Tellez v. City of Socorro

Subject-matter jurisdiction “involves a court’s power to hear a case.” U.S. v. Cotton, 535 U.S. 625, 630, 122 S.Ct. 1781, 152 L.Ed.2d 860 (2002); accord CSR Ltd. v. Link, 925 S.W.2d 591, 594 (Tex.1996). Because the trial court had power to hear this appeal of a zoning board’s decision, we hold the court of appeals erred in dismissing it for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.

Juan Tellez has operated an auto salvage yard in the City of Socorro in El Paso County since 1982. He alleges that six months after he purchased an adjacent lot in 1998 for the same use, the City enacted its first zoning…