By: Eckhardt S.B. No. 1838
(In the Senate - Filed March 12, 2021; March 26, 2021, read
first time and referred to Committee on Transportation;
April 23, 2021, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; April 23, 2021,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1838 By: West
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the grant of a 99-year lease of certain state property
and certain easements to the Capital Metropolitan Transportation
Authority.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 2B(a) and (b), Chapter 34 (H.B. 215),
General Laws, Acts of the 33rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1913,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) The leasehold interest granted by the state under
Sections 2 and 2A(a)(2) of this Act shall be limited to only the
surface of the property described in Sections 1 and 2A(a)(2) of this
Act and shall be subject and subordinate to those rights and
interests granted to the Capital Metropolitan Transportation
Authority pursuant to Section 3 of this Act, provided however that
the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority shall exercise
those rights and interests so as to reasonably accommodate the
public park uses authorized by Sections 2 and 2A of this Act. The
state does not by this Act part with any title, color of title or
interest which it now owns in the property described in this Act,
except as granted herein.
(b) In the event, however, the City of Austin should fail to
use the property described in Section 1 or 2A(a)(1) or (2) of this
Act for the purpose or purposes designated, that property shall
revert to the State as upon breach of condition subsequent,
provided, however, that if the exercise of the rights and interests
granted to the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority under
Section 3 of this Act prevents the use of the property for a purpose
designated for any period of time during the lease, such failure
shall not be a breach of conditions.
SECTION 2. Chapter 34 (H.B. 215), General Laws, Acts of the
33rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1913, is amended by adding
Section 3 to read as follows:
Sec. 3. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
Act, the State of Texas hereby cedes and grants to the Capital
Metropolitan Transportation Authority for a period of 99 years
beginning on the effective date of this Act a lease of all of the
subsurface strata below the surface of the property described only
in Sections 1 and 2A(a)(2) of this Act and the streets abutting such
property to the center of such streets.
(b) The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority may
use the subsurface of the property described in Subsection (a) of
this section only for public transportation, a subway or
underground railway station, tunnel, or terminal, and
transportation facilities, including any related retail,
commercial, public performance and exhibition, and public amenity
purposes. In any location and at any depth below the surface of the
property described in Subsection (a) of this section, the Capital
Metropolitan Transportation Authority may construct, operate,
repair, maintain, replace, and remove the following transportation
facilities:
(1) public transportation facilities, including
subway and railway tunnels, stations, tracks, and related
improvements;
(2) common areas and facilities designated for the
general use and convenience of any subtenants, passengers,
visitors, and occupants of the transportation facilities,
including concourses, tunnels, piers, boarding areas, stages,
exhibition and performance areas, seating areas, elevators, moving
walkways, sidewalks, stairways, escalators, pedestrian entrances,
station portals, air intakes or exits, loading zones, landscaping,
and any related facilities or improvements;
(3) shops, stores, booths, stands, spaces, and related
facilities used for any commercial, retail, market, or restaurant
uses;
(4) billboards and any advertising or promotional
signs or displays; and
(5) improvements, utilities, and related
infrastructure and public amenities related to the provision and
development of services and facilities described by Subdivisions
(1), (2), (3), and (4) of this subsection.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the
State of Texas hereby cedes and grants to the Capital Metropolitan
Transportation Authority for a period of 99 years beginning on the
effective date of this Act the following easements on the surface of
the property described only in Sections 1 and 2A(a)(2) of this Act
and the streets abutting such property to the center of such
streets:
(1) a temporary nonexclusive construction easement to
use the minimum amount of the surface of the property as the Capital
Metropolitan Transportation Authority may reasonably consider
necessary:
(A) for a period not to exceed five years from the
commencement of construction in connection with the installation of
the transportation facilities described by Subsection (b) of this
section or the surface ancillary amenities described by Subdivision
(5) of this subsection; and
(B) from time to time after the period described
by Paragraph (A) of this subdivision for the purpose of renovating,
maintaining, repairing, replacing, relocating, or removing all or
any part of the transportation facilities described by Subsection
(b) of this section or the surface ancillary amenities described by
Subdivision (5) of this subsection;
(2) a nonexclusive access easement for maintenance
vehicle and pedestrian ingress, egress, and access to and from the
transportation facilities described by Subsection (b) of this
section on, over, and across the surface of the property, whether on
existing roadways, sidewalks, or walkways located on the property
or otherwise over the surface ancillary amenities described by
Subdivision (5) of this subsection as the Capital Metropolitan
