Bill Text: TX SB136 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to granting counties authority to regulate certain land use; providing penalties.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-01-31 - Referred to Intergovernmental Relations [SB136 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-SB136-Introduced.html

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82R586 PAM-F
By: Wentworth S.B. No. 136

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to granting counties authority to regulate certain land
use; providing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 232.001(b), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) To be recorded, the plat must:
(1) describe the subdivision by metes and bounds;
(2) locate the subdivision with respect to an original
corner of the original survey of which it is a part; [and]
(3) state the dimensions of the subdivision and of
each lot, street, alley, square, park, or other part of the tract
intended to be dedicated to public use or for the use of purchasers
or owners of lots fronting on or adjacent to the street, alley,
square, park, or other part; and
(4) comply with any other requirements of this chapter
or an order adopted by the county under this chapter.
SECTION 2. Sections 232.002(a) and (c), Local Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commissioners court of the county in which the land
is located must approve, by an order entered in the minutes of the
court, a plat required by Section 232.001. The commissioners court
may refuse to approve a plat if:
(1) the plat [it] does not meet the requirements
prescribed by or under this chapter or an order adopted by the
commissioners court under this chapter; or
(2) [if] any bond required under this chapter is not
filed with the county.
(c) If no portion of the land subdivided under a plat
approved under this section is sold or transferred before January 1
of the 51st year after the year in which the plat was approved, the
approval of the plat expires, and the owner must resubmit a plat of
the subdivision for approval. A plat resubmitted for approval
under this subsection is subject to the requirements prescribed by
this chapter and any orders adopted by the commissioners court
under this chapter in effect at the time the plat is resubmitted.
SECTION 3. Sections 232.0021(a) and (b), Local Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commissioners court may impose an application fee to
cover the cost of the county's review of a subdivision plat and
inspection of street, road, [and] drainage, and other improvements
described by the plat.
(b) The fee may vary based on the number of proposed lots in
the subdivision, the acreage described by the plat, the type or
extent of proposed street, [and] drainage, and other improvements,
or any other reasonable criteria as determined by the commissioners
court.
SECTION 4. Section 232.0025(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The commissioners court of a county or a person
designated by the commissioners court shall issue a written list of
the documentation and other information that must be submitted with
a plat application. The documentation or other information must
relate to a requirement authorized under this chapter [section] or
other applicable law. An application submitted to the
commissioners court or the person designated by the commissioners
court that contains the documents and other information on the list
is considered complete.
SECTION 5. Section 232.003, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 232.003. SUBDIVISION REQUIREMENTS. By an order
adopted and entered in the minutes of the commissioners court, and
after a notice is published in a newspaper of general circulation in
the county, the commissioners court may:
(1) require a right-of-way on a street or road that
functions or is intended to function as a main artery in a
subdivision, of a width of not less than 50 feet or more than 100
feet;
(2) require a right-of-way on any other street or road
in a subdivision of not less than 40 feet or more than 70 feet;
(3) require that the shoulder-to-shoulder width on
collectors or main arteries within the right-of-way be not less
than 32 feet or more than 56 feet, and that the shoulder-to-shoulder
width on any other street or road be not less than 25 feet or more
than 35 feet;
(4) adopt, based on the amount and kind of travel over
each street or road in a subdivision, reasonable specifications
relating to the construction of each street or road;
(5) adopt reasonable specifications to provide
adequate drainage for each street or road in a subdivision in
accordance with standard engineering practices;
(6) require that each purchase contract made between a
subdivider and a purchaser of land in the subdivision contain a
statement describing the extent to which water will be made
available to the subdivision and, if it will be made available, how
and when;
(7) require that the owner of the tract to be
subdivided execute a good and sufficient bond in the manner
provided by Section 232.004;
(8) adopt reasonable specifications that provide for
drainage in the subdivision to:
(A) efficiently manage the flow of stormwater
runoff in the subdivision; and
(B) coordinate subdivision drainage with the
general storm drainage pattern for the area; and
(9) require lot and block monumentation to be set by a
registered professional surveyor before recordation of the plat.
SECTION 6. Section 232.004, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 232.004. BOND REQUIREMENTS. If the commissioners
court requires the owner of the tract to execute a bond, the owner
must do so before subdividing the tract unless an alternative
financial guarantee is provided under Section 232.0045. The bond
must:
(1) be payable to the county judge of the county in
which the subdivision will be located or to the judge's successors
in office;
(2) be in an amount determined by the commissioners
court to be adequate to ensure proper construction of the roads,
[and] streets, and other infrastructure, including, if applicable,
water supply and sewage collection and treatment systems in the
subdivision, [in] and drainage requirements for the subdivision,
but not to exceed the estimated cost of construction of the roads,
streets, and other infrastructure and drainage requirements;
(3) be executed with sureties as may be approved by the
court;
(4) be executed by a company authorized to do business
as a surety in this state if the court requires a surety bond
executed by a corporate surety; and
(5) be conditioned that the roads, [and] streets, and
other infrastructure and the drainage requirements for the
subdivision will be constructed:
(A) in accordance with the specifications
adopted by the court; and
(B) within a reasonable time set by the court.
SECTION 7. Section 232.0045(b), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) If a letter of credit is used, it must:
(1) list as the sole beneficiary the county judge of
the county in which the subdivision is located; and
(2) be conditioned that the owner of the tract of land
to be subdivided will construct any roads, [or] streets, and other
infrastructure, and the drainage requirements in the subdivision:
(A) in accordance with the specifications
adopted by the commissioners court; and
(B) within a reasonable time set by the court.
SECTION 8. Sections 232.005(a) and (b), Local Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) At the request of the commissioners court, the county
attorney or other prosecuting attorney for the county may file an
action in a court of competent jurisdiction to:
(1) enjoin the violation or threatened violation of a
requirement established by, or adopted by the commissioners court
under [a preceding section of] this chapter; or
(2) recover damages in an amount adequate for the
county to undertake any construction or other activity necessary to
bring about compliance with a requirement established by, or
adopted by the commissioners court under [a preceding section of]
this chapter.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly or
intentionally violates a requirement established by, or adopted by
the commissioners court under [a preceding section of] this
chapter. An offense under this subsection is a Class B misdemeanor.
This subsection does not apply to a violation for which a criminal
penalty is prescribed by Section 232.0048.
SECTION 9. Section 232.007(g), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(g) Construction of a proposed manufactured home rental
community may not begin before the date the county engineer or
another person designated by the commissioners court approves the
infrastructure development plan. The commissioners court may
require inspection of the infrastructure during or on completion of
its construction. If a final inspection is required, the final
inspection must be completed not later than the sixth [second]
business day after the date the commissioners court or the person
designated by the commissioners court receives a written
confirmation from the owner that the construction of the
infrastructure is complete. If the inspector determines that the
infrastructure complies with the infrastructure development plan,
the commissioners court shall issue a certificate of compliance not
later than the fifth business day after the date the final
inspection is completed. If a final inspection is not required, the
commissioners court shall issue a certificate of compliance not
later than the fifth business day after the date the commissioners
court or the person designated by the commissioners court receives
written certification from the owner that construction of the
infrastructure has been completed in compliance with the
infrastructure development plan.
SECTION 10. Section 232.008(c), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) The commissioners court shall publish notice of an
application for cancellation. The notice must be published in a
newspaper, published in the English language, in the county [for]
at least three weeks before the date on which action is taken on the
application. The court shall take action on an application at a
regular term. The published notice must direct any person who is
interested in the property and who wishes to protest the proposed
cancellation to appear at the time specified in the notice.
SECTION 11. Section 232.0085(c), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) The commissioners court must publish notice of a
proposal to cancel a subdivision under this section and the time and
place of the required hearing in a newspaper of general circulation
in the county [for] at least 21 days immediately before the date a
cancellation order is adopted under this section. The county tax
assessor-collector shall, not later than the 14th day before the
date of the hearing, deposit with the United States Postal Service a
similar notice addressed to each owner of land in the subdivision,
as determined by the most recent county tax roll.
