81R24723 E
By: Rose, Miller of Comal, Gallego H.B. No. 3265
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3265:
By: Coleman C.S.H.B. No. 3265
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to granting Hill Country counties regulatory authority and
the authority to impose certain development fees; providing
penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 231, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Subchapter M to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER M. DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS IN HILL COUNTRY COUNTIES
Sec. 231.281. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Hill Country county" means Bandera, Blanco,
Comal, Edwards, Gillespie, Hays, Kendall, or Medina County.
(2) "Infrastructure" means any roadway facility.
(3) "Infrastructure cost recovery fee" means a fee
imposed by the county on the owner of new development to pay for or
recover costs of infrastructure improvements necessitated by and
attributable to the new development. The fee is assessed on a cost
per service unit basis.
(4) "New development" means any of the following
activities that increase the number of service units:
(A) the subdivision of land; or
(B) any use or extension of the use of land.
(5) "Service unit" means a standardized measure of
consumption, use, generation, or discharge attributable to an
individual unit of development calculated in accordance with
generally accepted engineering or planning standards and based on
historical data and trends for the preceding 10 years applicable to
the county in which the individual unit of development is located.
Sec. 231.282. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. (a) The
legislature finds that:
(1) the natural areas of the Hill Country counties,
including the areas surrounding Canyon Lake and Medina Lake, the
Blanco, Frio, Guadalupe, Llano, Medina, Nueces, Pedernales,
Sabinal, and San Marcos Rivers, and the numerous small lakes,
tributaries, creeks, and springs in the Hill Country counties:
(A) are or will be frequented for recreational
and tourism purposes by residents from every part of the state; and
(B) are critical to the bays and estuaries in the
Gulf of Mexico;
(2) orderly development of the Hill Country counties
is of concern to the entire state; and
(3) without adequate development regulations, the
Hill Country counties will be developed in ways that endanger and
interfere with the proper use of that area as a place of tourism and
recreation to the detriment of the public health, safety, morals,
and general welfare.
(b) The powers granted under this subchapter are for the
purpose of:
(1) promoting the public health, safety, peace,
morals, and general welfare;
(2) encouraging tourism and recreation; and
(3) safeguarding and preventing the pollution of the
state's aquifers, rivers, and lakes.
Sec. 231.283. AREAS SUBJECT TO REGULATION. This subchapter
applies only to the unincorporated areas of the Hill Country
counties.
Sec. 231.284. DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS GENERALLY. (a) The
commissioners court of a Hill Country county by order may adopt land
development regulations to promote the health, safety, morals, or
general welfare of the county and provide for the safe, orderly, and
healthful development in the unincorporated area of the county,
including regulations to establish:
(1) density of development as determined by average
lot size within a designated area;
(2) reasonable building and set-back lines on all
sides of any building or property used for business, industrial,
residential, or other purposes; and
(3) an infrastructure cost recovery fee, as described
by Section 231.293.
(b) A determination of the reasonableness of a set-back line
under Subsection (a)(2) may include consideration of an
incompatible land use.
(c) Unless otherwise authorized by state law, a
commissioners court may not regulate under this subchapter:
(1) the use of any building or property for business,
industrial, residential, or other purpose; or
(2) a plat or subdivision in an adjoining county.
Sec. 231.285. ELECTION TO APPROVE REGULATORY AUTHORITY
REQUIRED. (a) Regulatory authority granted under Section 231.284
is not effective until it is approved by a majority of the county
residents voting in an election held under this section.
(b) County residents voting in an election held under this
section:
(1) may approve regulatory authority granted under
Section 231.284 in its entirety; or
(2) may approve specific regulatory authority granted
under Section 231.284 without approving other specific regulatory
authority granted under Section 231.284.
(c) The commissioners court of a Hill Country county may, on
its own motion, order and hold an election in the county to approve
a grant of authority under Section 231.284.
(d) For an election under this section, the ballot shall be
prepared to permit voting for or against the proposition:
"Approving the authority granted to the commissioners court of
(name of county) to regulate land development in the unincorporated
area of the county by (insert description of general authority or
specific regulation, as applicable)." As applicable, the ballot
shall be prepared to permit voting for or against separate
propositions as provided by Subsection (b)(2).
(e) The approval authority granted under this section
includes the authority to repeal, revise, or amend a previous
decision to operate under this subchapter.
Sec. 231.286. COMPLIANCE WITH COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL PLANS.
Development regulations must be:
(1) adopted in accordance with any county plan for
growth and development of the county if a county plan has been
adopted by the commissioners court; and
(2) coordinated with the comprehensive plans of
municipalities located in the county.
Sec. 231.287. PROCEDURE GOVERNING ADOPTION OF REGULATIONS.
(a) A development regulation adopted under this subchapter is not
effective until the regulation is adopted by the commissioners
court of the county after a public hearing. Before the 15th day
before the date of the hearing, the commissioners court must
publish notice of the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation
in the county.
(b) The commissioners court may establish or amend a
development regulation only by an order passed by a majority vote of
the full membership of the commissioners court.
Sec. 231.288. DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION. (a) The
commissioners court of a Hill Country county may appoint a
development commission to assist in the implementation and
enforcement of development regulations adopted under this
subchapter.
(b) The development commission must consist of:
(1) an ex officio chair who must be a public official,
other than a county commissioner, in the county; and
(2) four additional members who are all residents of
the county.
(c) The development commission is advisory only and may
recommend appropriate development regulations for the county.