Transportation Authority may install from time to time;
(3) a nonexclusive easement over the property for
audio, visual, view, reflective light, shadow flicker, glimmer,
noise, shadow, glare, and any other effects attributable to the
transportation facilities described by Subsection (b) of this
section located under or on the property and on property adjacent to
that property;
(4) a nonexclusive easement over the surface of the
property for the purpose of installing, maintaining, repairing,
replacing, relocating, or removing from time to time any:
(A) power transmission lines:
(i) including overhead and underground
transmission lines, poles, anchors, conduits, support structures,
cables, distribution and interconnection facilities, and related
utility facilities, infrastructure, and equipment; and
(ii) excluding any substation;
(B) telecommunication and data lines, including
overhead and underground transmission lines, poles, anchors,
conduits, support structures, cables, and related utility
facilities, infrastructure, and equipment;
(C) water, drainage, waste and sewer lines,
conduits, support structures, and related utility facilities,
infrastructure, and equipment; and
(D) other utility facilities, infrastructure,
and equipment as the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority
may consider necessary or desirable in connection with the
development, operation, and maintenance of the transportation
facilities described by Subsection (b) of this section or the
surface ancillary amenities described by Subdivision (5) of this
subsection; and
(5) an encroachment easement for the Capital
Metropolitan Transportation Authority to install over the surface
of the property, for the purpose of providing access to the
transportation facilities described by Subsection (b) of this
section, surface ancillary amenities compatible with public park
uses as follows:
(A) for a period not to exceed five years from the
commencement of construction in connection with the installation of
the transportation facilities described by Subsection (b) of this
section, the right to construct and install aboveground signage,
booths, walkways, sidewalks, elevators, stairwells, escalators,
awnings, entryways, exits, fences, landscaping, air intakes or
exits, trash receptacles, and other public amenities; and
(B) from time to time after the period described
by Paragraph (A) of this subdivision, the right to:
(i) maintain, repair, replace, or remove a
surface ancillary amenity listed in Paragraph (A) of this
subdivision; and
(ii) construct or install fences,
landscaping, trash receptacles, and surface ancillary amenities
that are wayfinding in nature, including aboveground signage,
booths, and awnings.
(d) The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority
shall, in exercising the Capital Metropolitan Transportation
Authority's rights and interests on the surface of the property:
(1) to mitigate and minimize harm to the public park
uses, take measures that, at a minimum, comply with 49 U.S.C.
Section 303 and 23 U.S.C. Section 138; and
(2) use best efforts to preserve and protect any
existing trees that are 24 caliper inches or larger.
(e) Each easement granted to the Capital Metropolitan
Transportation Authority under Subsection (c) of this section shall
be appurtenant to the leasehold interest granted to the Capital
Metropolitan Transportation Authority under Subsection (a) of this
section, shall run with the property described in Subsections (a)
and (c) of this section, and shall inure to the benefit of the
Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Nonuse of an
easement or right granted under Subsection (c) of this section does
not constitute abandonment or surrender and does not preclude the
use of the entire scope of the easement or right by the Capital
Metropolitan Transportation Authority at any time or from time to
time.
(f) The state acknowledges and agrees that the Capital
Metropolitan Transportation Authority shall be the sole and
exclusive owner of all transportation facilities described by
Subsection (b) of this section and surface ancillary amenities
described by Subsection (c)(5) of this section installed under this
section, and the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority may
convey or remove the same at any time or from time to time. The
state hereby waives any lien rights, whether statutory or
otherwise, the state has or may have to the transportation
facilities described by Subsection (b) of this section or the
surface ancillary amenities described by Subsection (c)(5) of this
section.
(g) The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority shall
have the right at any time and from time to time to assign,
encumber, hypothecate, mortgage, or pledge any right, title, or
interest granted to the Capital Metropolitan Transportation
Authority under this section, including, without limitation, any of
its right, title, or interest in and to the transportation
facilities described by Subsection (b) of this section or the
surface ancillary amenities described by Subsection (c)(5) of this
section. Moreover, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation
Authority is hereby authorized to grant such subleases, easements,
and licenses over, across, through, or under the property described
in Subsections (a) and (c) of this section as the Capital
Metropolitan Transportation Authority may consider necessary or
desirable in connection with the development, operation, or
maintenance of the transportation facilities described by
Subsection (b) of this section or the surface ancillary amenities
described by Subsection (c)(5) of this section.
(h) The State of Texas does not by this Act part with any
title, color of title, or interest which it now owns in the property
described in this section, except as granted in this section.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
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