of wood and then ran away as Omondi chased him until he was able to get into his home and lock the door. As he was calling 911, he watched Omondi continue to strike Jackson and dump a wheelbarrow on him, the document said.
A witness told police Omondi then entered the Airbnb, which rents out multiple rooms to different tenants and began trying to force his way into her room while yelling that he would beat her up, an officer wrote in the report.
Officers arrived at the house around this time, and Omondi exited the home.
Police said they used a stun gun on Omondi after he was “non-compliant and aggressive,” the affidavit says.
Omondi, 27, faces a murder charge and unrelated charges from the Tarrant County sheriff ’s office of aggravated assault against a security officer and obstruction or retaliation, jail records show.
Kasey DeLeon, who identified herself as Jackson’s daughter, wrote on a GoFundMe page created to cover funeral costs that he delivered firewood to make extra money “and with Texas getting cold weather he was making sure everyone was stocked up.”