SECTION 12. Section 232.009(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) This section applies only to real property located
outside a municipality [municipalities] and outside the
extraterritorial jurisdiction, as determined under Chapter 42, of a
municipality [municipalities] with a population of 1.5 million or
more[, as determined under Chapter 42].
SECTION 13. Section 232.0095(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) This section applies only to real property located
outside a municipality [municipalities] and outside the
extraterritorial jurisdiction, as determined under Chapter 42, of a
municipality [municipalities] with a population of 1.5 million or
more.
SECTION 14. Section 232.011(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The commissioners court may approve and issue an
amending plat, if the amending plat is signed by the applicants and
filed for one or more of the following purposes:
(1) to correct an error or make minor adjustments in a
course or distance shown on the preceding plat;
(2) to add a course or distance that was omitted on the
preceding plat;
(3) to correct an error in a real property description
shown on the preceding plat;
(4) to show the location or character of a monument
that has been changed in location or character or that is shown
incorrectly as to location or character on the preceding plat;
(5) to correct any other type of scrivener or clerical
error or omission of the previously approved plat, including lot
numbers, acreage, street names, and identification of adjacent
recorded plats; or
(6) to correct an error or make minor adjustments in
courses and distances of lot lines between two adjacent lots if:
(A) both lot owners join in the application for
amending the plat;
(B) neither lot is abolished;
(C) the amendment does not attempt to remove
recorded covenants or restrictions; and
(D) the amendment does not have a material
adverse effect on the property rights of the other owners of the
property that is the subject of the plat.
SECTION 15. The heading to Subchapter E, Chapter 232, Local
Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER E. INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING PROVISIONS IN
CERTAIN [URBAN] COUNTIES
SECTION 16. Section 232.102, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 232.102. MAJOR THOROUGHFARE PLAN. By an order adopted
and entered in the minutes of the commissioners court and after a
notice is published in a newspaper of general circulation in the
county, the commissioners court may:
(1) require a right-of-way on a street or road that
functions or is intended to function as a major thoroughfare of a
width of not more than 120 feet; or
(2) require a right-of-way on a street or road that
functions or is intended to function as a major thoroughfare of a
width of more than 120 feet, if such requirement is consistent with
a transportation plan adopted by the commissioners court
[metropolitan planning organization of the region].
SECTION 17. Section 232.103, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 232.103. LOT FRONTAGES. By an order adopted and
entered in the minutes of the commissioners court and after a notice
is published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county,
the commissioners court may adopt reasonable standards for minimum
lot frontages on [existing county] roads in the unincorporated area
of the county and establish reasonable standards for the lot
frontages in relation to curves in the road.
SECTION 18. Section 232.109, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 232.109. FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEM. In a subdivision
that is not served by fire hydrants as part of a centralized water
system certified by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
as meeting minimum standards for water utility service, the
commissioners court may require a limited fire suppression system
that requires a developer to construct:
(1) for a subdivision of fewer than 10 lots [50
houses], 5,000 [2,500] gallons of storage; or
(2) for a subdivision of 10 [50] or more lots:
(A) 5,000 [houses, 2,500] gallons of storage if
the subdivision has [with] a centralized water system; or
(B) 10,000 [5,000] gallons of storage if the
subdivision does not have a centralized water system.
SECTION 19. (a) The changes in law made by this Act to
Chapter 232, Local Government Code, apply to a subdivision plat
application submitted for approval on or after the effective date
of this Act. A subdivision plat application submitted for approval
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
effect when the application was submitted, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) Section 232.005(b), Local Government Code, as amended
by this Act, applies only to an offense committed on or after the
effective date of this Act. For purposes of this section, an
offense is committed before the effective date of this Act if any
element of the offense occurs before that date.
(c) The notice requirements prescribed by Sections 232.008
and 232.0085, Local Government Code, as amended by this Act, apply
only to an application or proposal to cancel a subdivision
submitted on or after the effective date of this Act. An
application or proposal to cancel a subdivision submitted before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when
the application or proposal was submitted, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 20. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.