Bill Text: TX HB1277 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to requirements for annexation of certain commercial or industrial areas by a general-law municipality.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 4)

Status: (Passed) 2015-06-17 - Effective immediately [HB1277 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-HB1277-Enrolled.html

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H.B. No. 1277

AN ACT
relating to requirements for annexation of certain commercial or
industrial areas by a general-law municipality.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 43, Local Government Code,
is amended by adding Section 43.0235 to read as follows:
Sec. 43.0235. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ANNEXATION OF
CERTAIN COMMERCIAL OR INDUSTRIAL AREAS BY GENERAL-LAW
MUNICIPALITIES. (a) A general-law municipality may annex an area
in which 50 percent or more of the property in the area to be annexed
is primarily used for a commercial or industrial purpose only if the
municipality:
(1) is otherwise authorized by this subchapter to
annex the area and complies with the requirements prescribed under
that authority; and
(2) obtains the written consent of the owners of a
majority of the property in the area to be annexed.
(b) The consent required by Subsection (a)(2) must be signed
by the owners of the property and must include a description of the
area to be annexed.
SECTION 2. Section 43.033(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Section 43.0235, a [A] general-law
municipality may annex adjacent territory without the consent of
any of the residents or voters of the area and without the consent
of any of the owners of land in the area provided that the following
conditions are met:
(1) the municipality has a population of 1,000 or more
and is not eligible to adopt a home-rule charter;
(2) the procedural rules prescribed by this chapter
are met;
(3) the municipality must be providing the area with
water or sewer service;
(4) the area:
(A) does not include unoccupied territory in
excess of one acre for each service address for water and sewer
service; or
(B) is entirely surrounded by the municipality
and the municipality is a Type A general-law municipality;
(5) the service plan requires that police and fire
protection at a level consistent with protection provided within
the municipality must be provided to the area within 10 days after
the effective date of the annexation;
(6) the municipality and the affected landowners have
not entered an agreement to not annex the area for a certain time
period; and
(7) if the area is appraised for ad valorem tax
purposes as land for agricultural or wildlife management use under
Subchapter C or D, Chapter 23, Tax Code:
(A) the municipality offers to make a development
agreement with the landowner in the manner provided by Section
212.172 that would:
(i) guarantee the continuation of the
extraterritorial status of the area; and
(ii) authorize the enforcement of all
regulations and planning authority of the municipality that do not
interfere with the agricultural or wildlife management use of the
area; and
(B) the landowner fails to accept an offer
described by Paragraph (A) within 30 days after the date the offer
is made.
SECTION 3. Section 43.034, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 43.034. AUTHORITY OF GENERAL-LAW MUNICIPALITY TO ANNEX
AREA; CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES. Except as provided by Section
43.0235, a [A] general-law municipality may annex adjacent
territory without the consent of any of the residents or voters of
the area and without the consent of any of the owners of land in the
area if:
(1) the municipality has a population of 1,762-1,770,
part of whose boundary is part of the shoreline of a lake whose
normal surface area is 75,000 acres or greater and which is located
completely within the State of Texas;
(2) the procedural rules prescribed by this chapter
are met;
(3) the service plan requires that police and fire
protection at a level consistent with protection provided within
the municipality must be provided to the area within 10 days after
the effective date of the annexation; and
(4) the municipality and the affected landowners have
not entered an agreement to not annex the area for a certain period.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an annexation for which the first hearing notice required by
Section 43.0561 or 43.063, Local Government Code, as applicable, is
published on or after the effective date of this Act. An annexation
for which the first hearing notice is published before that date is
governed by the law in effect at the time the notice is published,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. 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, 2015.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1277 was passed by the House on April
29, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 135, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1277 was passed by the Senate on May
26, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor