TX
Texas Senate Bill SB1551

Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1551 Compare Versions

The same version is selected twice. Please select two different versions to compare.
OldNewDifferences
11 By: Lucio S.B. No. 1551
22 (Martinez)
33
44
55 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
66 AN ACT
77 relating to the provision of affordable housing and other services
88 in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
99 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1010 SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 12, Local Government Code, is
1111 amended by adding Chapter 394A to read as follows:
1212 CHAPTER 394A. LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY COLONIA AND REGIONAL
1313 HOUSING DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE
1414 Sec. 394A.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1515 (1) "Development council" means the Lower Rio Grande
1616 Valley Development Council.
1717 (2) "Planning council" means the research and advisory
1818 council established under Section 394A.004.
1919 Sec. 394A.002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies only to
2020 Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy Counties and the Lower Rio Grande
2121 Valley Development Council.
2222 Sec. 394A.003. POWERS AND DUTIES OF DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL.
2323 In administering this chapter, the development council shall:
2424 (1) employ or contract for staff to support the
2525 planning council;
2626 (2) maintain on its website:
2727 (A) a list of associations representing
2828 low-income persons and colonias; and
2929 (B) all minutes and other records related to the
3030 meetings of the planning council; and
3131 (3) approve the housing and colonia improvement plan
3232 adopted by the planning council under Section 394A.005.
3333 Sec. 394A.004. POWERS AND DUTIES OF PLANNING COUNCIL.
3434 (a) The planning council is a research and advisory council of the
3535 development council.
3636 (b) In carrying out its responsibilities under this
3737 chapter, the planning council shall:
3838 (1) provide for the maximum feasible participation of
3939 persons of low, very low, and extremely low income and residents of
4040 colonias in the development of the housing and colonia improvement
4141 plan under Section 394A.005;
4242 (2) coordinate with local, state, and federal
4343 agencies, as needed;
4444 (3) conduct public meetings and hold public hearings;
4545 (4) develop, adopt, and submit for approval by the
4646 development council a housing and colonia improvement plan as
4747 required by Section 394A.005; and
4848 (5) develop and review recommendations related to
4949 meeting the region's affordable housing needs, providing colonia
5050 residents with adequate public services, and improving living
5151 conditions in colonias and low-income neighborhoods in the region
5252 as provided in Section 394A.005.
5353 Sec. 394A.005. HOUSING AND COLONIA IMPROVEMENT PLAN.
5454 Provided sufficient resources are available, the planning council
5555 shall develop and adopt a housing and colonia improvement plan to
5656 address the region's affordable housing needs and the provision of
5757 adequate public services in colonias. In developing and adopting
5858 the plan, the planning council shall provide a recommendation for
5959 or against establishing or implementing:
6060 (1) a periodic regional assessment of living
6161 conditions in colonias and low-income neighborhoods that includes
6262 an assessment of public services and facilities and housing
6363 availability, affordability, conditions, needs, and market demand;
6464 (2) a coordinated regional affordable housing plan
6565 that encourages the production of both owner and renter occupied
6666 housing, addressing housing program allocations, housing policies,
6767 and community development policies impacting housing and
6868 prioritizing assistance to the worst-case housing needs of
6969 homeowners and renters;
7070 (3) an agreement with the secretary of state to assign
7171 colonia ombudspersons currently working in the region to cooperate
7272 with the development council to carry out affordable housing
7373 programs;
7474 (4) an agreement by which the colonia ombudspersons
7575 support the development council by producing, updating, and
7676 maintaining an accurate publicly available database of colonias
7777 that documents the availability, conditions, and adequacy of
7878 housing and public services in those colonias, including
7979 streetlights, storm drainage, garbage collection, public
8080 transportation, roads, sidewalks, and distance to essential
8181 services, including schools, hospitals, and grocery stores;
8282 (5) a process for ensuring compliance with existing
8383 model subdivision rules in colonias and new subdivisions, including
8484 a survey of the effectiveness of existing model subdivision rules
8585 and an examination of health and safety conditions in subdivisions
8686 developed under existing rules;
8787 (6) a process by which the development council may
8888 recommend to the counties in its jurisdiction any necessary changes
8989 to model subdivision rules needed to:
9090 (A) protect the health, safety, and financial
9191 condition of the residents of affected subdivisions and colonias;
9292 and
9393 (B) ensure that colonias are provided
9494 infrastructure that will facilitate their annexation into adjacent
9595 incorporated municipalities;
9696 (7) a process to investigate issues of noncompliance
9797 with the model subdivision rules and refer noncompliance issues to
9898 the appropriate county attorney or the Texas attorney general;
9999 (8) a process by which colonia residents may petition
100100 to initiate a legal action to enforce model subdivision rules;
101101 (9) a regional hiring plan that provides for outreach
102102 to workers and qualified businesses, job training activities,
103103 compliance certification, and reporting requirements for hiring
