85R6539 SCL-F
By: Miller H.B. No. 1105
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to granting certain municipalities authority to adopt
development regulations around certain military facilities;
creating a criminal offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 7, Local Government Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 218 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 218. MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS AROUND MILITARY
AVIATION FACILITY
Sec. 218.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Agricultural use" means use or activity involving
agriculture.
(2) "Agriculture" means:
(A) cultivating the soil to produce crops for
human food, animal feed, seed for planting, or the production of
fibers;
(B) practicing floriculture, viticulture,
silviculture, or horticulture;
(C) raising, feeding, or keeping animals for
breeding purposes or for the production of food, fiber, leather,
pelts, or other tangible products having commercial value;
(D) planting cover crops, including cover crops
cultivated for transplantation, or leaving land idle for the
purpose of participating in a governmental program or normal crop
or livestock rotation procedure; or
(E) engaging in wildlife management, including
the management and control of hunting, fishing, bird-watching,
sightseeing, and other outdoor recreational activities.
(3) "Centerline" has the meaning assigned by Section
241.003.
(4) "Military aviation facility" means a base or
station of:
(A) the United States Air Force under the command
of the Air Education and Training Command;
(B) the United States Army or Navy or the Texas
National Guard at which aviation operations or training is
conducted; or
(C) a municipal airport in which military flight
training occurs.
Sec. 218.002. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS; PURPOSE. (a) The
legislature finds that:
(1) the area that surrounds a military aviation
facility will be frequented for military and national security
purposes by residents from many parts of the state and nation;
(2) a military aviation facility is essential to the
economic viability of the surrounding local community, the state,
and the nation;
(3) orderly development and use of the area is of
concern to the entire state;
(4) without adequate development regulations, the
area will tend to become congested and to be used in ways that
interfere with the proper use of the area as a safe and secure
location for the continuation of military operations;
(5) a structure or electronic emission that is an
interference negatively impacts the visual, radar, radio,
navigation, or other systems for tracking, acquiring data relating
to, monitoring, or controlling aircraft, tending to diminish safety
of flight operations and destroy or impair the utility of a military
aviation facility and the public investment in the facility; and
(6) it is imperative for the state and local
communities to protect the viability of current and future missions
at a military aviation facility by ensuring compatible land uses
are developed and no interference with flight operations is created
within the regulated area.
(b) The powers granted under this chapter are for the
purposes of:
(1) promoting the public health, safety, peace,
morals, and general welfare;
(2) protecting and preserving places and areas of
military and national security importance and significance; and
(3) encouraging state and national security.
Sec. 218.003. AREAS SUBJECT TO REGULATION. This chapter
applies only to an area that is located outside a military aviation
facility's boundaries and:
(1) that extends not more than one and one-half
nautical miles from the centerline and not more than five nautical
miles from each end of the paved surface of the primary landing
strip at a military aviation facility; and
(2) that extends not more than 25 nautical miles from a
federally owned and operated radar system on a military aviation
facility.
Sec. 218.004. DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS GENERALLY. (a) The
governing bodies of each municipality in an area described by
Section 218.003 through an air base area development board
established under Section 218.005 may regulate:
(1) in an area described by Section 218.003(1):
(A) the height, number of stories, and size of
buildings and other structures;
(B) the percentage of a lot that may be occupied;
(C) the size of yards, courts, and other open
spaces;
(D) population density;
(E) the location and use of buildings, other
structures, and land for business, industrial, residential, or
other purposes; and
(F) the placement of water and sewage facilities,
landfills, parks, retention ponds, and other required public
facilities that may be bird attractants; and
(2) in an area described by Section 218.003(2), the
placement of wind turbines.
(b) A development regulation adopted under this chapter may
not apply to a structure that existed on September 1, 2017, or a
structure owned by a utility as defined by Section 232.021. A
regulation adopted under Subsection (a)(1)(C) may not apply to a
tract of land devoted to agricultural use.
