Pensacola city limits

The Pensacola city limits encompass the area that is governed by the City of Pensacola. Residents and property owners within the limits may vote in city elections, receive city services, like police and fire protection, and pay the additional property taxes that fund city government.

The current limits are bounded roughly to the north by Creighton Road, to the west by Davis Highway south to Texar Drive then southwest to Navy Boulevard, and to the south and east by Pensacola and Escambia Bays; however, these boundaries are extensively gerrymandered.

History

Andrew Jackson set forth the initial city limits in 1821:

	In order to remove all doubts on the subject of the limits of the said town of Pensacola, and its dependencies, as well as to place under the immediate control of the Mayor and Council, all the fountains and springs from which the inhabitants are supplied with water, it is ordained, the the incorporated limits of said town shall be as follows: bounded to the south and east by the harbor, to the west by the Western Lagoon, or Bayou Chico, and to the north by a line running due east from Galves Spring to where such line will intersect the Eastern or Texas Lagoon.
—John Appleyard, The History of Justice in Escambia County.

The northern line Jackson specified ran from the eastern arm of Bayou Chico (near what is now called Maggie's Ditch) northeast to Bayou Texar, at an angle to the natural progression of the street grid. Consequently, the Jackson line bisects many parcels, causing those parcels to be only partially within the City limits, and partially outside.

Expansion

Jackson's 1821 limits covered an area of 9.75 square miles. This was increased to 17.2555 square miles in 1953. Other areas have been annexed since then, most recently in a November 8, 1988 referendum to annex the area including Cordova Mall and Washington High School.

There is a movement to annex more unincorporated urban areas of Pensacola to better represent the actual metropolitan area. In its 2006 "Ballsy Plan" issue, the Independent News proposed expanding the city limits north to Olive Road as far west as U.S. 29, then south along W Street to Fairfield Drive, which would serve as the western boundary. The publication claimed this expansion would elevate Pensacola to the twelfth-largest city in Florida (from the fortieth), making it more attractive to prospective residents and businesses, and would add millions in property tax revenue to the city's annual budget.

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