104104 for projects using any financial assistance provided by the
105105 development council;
106106 (10) a program to improve the administration of the
107107 money reserved under the community development block grant colonia
108108 set aside;
109109 (11) a program by which the Texas Department of
110110 Transportation and the Department of Public Safety of the State of
111111 Texas cooperate with the development council to identify funding
112112 resources, placing a priority on identifying existing regional
113113 funding for colonia public safety programs;
114114 (12) a regional authority to administer programs
115115 implemented based on recommendations made under this section;
116116 (13) a process by which residents of a colonia may
117117 petition to enact a restrictive covenant in the colonia that
118118 provides for:
119119 (A) residential or commercial building standards
120120 or codes;
121121 (B) maximum impervious cover on a lot;
122122 (C) permitted land uses;
123123 (D) non-permitted nuisances;
124124 (E) a program and fee for solid waste services to
125125 be paid by residents and property owners; or
126126 (F) a program and fee for street lighting to be
127127 paid by residents and property owners;
128128 (14) a colonia improvement district to facilitate
129129 comprehensive planning for housing, community development needs,
130130 public infrastructure, and public services in colonias through:
131131 (A) establishment of a management district to
132132 carry out functions permitted under state law;
133133 (B) adoption of a binding land use plan governing
134134 permitted land uses;
135135 (C) establishment of minimum standards for
136136 residential and nonresidential structures and a contract with a
137137 municipality or county to enforce those standards; and
138138 (D) establishment and administration of a tax
139139 increment reinvestment zone or tax increment financing to fund
140140 housing improvements and repairs or provide public services and
141141 facilities;
142142 (15) a comprehensive needs assessment and planning
143143 study that employs community planners to work in cooperation with
144144 colonia residents, county officials, and officials from adjacent
145145 municipalities to assess housing, public services, and public
146146 infrastructure needs, including:
147147 (A) essential public services;
148148 (B) transportation;
149149 (C) solid waste disposal;
150150 (D) drainage;
151151 (E) land use regulation;
152152 (F) building codes;
153153 (G) health codes;
154154 (H) hazardous conditions;
155155 (I) provisions of utilities;
156156 (J) public safety;
157157 (K) sidewalks;
158158 (L) elimination of blight;
159159 (M) streetlights;
160160 (N) energy savings and efficiencies;
161161 (O) parks and recreational facilities; and
162162 (P) development of underutilized or abandoned
163163 property;
164164 (16) a program to facilitate the cooperation of
165165 colonia residents and adjacent municipalities to provide planning
166166 and financial assistance to encourage the annexation of the colonia
167167 by a municipality when appropriate and consistent with the
168168 interests and desires of the residents;
169169 (17) a program of cooperation between the development
170170 council and the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
171171 for the direction of the activities of colonia self-help centers;
172172 (18) a program to designate one or more areas within
173173 the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality as an enhanced
174174 urban residential development district to:
175175 (A) prevent the proliferation of substandard
176176 colonias and suburban sprawl in unincorporated areas; and
177177 (B) promote quality, affordable, and orderly
178178 residential development through building standards, land use
179179 planning, and financial incentives for public improvements and
180180 housing assistance;
181181 (19) a colonia land bank to provide affordable housing
182182 in any part of the region served by the development council;
183183 (20) a comprehensive regional drainage plan to:
184184 (A) establish reasonable and appropriate
185185 standards for storm water protection for colonias and development
186186 districts;
187187 (B) examine and consider low-impact and
188188 alternative approaches to storm water protection to reduce costs
189189 and speed the provision of protection to colonias;
190190 (C) mitigate storm water flooding within
191191 colonias;
192192 (D) develop cost estimates for each colonia in
193193 the region for the provision of storm water protection in the
194194 colonia, including appropriately engineered storm water drainage
195195 that connects with the regional drainage system; and
196196 (E) identify, apply for, secure, and administer
197197 grants and other funding to carry out any plan developed under this
198198 section;
199199 (21) a plan to cooperate with the Public Utility
200200 Commission of Texas, local public housing authorities, affordable
201201 housing providers, and homeowners to establish, evaluate, and
202202 report on an energy self-sufficiency program to:
203203 (A) evaluate appropriate technologies, including
204204 solar, wind, geothermal, and fuel cell, for very low-income
205205 households in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and create a
206206 demonstration program to implement one or more of the technologies
207207 in the region;
208208 (B) evaluate power purchase agreements with
209209 respect to public housing authorities and owner and rental housing
210210 occupied by households of very low and extremely low income; and
211211 (C) prioritize households of very low and
212212 extremely low income for participation in the program; and
213213 (22) in cooperation with the Texas Department of
214214 Housing and Community Affairs, a process to provide through the
215215 qualified allocation plan any regional scoring incentives
216216 necessary to ensure that low-income housing tax credits are awarded
217217 to developments in the Lower Rio Grande Valley region.
