Bill Text: TX HB727 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to restrictive covenants regulating drought-resistant landscaping.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-19 - Left pending in committee [HB727 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-HB727-Introduced.html

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83R3914 NC-D
By: Burkett H.B. No. 727

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to restrictive covenants regulating drought-resistant
landscaping.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 202.007(a) and (d), Property Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) A property owners' association may not include or
enforce a provision in a dedicatory instrument that prohibits or
restricts a property owner from:
(1) implementing measures promoting solid-waste
composting of vegetation, including grass clippings, leaves, or
brush, or leaving grass clippings uncollected on grass;
(2) installing rain barrels or a rainwater harvesting
system; [or]
(3) implementing efficient irrigation systems,
including underground drip or other drip systems; or
(4) using drought-resistant landscaping.
(d) This section does not:
(1) restrict a property owners' association from
regulating the requirements, including size, type, shielding, and
materials, for or the location of a composting device if the
restriction does not prohibit the economic installation of the
device on the property owner's property where there is reasonably
sufficient area to install the device;
(2) require a property owners' association to permit a
device described by Subdivision (1) to be installed in or on
property:
(A) owned by the property owners' association;
(B) owned in common by the members of the
property owners' association; or
(C) in an area other than the fenced yard or patio
of a property owner;
(3) prohibit a property owners' association from
regulating the installation of efficient irrigation systems,
including establishing visibility limitations for aesthetic
purposes;
(4) prohibit a property owners' association from
regulating the installation or use of gravel or[,] rocks[, or
cacti];
(5) restrict a property owners' association from
regulating yard and landscape maintenance if the restrictions or
requirements do not restrict or prohibit turf or landscaping design
that promotes water conservation;
(6) require a property owners' association to permit a
rain barrel or rainwater harvesting system to be installed in or on
property if:
(A) the property is:
(i) owned by the property owners'
association;
(ii) owned in common by the members of the
property owners' association; or
(iii) located between the front of the
property owner's home and an adjoining or adjacent street; or
(B) the barrel or system:
(i) is of a color other than a color
consistent with the color scheme of the property owner's home; or
(ii) displays any language or other content
that is not typically displayed by such a barrel or system as it is
manufactured; or
(7) restrict a property owners' association from
regulating the size, type, and shielding of, and the materials used
in the construction of, a rain barrel, rainwater harvesting device,
or other appurtenance that is located on the side of a house or at
any other location that is visible from a street, another lot, or a
common area if:
(A) the restriction does not prohibit the
economic installation of the device or appurtenance on the property
owner's property; and
(B) there is a reasonably sufficient area on the
property owner's property in which to install the device or
appurtenance.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.