Bill Text: TX SB1551 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Engrossed


Bill Title: Relating to the provision of affordable housing and other services in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2013-05-17 - Comm. report sent to Local & Consent Calendar [SB1551 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-SB1551-Engrossed.html
 
 
  By: Lucio S.B. No. 1551
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the provision of affordable housing and other services
  in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subtitle C, Title 12, Local Government Code, is
  amended by adding Chapter 394A to read as follows:
  CHAPTER 394A.  LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY COLONIA AND REGIONAL
  HOUSING DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE
         Sec. 394A.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
               (1)  "Development council" means the Lower Rio Grande
  Valley Development Council.
               (2)  "Planning council" means the research and advisory
  council established under Section 394A.004.
         Sec. 394A.002.  APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies only to
  Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy Counties and the Lower Rio Grande
  Valley Development Council.
         Sec. 394A.003.  POWERS AND DUTIES OF DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL.
  In administering this chapter, the development council shall:
               (1)  employ or contract for staff to support the
  planning council;
               (2)  maintain on its website:
                     (A)  a list of associations representing
  low-income persons and colonias; and
                     (B)  all minutes and other records related to the
  meetings of the planning council; and
               (3)  approve the housing and colonia improvement plan
  adopted by the planning council under Section 394A.005.
         Sec. 394A.004.  POWERS AND DUTIES OF PLANNING COUNCIL.
  (a)  The planning council is a research and advisory council of the
  development council.
         (b)  In carrying out its responsibilities under this
  chapter, the planning council shall:
               (1)  provide for the maximum feasible participation of
  persons of low, very low, and extremely low income and residents of
  colonias in the development of the housing and colonia improvement
  plan under Section 394A.005;
               (2)  coordinate with local, state, and federal
  agencies, as needed;
               (3)  conduct public meetings and hold public hearings;
               (4)  develop, adopt, and submit for approval by the
  development council a housing and colonia improvement plan as
  required by Section 394A.005; and
               (5)  develop and review recommendations related to
  meeting the region's affordable housing needs, providing colonia
  residents with adequate public services, and improving living
  conditions in colonias and low-income neighborhoods in the region
  as provided in Section 394A.005.
         Sec. 394A.005.  HOUSING AND COLONIA IMPROVEMENT PLAN.
  Provided sufficient resources are available, the planning council
  shall develop and adopt a housing and colonia improvement plan to
  address the region's affordable housing needs and the provision of
  adequate public services in colonias. In developing and adopting
  the plan, the planning council shall provide a recommendation for
  or against establishing or implementing:
               (1)  a periodic regional assessment of living
  conditions in colonias and low-income neighborhoods that includes
  an assessment of public services and facilities and housing
  availability, affordability, conditions, needs, and market demand;
               (2)  a coordinated regional affordable housing plan
  that encourages the production of both owner and renter occupied
  housing, addressing housing program allocations, housing policies,
  and community development policies impacting housing and
  prioritizing assistance to the worst-case housing needs of
  homeowners and renters;
               (3)  an agreement with the secretary of state to assign
  colonia ombudspersons currently working in the region to cooperate
  with the development council to carry out affordable housing
  programs;
               (4)  an agreement by which the colonia ombudspersons
  support the development council by producing, updating, and
  maintaining an accurate publicly available database of colonias
  that documents the availability, conditions, and adequacy of
  housing and public services in those colonias, including
  streetlights, storm drainage, garbage collection, public
  transportation, roads, sidewalks, and distance to essential
  services, including schools, hospitals, and grocery stores;
               (5)  a process for ensuring compliance with existing
  model subdivision rules in colonias and new subdivisions, including
  a survey of the effectiveness of existing model subdivision rules
  and an examination of health and safety conditions in subdivisions
  developed under existing rules;
               (6)  a process by which the development council may
  recommend to the counties in its jurisdiction any necessary changes
  to model subdivision rules needed to:
                     (A)  protect the health, safety, and financial
  condition of the residents of affected subdivisions and colonias;
  and
                     (B)  ensure that colonias are provided
  infrastructure that will facilitate their annexation into adjacent
  incorporated municipalities;
               (7)  a process to investigate issues of noncompliance
  with the model subdivision rules and refer noncompliance issues to
  the appropriate county attorney or the Texas attorney general;
               (8)  a process by which colonia residents may petition
  to initiate a legal action to enforce model subdivision rules;
               (9)  a regional hiring plan that provides for outreach
  to workers and qualified businesses, job training activities,
  compliance certification, and reporting requirements for hiring
  for projects using any financial assistance provided by the
  development council;
               (10)  a program to improve the administration of the
