HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — The City of Huntsville has been steadily growing, both in population size and land mass, over the last several years, and it doesn’t look like it’s slowing down any time soon.
“Now you’re seeing confidence, no matter where it is in the city, people are saying, ‘Hey, can I come and see Huntsville?’” Huntsville Director of Urban & Economic Development Shane Davis said.
Huntsville annexed over 2,000 acres of land in 2025 so far, stretching into four counties: Madison, Morgan, Limestone, and, most recently, Marshall.
City leaders are spreading the message that the growth is a benefit, not a burden, saying it helps Huntsville residents in more ways than one.
“Basic services that we provide for our citizens will cost more next year than they cost this year. So, if we don’t have the room to grow and grow that tax base, the only other option, because law requires us to have a balanced budget, is to raise fees, or raise that unpopular word: taxes,” Davis said. “That measured growth keeps taxes low. Somehow you’ve got to fund government.”
The city annexed four large plots of land throughout the year, among smaller annexations:
- January 23: 394.93 acres, South of Highway 20 and East of I-66
- June 26: 121.73 acres, north & south of Little Cove Road and west of Highway 73 East
- July 10: 1,013.96 acres, South of River Loop Road and east & west of Vaughn Road
- August 14: 572.48 acres, North of Bob Wade Lane, bisected by Mt. Lebanon Road
Despite some fear regarding the land growth, Davis wants citizens to know that not all of the annexed land will house more people or draw from city resources. Some land plots are zoned as solely agricultural or industrial land to generate revenue and create jobs for the city.
“We’re not educating on an industrial site. We’re not providing garbage and sanitation services,” Davis said. “It’s really providing new jobs and a tax base. With some annexations, we’ve created 52,000 jobs in the last 10 years.”
Mayor Tommy Battle said that becoming part of Huntsville is not an easy process for landowners looking to be annexed into city limits. Battle explained that the annexation request is reviewed by several city departments to evaluate if the addition would be beneficial.
“Part of that process is going through engineering, going through public works, going through public safety, making sure that that community, or that area that we’re bringing in, is an asset for the City of Huntsville. That’s our job,” Battle said.
Battle and Davis said the consistent growth over the last several years helped make Huntsville appealing for new ventures, such as the FBI Headquarters and Space Command. They say city departments are fully equipped and capable of handling what those industries may bring.
The most recent annexation, 572.48 acres in North Huntsville, is not yet zoned. City council will vote on the zoning at its meeting on Thursday, September 25.
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