(c) A development regulation adopted under this chapter
must be consistent with and is subject to federal law, including
federal statutes, regulations, and orders relating to the placement
of a personal wireless service facility.
Sec. 218.005. AIR BASE AREA DEVELOPMENT BOARD. (a) To
exercise the authority granted under this chapter, the governing
bodies of each municipality in the regulated area shall appoint an
air base area development board to assist in the implementation and
enforcement of development regulations adopted under this chapter.
(b) An air base area development board is composed of:
(1) two members appointed by the presiding officer of
the governing body of each municipality in the regulated area;
(2) one member who owns less than 500 acres of land in
the regulated area appointed jointly by the presiding officer of
the governing body of each municipality in the regulated area;
(3) one member who owns at least 500 acres in the
regulated area appointed jointly by the presiding officer of the
governing body of each municipality in the regulated area; and
(4) one member appointed jointly by the members
appointed under Subdivisions (1) through (3), who serves as the
presiding officer of the board.
(c) An air base area development board shall perform the
duties assigned under this chapter and other duties as requested by
the governing bodies to implement this chapter.
Sec. 218.006. PROCEDURE GOVERNING ADOPTION OF REGULATIONS
AND DISTRICT BOUNDARIES. (a) A development regulation adopted
under this chapter is not effective until it is adopted by the
governing bodies of each municipality in the regulated area after a
joint public hearing. Before the 15th day before the date of the
hearing, the governing bodies of each municipality must publish
notice in English and in Spanish of the hearing in a newspaper of
general circulation in the county in which the municipality is
located.
(b) The governing bodies of each municipality in the
regulated area may prohibit or restrict development in the area
based on recommendations issued in a resolution adopted by the air
base area development board. The board's recommendations must be
based on the most recent Air Installation Compatible Use Zone
Study, the most recent Joint Land Use Study, and other available and
relevant military planning data and studies. The governing bodies
of each municipality may amend regulations adopted under this
chapter:
(1) based on amended recommendations issued in a
resolution adopted by the air base area development board as the
studies are periodically updated; and
(2) if each governing body makes findings that the
conclusions of the studies on which each governing body is basing
its findings accurately reflect development circumstances in the
subject area.
(c) The governing bodies of each municipality in the
regulated area may adopt or amend a development regulation only by
an ordinance passed by a majority vote of the full membership of
each governing body.
Sec. 218.007. COMPLIANCE WITH STUDIES AND PLANS.
Development regulations must be:
(1) adopted in accordance with the most recent Air
Installation Compatible Use Zone Study, the most recent Joint Land
Use Study, and other available and relevant military planning data
and studies for growth and development surrounding a military
aviation facility; and
(2) coordinated with the comprehensive plans of each
municipality in the regulated area.
Sec. 218.008. DISTRICTS. (a) An air base area development
board may divide the area regulated under this chapter into
districts of a number, shape, and size the board considers best for
carrying out this chapter.
(b) Development regulations may vary from district to
district.
Sec. 218.009. SPECIAL EXCEPTION. (a) A person aggrieved by
a development regulation adopted under this chapter may petition
the governing bodies of each municipality in the regulated area for
a special exception to the development regulation. The grant of a
special exception requires a majority vote of the full membership
of each governing body.
(b) The governing bodies of each municipality in the
regulated area shall adopt procedures governing applications,
notice, hearings, and other matters relating to the grant of a
special exception.
(c) On receipt of a petition for a special exception to a
development regulation under Subsection (a), the governing bodies
of each municipality in the regulated area shall notify the
affected military aviation facility of the petition.
Sec. 218.010. ENFORCEMENT; PENALTY. (a) The governing
body of each municipality in the regulated area by ordinance shall
enforce development regulations adopted by the municipality under
this chapter.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person violates a
development regulation ordinance adopted under this chapter. 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. 218.011. COOPERATION AMONG LOCAL ENTITIES. The
governing bodies of the municipalities in the regulated area and an
air base area development board may enter into an agreement to
cooperate in the drafting, implementation, and enforcement of
development regulations adopted under this chapter.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.