218218 Sec. 394A.006. QUALIFICATIONS OF PLANNING COUNCIL MEMBERS.
219219 (a) The development council shall appoint to the planning council
220220 from each county, any part of which is located in the Lower Rio
221221 Grande Valley:
222222 (1) the county judge;
223223 (2) the mayor of the most populous municipality;
224224 (3) an elected official from a municipality not
225225 described by Subdivision (2);
226226 (4) a resident of a colonia;
227227 (5) a representative of a nonprofit organization
228228 representing colonia residents; and
229229 (6) a person of extremely low or very low income living
230230 in an incorporated area.
231231 (b) At least one member selected under Subsection (a)(3)
232232 must be from a municipality with a population of less than 5,000.
233233 (c) Members selected under Subsections (a)(1), (2), and (3)
234234 may designate another elected official from their jurisdiction to
235235 represent them at meetings of the planning council other than for
236236 purposes of voting for the adoption of the housing and colonia
237237 improvement plan under Section 394A.005.
238238 Sec. 394A.007. MEETINGS OF PLANNING COUNCIL. (a) Meetings
239239 of the planning council are subject to the open meetings law,
240240 Chapter 551, Government Code. Planning council members shall
241241 receive training in the requirements of that chapter.
242242 (b) The planning council:
243243 (1) may hold meetings when called by the presiding
244244 officer or seven of the members;
245245 (2) shall keep minutes of meetings;
246246 (3) shall post on the development council's website
247247 not later than the third day before the date of a planning council
248248 meeting all materials provided to the planning council that are
249249 relevant to a matter proposed for discussion at the meeting;
250250 (4) shall make available in hard copy format to the
251251 members of the public in attendance at the meeting any materials
252252 provided to the planning council by the development council at a
253253 planning council meeting;
254254 (5) shall provide for public comment for each item on
255255 the planning council's agenda at the meeting; and
256256 (6) shall adopt rules that give the public a
257257 reasonable amount of time for testimony at meetings.
258258 Sec. 394A.008. ADOPTION OF RECOMMENDATIONS AND PLAN;
259259 HEARING REQUIRED. (a) Before adopting the housing and colonia
260260 improvement plan developed under Section 394A.005 and in an area
261261 that is convenient and proximate to large populations of colonia
262262 residents, the planning council shall hold a public hearing in each
263263 county any part of which is located in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
264264 (b) Hearings may not be held earlier than 5:30 p.m.
265265 (c) The planning council shall mail a notice of the hearing
266266 in English and Spanish to any association listed on the development
267267 council website that represents low-income persons and colonias.
268268 (d) Professional simultaneous translation from English to
269269 Spanish and from Spanish to English shall be provided at the
270270 hearing.
271271 SECTION 2. (a) If sufficient funding is not available, the
272272 Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council is not required to
273273 appoint an advisory council to develop and adopt the plan required
274274 by Section 394A.005, Local Government Code, as added by this Act.
275275 If sufficient funding to develop and adopt the plan is not
276276 available, the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council shall
277277 provide to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of
278278 the house of representatives, and the committee in each house of the
279279 legislature that has primary jurisdiction over housing matters a
280280 statement that the council is unable to implement Chapter 394A,
281281 Local Government Code, as added by this Act.
282282 (b) Subject to Subsection (a) of this section, not later
283283 than March 1, 2015, the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council
284284 shall provide to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker
285285 of the house of representatives, and the committee in each house of
286286 the legislature that has primary jurisdiction over housing matters
287287 the report and recommendations developed under Chapter 394A, Local
288288 Government Code, as added by this Act, and make recommendations
289289 regarding additional authority needed to achieve the purposes of
290290 that chapter.
291291 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
292292 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
293293 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
294294 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
295295 Act takes effect September 1, 2013.