Landowners and developers anxious to withdraw from a municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) are filing petitions with municipalities across Texas in the wake of the enactment of Senate Bill 2038, which became effective Sept. 1, 2023, and was codified as Subchapter D of Chapter 42 of the Texas Local Government Code. Cities and towns may welcome the retreat in some cases, but disputes are brewing along gateway tracts and key boundaries where landowners and developers may face a fight.