Construction work is underway on a residential neighborhood this spring in Marion.
Andrew J. Whitaker/San Antonio Express-News
A new wave of subdivisions outside Marion city limits could strain the city’s school district and infrastructure.
There are an estimated 465 housing units within Marion city limits, according to 2026 data from Guadalupe Valley Economic Development.
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Yet just half a mile beyond the city limits — within Marion’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, where the city has limited authority over development — more than 3,600 homes are planned across several master-planned communities. These rooftops could increase the area’s housing stock seven times, tipping the scale of residential growth surrounding Marion, which historically has consisted of farmland and rural homes.
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Precinct 4 County Commissioner Stephen Germann, whose precinct includes the cities of Marion, Cibolo and Santa Clara, is concerned about how the boom in new residences could affect the area’s resources.
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“The area simply does not have the infrastructure to support this,” he said. “We have county roads that were made for a quarter of the traffic that we will be looking at. The electricity is limited. The infrastructure is not there for water, and sewage on many of those developments is three to four years out.”
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Bales of hay dot the landscape near Marion. Planned subdivisions could increase the area’s housing stock seven times, tipping the scale of residential growth surrounding Marion, which historically has consisted of farmland and rural homes.
San Antonio Express-News file photo
Subdivisions and their potential effect
About 1 mile south of FM 78 and South Santa Clara Road, Pulte Homes and Centex Homes plan to build 921 residences in its Dove Song subdivision.
Lennar Homes, one of the largest homebuilders in the U.S., plans to build 785 home lots as part of its Kayden Springs subdivision a mile down South Santa Clara Road from Dove Song.
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Multiple builders, including David Weekley Homes and DRB Homes, are developing 1,759 home lots in the Confluence subdivision, a half mile down South Santa Clara Road from Kayden Springs.
Meritage Homes also plans to add 212 homes in its Stetson Ridge subdivision off Stagecoach Road. All four neighborhoods are within Marion’s extraterritorial jurisdiction zone, also known as ETJ.
David Weekley and Meritage declined a request for comment, and the other developers did not respond ahead of publication.
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In ETJs, cities control subdivision plats, road and infrastructure standards, drainage and development rules. Developers who build in an ETJ in Texas generally can petition to release their property from a city’s ETJ under Senate Bill 2038 if they want to bypass costly or restrictive city red tape.
Mitzi Delgado, a realtor for Delgado Realty Group, said the area is drawing in more developers and interested residents because of its affordability and small-town feel.
“It’s a great place for people who want to be more in suburbia and not necessarily in the big city, but still close enough,” she said. “That plus there’s an influx of military retirees out here.”
But with this new influx of potential residents on the horizon, timing is everything. If construction outpaces infrastructure, these homes could overexert Marion-area services.
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The developments could require expanded water supply, storage, distribution lines and treatment capacity. When developers convert farmland into homes, it also can increase runoff and a need for drainage improvements.
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“I don’t necessarily think all growth is good growth, but if it’s done responsibly, it can be good for an area,” Delgado said. “If you don’t have the infrastructure in place to support what’s being built or the number of people, it’s going to be difficult.”
Residents in ETJs do not pay city property taxes, but they use city roads and benefit from improvements to public spaces that city taxpayers fund. They also will need access to the city’s police, fire and EMS departments.
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“The growth has put pressure on our fire department, emergency responders, our sheriff’s office, constables and the courts,” Germann said. “It continues to add more work. In Marion, there’s a volunteer fire department, and they ran 638 calls last year alone.”
School district
The spurt of residential growth has prompted Marion Independent School District to build a new elementary school in the ETJ zone.
Genevieve Moore Elementary School will cost $45 million to build at 2112 S. Santa Clara Road and is expected to be complete by August 2028. The 95,000-square-foot school will be located next to the Kayden Springs subdivision and a mile away from Dove Song.
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“When the bond committee met to talk about the growth in the area, the one thing we didn’t want to do was live out of portables, so it was decided that we probably need a new elementary school,” Marion ISD Superintendent Don Beck said.
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The district reported that it has about 1,709 students and an annual increase of roughly 100 students. Thousands of new homes in the area could eventually add hundreds or potentially more than 1,000 students, increasing demand for classrooms, buses and teachers
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Infrastructure and school facilities require large up-front investments, so Beck said it’s important for the district to stay ahead of the curve.
“Ultimately, our job is to educate all the children within our boundaries, so we’re going to do that to the best of our ability,” Beck said.