McALLEN — The Texas Senate has agreed to give officials of the new city Starbase, home to Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket testing facility, the authority to close off access to a popular South Texas beach for short periods of time during launches.
The move to allow Starbase to close Boca Chica Beach has outraged local organizers who have lobbied to protect the area. Environmental and indigenous groups worry that allowing Starbase to decide when to close the beach would effectively close off a beloved and sacred beach to the public.
Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration gave SpaceX the green light to increase rocket launches from Boca Chica Beach from five times per year to 25 times per year, guaranteeing that the beach will be closed off more often.
“The entire system is kind of designed to basically give them a de facto private beach,” said Rob Nixon, vice chair of the South Texas chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, a nonprofit environmental group. “Public safety's one thing but to use public safety against the public to close it down ... it's not genuine."
The Legislature’s upper chamber approved the measure Friday after state Sen. Adam Hinojosa, R-Corpus Christi, introduced it as an amendment to House Bill 1240 which updates the state’s definition of the Texas-Mexico border region.
Hinojosa previously told The Texas Tribune that granting Starbase this authority would streamline the process of closing the beach. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the Senate approved his amendment to HB 1240.
The House will now have to accept that change before the proposal can become law. Hinojosa filed separate legislation, Senate Bill 2188, which would allow Starbase to close the beach on weekdays and Cameron County officials to retain authority over weekend closures. But the House has not yet voted on SB 2188 and a deadline to do so is approaching.
The Senate’s addition of the beach closure provision to HB 1240 gives the proposal another path to becoming law. The amendment on HB 1240, though, does not limit Starbase’s ability to close the beach to just weekdays.
Starbase is a newly incorporated city in Cameron County that is home to a SpaceX launch site. Most of the approximately 500 residents are SpaceX employees or are related to an employee.
Cameron County officials have also expressed opposition to the proposal, stating that they've had a good working relationship with SpaceX so far and didn't see the need to transfer authority to the city.
Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.
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