The members of a South Texas community that served as the center of the missile launching company of Elon Musk, Spacex, voted on Saturday to formally establish a new city called Starbase, creating one of the long -standing dreams of Mr. Musk.
Everyone except six of the 218 people who voted were supported by incorporating the city of Starbase, according to the County of Cameron, who administered the vote.
There were 283 eligible voters, said Remi Garza, electoral administrator for county.
The community, known to the locals like Boca Chica, covers about 1.5 square miles on a spit of land that is touched against the Mexican border.
Spacex broke into the ground in 2014 and since then it has become the central hub of the company and the launch site, as well as the seat of hundreds of its employees.
On his social media platform, X, Mr. Musk has defined the area as Starbase more than a dozen times in the past four years.
“My main house is literally an $ 50k house in Boca Chica / Starbase that rent from Spacex,” Musk wrote in June 2021. “It's a bit fantastic.”
In December, the people who live in the company's offices and the launch site presented a petition to officially establish the city of Starbase, in Texas.
The petition described a community of about 500 inhabitants, including at least 219 primary residents and more than 100 children. Almost everyone is a tenant and work on Spacex, according to the petition.
The Municipality would have the right to create its own police and firefighters, as well as to adopt its ordinances, although it is not necessary.
“The cities are required by law to do very little,” said Alan Bojorquez, a lawyer from Austin, specialized in helping Texans through the process of incorporating new municipalities.
Street maintenance is one of the most significant practical issues and would no longer be managed by the county. But, as a municipality, Starbase would be entitled to state and federal subsidies, would have a certain immunity with legal causes and could also condemn the property, said Bojorquez.
“Starbase started with an altarpiece,” Musk said about x shortly after the vote.
J. David Goodman Contributed relationships.