Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2341 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R9070 JRR-D
2	2	By: Martinez H.B. No. 2341
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the control of access to state highways by the Texas
8	8	Department of Transportation.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 203.031(a-1), Transportation Code, is
11	11	amended to read as follows:
12	12	(a-1) In the exercise of its authority to manage access to
13	13	or from a controlled access highway under Subsection (a)(2) or (4),
14	14	the commission by rule shall:
15	15	(1) require that a decision by a department district
16	16	office denying a request for access to a specific location on a
17	17	controlled access highway be in writing and include the reasons for
18	18	the denial;
19	19	(2) provide procedures for appealing a denial under
20	20	Subdivision (1), including procedures that:
21	21	(A) allow the applicant to appeal the denial to
22	22	the department's design division before the 31st day after the date
23	23	written notice of the denial is given to the applicant;
24	24	(B) provide that if an appeal under Paragraph (A)
25	25	is not decided before the 31st [91st] day after the date the appeal
26	26	was filed, the access applied for must be granted; and
27	27	(C) allow the applicant to appeal the decision of
28	28	the design division to the director and, if the decision is
29	29	affirmed, to a board of variance appointed by the director and
30	30	composed of at least three persons who may not be below the level of
31	31	department division director, office director, or district
32	32	engineer and who were not involved in the original decision to deny
33	33	access;
34	34	(3) provide that properly platted access points to or
35	35	from a controlled access highway that are located on undeveloped
36	36	property are subject to the access management standards in effect
37	37	at the time the points were platted regardless of when the initial
38	38	request for access was submitted to the department, but only if:
39	39	(A) development of the property begins and the
40	40	request for access at the platted locations is submitted to the
41	41	department before the fifth anniversary of the date the plat was
42	42	recorded; and
43	43	(B) the design of the highway facility in the
44	44	vicinity of the platted access points did not materially change
45	45	after the date the plat was recorded so as to significantly impact
46	46	traffic patterns to the extent that the platted access points
47	47	present a threat to public safety;
48	48	(4) require that:
49	49	(A) owners of land adjacent to a proposed highway
50	50	construction project be provided written notice of the project at
51	51	least 60 days before the date construction begins if the project
52	52	will permanently alter permitted access to or from a controlled
53	53	access highway at the owners' existing locations; and
54	54	(B) the access described by Paragraph (A) be
55	55	reinstated to the most practicable extent possible after due
56	56	consideration of the impact on highway safety, mobility, and
57	57	efficient operation of any changed traffic patterns resulting from
58	58	the construction;
59	59	(5) adopt criteria for determining when a variance to
60	60	access management standards may be granted, including criteria
61	61	that, in addition to highway safety, mobility, and efficient
62	62	operation concerns, takes into consideration any of the following
63	63	consequences resulting from denial of the owner's request for
64	64	access to a specific location on a controlled access highway that
65	65	may impact a property owner:
66	66	(A) denial of reasonable access to the property;
67	67	and
68	68	(B) undue hardship on a business located on the
69	69	property; [and]
70	70	(6) clarify that the remodeling or demolition and
71	71	rebuilding of a business does not cause new access management
72	72	standards to apply unless the department makes an affirmative
73	73	finding in writing that the remodeled or rebuilt business will
74	74	significantly impact traffic patterns to the extent that the
75	75	current access location presents a threat to public safety;
76	76	(7) ensure that the application of access management
77	77	standards does not result in inconsistent access to or from a
78	78	controlled access highway for properties used for the same or
79	79	similar purposes; and
80	80	(8) adopt access management standards that:
81	81	(A) ensure sufficient access to or from a
82	82	controlled access highway for properties that are two acres or
83	83	less; and
84	84	(B) require direct access to a controlled access
85	85	highway for properties that are adjacent to the highway and have at
86	86	least two hundred feet of frontage on the highway.
87	87	SECTION 2. Not later than January 1, 2018, the Texas
88	88	Transportation Commission shall adopt the rules required by Section
89	89	203.031, Transportation Code, as amended by this Act.
90	90	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
91	91	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
92	92	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
93	93	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
94	94	Act takes effect September 1, 2017.