Bill Text: TX HB3172 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to municipal regulation of multifamily and mixed-use development on religious land.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2025-03-27 - Left pending in committee [HB3172 Detail]
Download: Texas-2025-HB3172-Introduced.html
| 89R9866 SCL-F | ||
| By: Gates | H.B. No. 3172 | |
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| relating to municipal regulation of multifamily and mixed-use | ||
| development on religious land. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Chapter 212, Local Government Code, is amended | ||
| by adding Subchapter I to read as follows: | ||
| SUBCHAPTER I. REGULATION OF DEVELOPMENT ON RELIGIOUS LAND | ||
| Sec. 212.251. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: | ||
| (1) "Group home" means a residential facility that | ||
| provides housing and support services in a community-based | ||
| environment for individuals who require assistance due to physical, | ||
| mental, developmental, or behavioral disabilities. | ||
| (2) "Heavy industrial use" means a storage, | ||
| processing, or manufacturing use: | ||
| (A) with processes using flammable or explosive | ||
| materials; | ||
| (B) with hazardous conditions; or | ||
| (C) that is noxious or offensive from odors, | ||
| smoke, noise, fumes, or vibrations. | ||
| (3) "Housing organization" means a: | ||
| (A) trade or industry group consisting of local | ||
| members primarily engaged in the construction or management of | ||
| housing units; | ||
| (B) nonprofit organization that: | ||
| (i) provides or advocates for increased | ||
| access or reduced barriers to housing; and | ||
| (ii) has filed written or oral comments | ||
| with the legislature; or | ||
| (C) nonprofit organization that is engaged in | ||
| public policy research, education, and outreach that includes | ||
| housing policy-related issues and advocacy. | ||
| (4) "Mixed-use" means the use and development of a | ||
| site consisting of residential and nonresidential uses in which | ||
| residential uses occupy at least 65 percent of the total square | ||
| footage of the development. | ||
| (5) "Multifamily" means the use and development of a | ||
| site for three or more dwelling units within one or more buildings. | ||
| The term includes a residential condominium. | ||
| (6) "Religious land" means land owned by a religious | ||
| organization or land that is leased by a religious organization for | ||
| a term of at least 40 years. | ||
| (7) "Religious organization" means an organization | ||
| that is: | ||
| (A) open to the public; and | ||
| (B) described by Section 110.011(b), Civil | ||
| Practice and Remedies Code. | ||
| (8) "Supportive housing" means residential | ||
| accommodations that combine housing with on-site or off-site | ||
| supportive services, designed to assist individuals or families in | ||
| maintaining stable housing and achieving greater independence. | ||
| Sec. 212.252. APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. This subchapter | ||
| does not apply to religious land located within a quarter mile of a | ||
| heavy industrial use, an airport, a seaport, or a military base. | ||
| Sec. 212.253. ALLOWABLE USES. (a) A municipality must | ||
| permit multifamily and mixed-use as allowable uses on religious | ||
| land. | ||
| (b) Notwithstanding any other law, a municipality may not | ||
| require a proposed multifamily or mixed-use development on | ||
| religious land to obtain a zoning or land use change, special | ||
| exception, variance, conditional use approval, special use permit, | ||
| comprehensive plan amendment, or other land use classification or | ||
| approval to: | ||
| (1) permit the proposed use and development; or | ||
| (2) allow for the minimum densities, building height, | ||
| setbacks, and site development regulations authorized under this | ||
| subchapter. | ||
| Sec. 212.254. PROHIBITED MUNICIPAL REQUIREMENTS. For a | ||
| multifamily or mixed-use development on religious land, a | ||
| municipality may not: | ||
| (1) restrict the height of a proposed development to | ||
| less than 40 feet and three full stories; | ||
| (2) require front setbacks greater than 15 feet, rear | ||
| setbacks greater than 10 feet, or side setbacks greater than 5 feet; | ||
| (3) establish minimum parking requirements except as | ||
| necessary to comply with federal law; | ||
| (4) restrict the ratio of the development's proposed | ||
| building gross floor area to site area, building coverage, density, | ||
| unit size or number base as compared to site area, size of a unit, or | ||
| otherwise restrict development using any other dimensional | ||
| constraint except as provided by Subdivisions (1) and (2); | ||
| (5) prohibit supportive housing or group homes; or | ||
| (6) for a proposed development converting an existing | ||
| building from a different use to a multifamily or mixed-use, | ||
| require the conversion to exceed standards imposed by the | ||
| International Building Code. | ||
| Sec. 212.255. PERMITTED MUNICIPAL REGULATION. This | ||
| subchapter does not affect a municipality's authority to apply the | ||
| following that are generally applicable to other developments in | ||
| the municipality: | ||
| (1) sewer and water access requirements; | ||
| (2) stormwater mitigation requirements; and | ||
| (3) except as otherwise provided by this subchapter, | ||
| building codes. | ||
| Sec. 212.256. DUTY TO APPROVE. (a) A municipality shall | ||
| approve an application for a multifamily or mixed-use development | ||
| on religious land if the development satisfies the municipality's | ||
| land development regulations for multifamily or mixed-use | ||
| developments, as applicable, other than a regulation involving a | ||
| matter described by Section 212.254. | ||
| (b) The municipality's duty to approve a development under | ||
| Subsection (a) is purely ministerial. | ||
| Sec. 212.257. ACTION. (a) A person affected by a | ||
| municipality's violation of this subchapter or a housing | ||
| organization may bring an action against the municipality or an | ||
| officer or employee of the municipality in the officer's or | ||
| employee's official capacity for relief described by Subsection | ||
| (c). | ||
| (b) A claimant must bring an action under this section in a | ||
| county in which the real property that is the subject of the action | ||
| is wholly or partly located. | ||
| (c) In an action brought under this section, a court may: | ||
| (1) enter a declaratory judgment under Chapter 37, | ||
| Civil Practice and Remedies Code; | ||
| (2) issue a writ of mandamus compelling a defendant | ||
| officer or employee to comply with this subchapter; | ||
| (3) issue an injunction preventing the defendant from | ||
| violating this subchapter; and | ||
| (4) award damages to the claimant for economic losses | ||
| caused by the defendant's violation of this subchapter if the | ||
| claimant is a person affected or aggrieved by the violation that is | ||
| the basis for the action. | ||
| (d) A court shall award reasonable attorney's fees and court | ||
| costs incurred in bringing an action under this section to a | ||
| prevailing claimant. | ||
| (e) Governmental immunity of a municipality to suit and from | ||
| liability is waived to the extent of liability created by this | ||
| section. Official immunity of a municipal officer or employee is | ||
| waived to the extent of liability created by this section. | ||
| (f) The Fifteenth Court of Appeals has exclusive | ||
| intermediate appellate jurisdiction over an appeal or original | ||
| proceeding arising from an action brought under this section. | ||
| SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. | ||