  money reserved under the community development block grant colonia
  set aside;
               (11)  a program by which the Texas Department of
  Transportation and the Department of Public Safety of the State of
  Texas cooperate with the development council to identify funding
  resources, placing a priority on identifying existing regional
  funding for colonia public safety programs;
               (12)  a regional authority to administer programs
  implemented based on recommendations made under this section;
               (13)  a process by which residents of a colonia may
  petition to enact a restrictive covenant in the colonia that
  provides for:
                     (A)  residential or commercial building standards
  or codes;
                     (B)  maximum impervious cover on a lot;
                     (C)  permitted land uses;
                     (D)  non-permitted nuisances;
                     (E)  a program and fee for solid waste services to
  be paid by residents and property owners; or
                     (F)  a program and fee for street lighting to be
  paid by residents and property owners;
               (14)  a colonia improvement district to facilitate
  comprehensive planning for housing, community development needs,
  public infrastructure, and public services in colonias through:
                     (A)  establishment of a management district to
  carry out functions permitted under state law;
                     (B)  adoption of a binding land use plan governing
  permitted land uses;
                     (C)  establishment of minimum standards for
  residential and nonresidential structures and a contract with a
  municipality or county to enforce those standards; and
                     (D)  establishment and administration of a tax
  increment reinvestment zone or tax increment financing to fund
  housing improvements and repairs or provide public services and
  facilities;
               (15)  a comprehensive needs assessment and planning
  study that employs community planners to work in cooperation with
  colonia residents, county officials, and officials from adjacent
  municipalities to assess housing, public services, and public
  infrastructure needs, including:
                     (A)  essential public services;
                     (B)  transportation;
                     (C)  solid waste disposal;
                     (D)  drainage;
                     (E)  land use regulation;
                     (F)  building codes;
                     (G)  health codes;
                     (H)  hazardous conditions;
                     (I)  provisions of utilities;
                     (J)  public safety;
                     (K)  sidewalks;
                     (L)  elimination of blight;
                     (M)  streetlights;
                     (N)  energy savings and efficiencies;
                     (O)  parks and recreational facilities; and
                     (P)  development of underutilized or abandoned
  property;
               (16)  a program to facilitate the cooperation of
  colonia residents and adjacent municipalities to provide planning
  and financial assistance to encourage the annexation of the colonia
  by a municipality when appropriate and consistent with the
  interests and desires of the residents;
               (17)  a program of cooperation between the development
  council and the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
  for the direction of the activities of colonia self-help centers;
               (18)  a program to designate one or more areas within
  the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality as an enhanced
  urban residential development district to:
                     (A)  prevent the proliferation of substandard
  colonias and suburban sprawl in unincorporated areas; and
                     (B)  promote quality, affordable, and orderly
  residential development through building standards, land use
  planning, and financial incentives for public improvements and
  housing assistance;
               (19)  a colonia land bank to provide affordable housing
  in any part of the region served by the development council;
               (20)  a comprehensive regional drainage plan to:
                     (A)  establish reasonable and appropriate
  standards for storm water protection for colonias and development
  districts;
                     (B)  examine and consider low-impact and
  alternative approaches to storm water protection to reduce costs
  and speed the provision of protection to colonias;
                     (C)  mitigate storm water flooding within
  colonias;
                     (D)  develop cost estimates for each colonia in
  the region for the provision of storm water protection in the
  colonia, including appropriately engineered storm water drainage
  that connects with the regional drainage system; and
                     (E)  identify, apply for, secure, and administer
  grants and other funding to carry out any plan developed under this
  section;
               (21)  a plan to cooperate with the Public Utility
  Commission of Texas, local public housing authorities, affordable
  housing providers, and homeowners to establish, evaluate, and
  report on an energy self-sufficiency program to:
                     (A)  evaluate appropriate technologies, including
  solar, wind, geothermal, and fuel cell, for very low-income
  households in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and create a
  demonstration program to implement one or more of the technologies
  in the region;
                     (B)  evaluate power purchase agreements with
  respect to public housing authorities and owner and rental housing
  occupied by households of very low and extremely low income; and
                     (C)  prioritize households of very low and
  extremely low income for participation in the program; and
               (22)  in cooperation with the Texas Department of
  Housing and Community Affairs, a process to provide through the
  qualified allocation plan any regional scoring incentives
  necessary to ensure that low-income housing tax credits are awarded
  to developments in the Lower Rio Grande Valley region.