(d) The members of the development commission are subject to
the same requirements relating to conflicts of interest that are
applicable to the commissioners court under Chapter 171.
Sec. 231.289. SPECIAL EXCEPTION. (a) A person aggrieved by
a development regulation adopted under this subchapter may petition
the commissioners court of the county that adopted the regulation
or the development commission, if the commissioners court has
established a development commission, for a special exception to
the development regulation.
(b) The commissioners court of each county that exercises
the authority granted by this subchapter shall adopt procedures
governing applications, notice, hearings, and other matters
relating to the grant of a special exception.
Sec. 231.290. ENFORCEMENT; PENALTY. (a) The commissioners
court of a Hill Country county may adopt orders to enforce this
subchapter or an order or development regulation adopted under this
subchapter.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person violates this
subchapter or an order or development regulation adopted under this
subchapter. An offense under this subsection is a misdemeanor
punishable by a fine of not less than $500 or more than $1,000. Each
day that a violation occurs constitutes a separate offense.
Sec. 231.291. COOPERATION WITH MUNICIPALITIES. The
commissioners court of a Hill Country county by order may enter into
agreements with any municipality located in the county to assist in
the implementation and enforcement of development regulations
adopted under this subchapter.
Sec. 231.292. CONFLICT WITH OTHER LAWS. If a development
regulation adopted under this subchapter imposes higher standards
than those required under another statute or local order or
regulation, the regulation adopted under this subchapter controls
in the area subject to regulation. If the other statute or local
order or regulation imposes higher standards, that statute, order,
or regulation controls.
Sec. 231.293. INFRASTRUCTURE COST RECOVERY FEE. (a) A Hill
Country county may impose an infrastructure cost recovery fee to
provide necessary infrastructure to serve new development in the
unincorporated area of the county as provided by this section and
Sections 231.294 and 231.295.
(b) The county may impose the fee only to pay for or recover
the costs of constructing, acquiring, or expanding infrastructure
necessary to serve new development. The fee may only be:
(1) applied to infrastructure improvements that serve
the new development or to which the new development has access; and
(2) imposed to pay for:
(A) repairing, operating, or maintaining
existing or new infrastructure improvements that are necessary to
serve the new development; or
(B) upgrading, replacing, or expanding existing
infrastructure to meet stricter safety, efficiency, environmental,
or regulatory standards as necessary to serve the new development.
(c) Before the county may impose the fee to recover costs of
roadway improvements, an infrastructure development plan must be
prepared. The plan must include a road traffic study conducted by a
qualified engineer. The county may not impose the fee to recover
costs of roadway improvements unless the road traffic study
projects a minimum of a 25 percent increase in road traffic
attributable to the new development.
(d) Any interest earned on the fee is considered part of the
fee and is subject to the same restrictions under this section.
(e) The county may assess the fee before or at the time a
subdivision plat is recorded. The fee may be collected at the time
the county issues a building permit or a certificate of occupancy,
unless the county and the owner of the development enter into an
agreed payment plan.
(f) The county may reduce or waive the assessment of the fee
if the new development qualifies as affordable housing under 42
U.S.C. Section 12745.
(g) After the fee has been assessed, the fee may not be
increased unless additional service units are added. If additional
service units are added, the fee may be assessed only at the cost
per service unit originally imposed.
(h) The infrastructure improvement for which the fee is
imposed must be completed not later than the first anniversary of
the date the fee is paid. The time prescribed for completion may be
extended by a majority vote of the commissioners court if the
commissioners court makes a finding that the infrastructure
improvement is exceptionally complicated or intensive and
reasonably requires additional time. An extension granted under
this subsection may not exceed the second anniversary of the date
the fee is paid. Any portion of the fee that remains after the time
prescribed expires shall be refunded to the owner of the
development.
Sec. 231.294. PROCEDURES FOR ASSESSING INFRASTRUCTURE COST
RECOVERY FEES GENERALLY. (a) The commissioners court of a Hill
Country county shall hold a public hearing to consider the
infrastructure improvements and the infrastructure cost recovery
fee. On or before the date the notice of hearing is published, the
commissioners court shall make available to the public a
description of any proposed infrastructure improvements and a
description of any proposed fee.
(b) On or before the 30th day before the date of the hearing,
the commissioners court shall:
(1) publish notice of the hearing in one or more
newspapers of general circulation in the county; and
(2) send written notice by certified mail to the owner
of the new development for which a fee is proposed.
(c) The notice under Subsection (b)(1) shall include:
(1) a relevant heading;
(2) the time, date, and location for the hearing;
(3) a statement that the hearing is open to public
comment; and
(4) a general statement of the subject matter of the
hearing.
(d) Not later than the 30th day after the date of the public
hearing, the commissioners court by order shall adopt or reject the
proposed assessment of the fee. An order approving the assessment
of the fee may not be adopted as an emergency measure.
Sec. 231.295. CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE REQUIRED. (a) A
Hill Country county that imposes an infrastructure improvement cost
recovery fee shall submit a written certification verifying
compliance with this subchapter to the attorney general each year
not later than the last day of the county's fiscal year. The
certification must be signed by the county judge.
(b) A county that fails to submit a certification for a
fiscal year as required by this section is liable to the state for a
civil penalty in an amount equal to 10 percent of the amount of the
fee assessed in that fiscal year. A penalty collected under this
subsection shall be deposited to the credit of the housing trust
fund.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.