82R9994 PAM-F
By: Miller of Comal H.B. No. 2317
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to granting Hill Country counties regulatory authority and
the authority to impose development fees for roadway
infrastructure; 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, Comal,
Gillespie, or Kendall County.
(2) "New development" means any development activity
that increases the volume of traffic on a county road or requires
the determination of water availability for a proposed development.
(3) "Roadway infrastructure" means any roadway
facility, including drainage appurtenances.
(4) "Roadway infrastructure cost recovery fee" means a
fee imposed by the county on the owner of new development to pay for
or recover costs of roadway infrastructure improvements
necessitated by and attributable to the new development. The fee is
based on the projected traffic volume created after completion of
the new development.
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, Guadalupe, Medina, Pedernales, and Sabinal 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) the groundwater supply available in the Hill
Country counties is limited;
(3) farm and heritage ranch lands in the Hill Country
counties provide valuable ecosystem services;
(4) orderly development of the Hill Country counties
is of concern to the entire state; and
(5) without adequate development planning, the Hill
Country counties will be developed in ways that:
(A) 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, or general welfare;
(B) could inhibit the recharge of an aquifer
located in the Hill Country counties or deplete an aquifer below a
sustainable level;
(C) could create flood conditions because of the
lack of impervious cover limitations; and
(D) could undermine the protection and
enhancement of farm and ranch lands.
(b) The powers granted under this subchapter are for the
purposes of:
(1) promoting the public health, safety, peace,
morals, and general welfare;
(2) encouraging tourism and recreation;
(3) safeguarding and preventing the pollution of the
state's aquifers, rivers, and lakes;
(4) providing for the recharge of the state's
aquifers;
(5) ensuring the availability of a sustainable water
source; and
(6) encouraging the provision of valuable ecosystem
services through farm and ranch lands.
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 in the unincorporated area of the county
to:
(1) regulate density of development, as determined by
average lot size within a designated development area, to:
(A) promote water resource planning;
(B) provide for the recharge of the state's
aquifers; and
(C) ensure the availability of a sustainable
water source;
(2) require reasonable building and set-back lines on
all sides of any building or property used for business,
industrial, residential, or other purposes; and
(3) adopt a roadway infrastructure cost recovery fee,
as described by Section 231.290.
(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:
(1) adopt or enforce zoning regulations under the
authority granted by this subchapter; or
(2) regulate under this subchapter:
(A) the use of any building or property for
business, industrial, residential, or other purposes; or
(B) 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 voters
voting at an election held under this section.
(b) 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.
(c) 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
granted under Section 231.284)."
(d) The approval authority granted under this section
includes the authority to repeal a previous decision to operate
under this subchapter.
Sec. 231.286. 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. 231.287. 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
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. 231.288. 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. 231.289. 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. 231.290. ROADWAY INFRASTRUCTURE COST RECOVERY FEE. (a)
A Hill Country county may impose a roadway infrastructure cost
recovery fee to provide necessary roadway infrastructure
improvements to serve new development in the unincorporated area of
the county as provided by this section and Section 231.291.
(b) The county may impose the fee only to pay for or recover
the costs of constructing, acquiring, or expanding roadway
infrastructure necessary to serve new development, including the
costs of relocating utilities to construct, acquire, or expand
roadway infrastructure. The fee may only be:
(1) applied to roadway infrastructure that serves the
new development; and
(2) imposed to pay for:
(A) constructing new roadway infrastructure that
is necessary to serve new development;
(B) repairing, operating, or maintaining
existing or new roadway infrastructure that is necessary to serve
the new development;
(C) upgrading, replacing, or expanding existing
roadway infrastructure to meet stricter safety, efficiency,
environmental, or regulatory standards as necessary to serve the
new development; or
(D) relocating utilities as necessary for
roadway infrastructure under Paragraph (A), (B), or (C).
(c) Any interest earned on the fee is considered part of the
fee and is subject to the same restrictions as the fee under this
section.
(d) 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, unless the county and the owner
of the development enter into an agreed payment plan.
(e) 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.
(f) After the fee has been assessed, the fee may not be
increased unless additional development is proposed.
(g) The roadway infrastructure improvement for which the
fee is imposed must be completed not later than the 10th anniversary
of the date the fee is paid. The time prescribed for completion may
be extended by the commissioners court if the commissioners court
makes a finding that the roadway infrastructure improvement is
exceptionally complicated or intensive and reasonably requires
additional time. An extension granted under this subsection may
not exceed the 20th 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. 231.291. PROCEDURES FOR ASSESSING ROADWAY
INFRASTRUCTURE COST RECOVERY FEES GENERALLY. (a) The
commissioners court of a Hill Country county shall hold a public
hearing to consider the roadway infrastructure improvements and the
roadway 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 roadway
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 of 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
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. 231.292. PROVISIONS CUMULATIVE. The authority granted
to a county under this subchapter is in addition to the authority
granted to a county under other law to regulate land development.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.