         Sec. 394A.006.  QUALIFICATIONS OF PLANNING COUNCIL MEMBERS.
  (a)  The development council shall appoint to the planning council
  from each county, any part of which is located in the Lower Rio
  Grande Valley:
               (1)  the county judge;
               (2)  the mayor of the most populous municipality;
               (3)  an elected official from a municipality not
  described by Subdivision (2);
               (4)  a resident of a colonia;
               (5)  a representative of a nonprofit organization
  representing colonia residents; and
               (6)  a person of extremely low or very low income living
  in an incorporated area.
         (b)  At least one member selected under Subsection (a)(3)
  must be from a municipality with a population of less than 5,000.
         (c)  Members selected under Subsections (a)(1), (2), and (3)
  may designate another elected official from their jurisdiction to
  represent them at meetings of the planning council other than for
  purposes of voting for the adoption of the housing and colonia
  improvement plan under Section 394A.005.
         Sec. 394A.007.  MEETINGS OF PLANNING COUNCIL. (a)  Meetings
  of the planning council are subject to the open meetings law,
  Chapter 551, Government Code.  Planning council members shall
  receive training in the requirements of that chapter.
         (b)  The planning council:
               (1)  may hold meetings when called by the presiding
  officer or seven of the members;
               (2)  shall keep minutes of meetings;
               (3)  shall post on the development council's website
  not later than the third day before the date of a planning council
  meeting all materials provided to the planning council that are
  relevant to a matter proposed for discussion at the meeting;
               (4)  shall make available in hard copy format to the
  members of the public in attendance at the meeting any materials
  provided to the planning council by the development council at a
  planning council meeting;
               (5)  shall provide for public comment for each item on
  the planning council's agenda at the meeting; and
               (6)  shall adopt rules that give the public a
  reasonable amount of time for testimony at meetings.
         Sec. 394A.008.  ADOPTION OF RECOMMENDATIONS AND PLAN;
  HEARING REQUIRED. (a)  Before adopting the housing and colonia
  improvement plan developed under Section 394A.005 and in an area
  that is convenient and proximate to large populations of colonia
  residents, the planning council shall hold a public hearing in each
  county any part of which is located in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
         (b)  Hearings may not be held earlier than 5:30 p.m.
         (c)  The planning council shall mail a notice of the hearing
  in English and Spanish to any association listed on the development
  council website that represents low-income persons and colonias.
         (d)  Professional simultaneous translation from English to
  Spanish and from Spanish to English shall be provided at the
  hearing.
         SECTION 2.  (a)  If sufficient funding is not available, the
  Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council is not required to
  appoint an advisory council to develop and adopt the plan required
  by Section 394A.005, Local Government Code, as added by this Act.  
  If sufficient funding to develop and adopt the plan is not
  available, the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council shall
  provide to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of
  the house of representatives, and the committee in each house of the
  legislature that has primary jurisdiction over housing matters a
  statement that the council is unable to implement Chapter 394A,
  Local Government Code, as added by this Act.
         (b)  Subject to Subsection (a) of this section, not later
  than March 1, 2015, the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council
  shall provide to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker
  of the house of representatives, and the committee in each house of
  the legislature that has primary jurisdiction over housing matters
  the report and recommendations developed under Chapter 394A, Local
  Government Code, as added by this Act, and make recommendations
  regarding additional authority needed to achieve the purposes of
  that chapter.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
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