By: Wilson (Senate Sponsor - Bettencourt) H.B. No. 3699
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 2023;
May 11, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on Local
Government; May 18, 2023, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 2;
May 18, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 3699 By: Parker
COMMITTEE VOTE
YeaNayAbsentPNV
BettencourtX
SpringerX
EckhardtX
GutierrezX
HallX
NicholsX
ParkerX
PaxtonX
WestX
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to municipal regulation of subdivisions and approval of
subdivision plans or plats.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 212, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Section 212.0021 to read as follows:
Sec. 212.0021. SUBDIVISION REQUIREMENTS. The governing
body of a municipality, by ordinance and after notice is published
in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality, may:
(1) adopt, based on the amount and kind of travel over
each street or road in a subdivision, reasonable specifications
relating to the construction of each street or road; and
(2) adopt reasonable specifications to provide
adequate drainage for each street or road in a subdivision in
accordance with standard engineering practices.
SECTION 2. Section 212.003(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The governing body of a municipality by ordinance may
extend to the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality the
application of municipal ordinances adopted under Section 212.002
and other municipal ordinances relating to access to public roads
or the pumping, extraction, and use of groundwater by persons other
than retail public utilities, as defined by Section 13.002, Water
Code, for the purpose of preventing the use or contact with
groundwater that presents an actual or potential threat to human
health. However, unless otherwise authorized by state law, in its
extraterritorial jurisdiction a municipality shall not regulate,
either directly or indirectly:
(1) the use of any building or property for business,
industrial, residential, or other purposes;
(2) the bulk, height, or number of buildings
constructed on a particular tract of land;
(3) the size of a building that can be constructed on a
particular tract of land, including without limitation any
restriction on the ratio of building floor space to the land square
footage;
(4) the minimum size of a lot, dimensions of a lot,
minimum width of a lot frontage, minimum distance a lot must be set
back from a road or property line, or another component of lot
density on a particular tract of land;
(5) the number of residential units that can be built
per acre of land; or
(6) [(5)] the size, type, or method of construction of
a water or wastewater facility that can be constructed to serve a
developed tract of land if[:
[(A)] the facility meets the minimum standards
established for water or wastewater facilities by state and federal
regulatory entities[; and
[(B) the developed tract of land is:
[(i) located in a county with a population
of 2.8 million or more; and
[(ii) served by:
[(a) on-site septic systems
constructed before September 1, 2001, that fail to provide adequate
services; or
[(b) on-site water wells constructed
before September 1, 2001, that fail to provide an adequate supply of
safe drinking water].
SECTION 3. Sections 212.004(a) and (b), Local Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The owner of a tract of land located within the limits or
in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality who divides
the tract in two or more parts to lay out a subdivision of the tract,
including an addition to a municipality, to lay out suburban,
building, or other lots, or to lay out streets, alleys, squares,
parks, or other parts of the tract intended by the owner of the
tract to be dedicated to public use or for the private use of
purchasers or owners of lots fronting on or adjacent to the streets,
alleys, squares, parks, or other parts to be maintained by the
purchasers or owners of those lots must have a plat of the
subdivision prepared. A division of a tract under this subsection
includes a division regardless of whether it is made by using a
metes and bounds description in a deed of conveyance or in a
contract for a deed, by using a contract of sale or other executory
contract to convey, or by using any other method. A division of
land under this subsection does not include a division of land into
parts greater than five acres, where each part has access and no
public improvement is being dedicated.
(b) To be recorded, the plat must:
(1) describe the subdivision by metes and bounds;
(2) locate the subdivision with respect to a corner of
the survey or tract or an original corner of the original survey of
which it is a part; and
(3) state the dimensions of the subdivision and of
each street, alley, square, park, or other part of the tract
intended by the owner of the tract to be dedicated to public use or
for the private use of purchasers or owners of lots fronting on or
adjacent to the street, alley, square, park, or other part to be
maintained by the purchasers or owners of those lots.
SECTION 4. Section 212.005, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 212.005. APPROVAL BY MUNICIPALITY REQUIRED. (a) The
municipal authority responsible for approving plats must approve a
plat or replat that is required to be prepared under this subchapter
and that satisfies the requirements of this subchapter [all
applicable regulations].
(b) This subchapter may not be construed to convey any
authority to a municipality regarding the completeness of an
application or the approval of a plat or replat that is not
explicitly granted by this subchapter.
SECTION 5. Subchapter A, Chapter 212, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Section 212.0081 to read as follows:
Sec. 212.0081. REQUIRED APPLICATION MATERIALS. (a) Each
municipality shall adopt and make available to the public a
complete, written list of all documentation and other information
that the municipality requires to be submitted with a plat
application. The required documentation and other information must
be related to a requirement authorized under this subchapter.
(b) A plat application submitted to the municipal authority
responsible for approving plats that contains all documents and
other information on the list provided under Subsection (a) is
considered complete.
(c) A municipality that operates an Internet website shall
publish and continuously maintain the list described by Subsection
(a) on the Internet website not later than the 30th day after the
date the municipality adopts or amends the list.
(d) A municipality that does not operate an Internet website
shall publish the list described by Subsection (a) on adoption of
the list or an amendment to the list in:
(1) a newspaper of general circulation in the
municipality; and
(2) a public place in the location in which the
governing body of the municipality meets.
SECTION 6. Section 212.009(b-2), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b-2) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) or (b), the parties
shall [may] extend the 30-day period described by those subsections
for a period not to exceed 30 days if:
(1) both:
(A) the applicant requests the extension in
writing to the municipal authority responsible for approving plats
or the governing body of the municipality, as applicable; and
(B) [(2)] the municipal authority or governing
body, as applicable, approves the extension request; or
(2) Chapter 2007, Government Code, requires the
municipality to perform a takings impact assessment in connection
with the plan or plat.
SECTION 7. Section 212.010, Local Government Code, is
amended by adding Subsections (c), (d), and (e) to read as follows:
(c) The municipal authority responsible for approving plats
may not require the dedication of land within a subdivision for a
future street or alley that is:
(1) not intended by the owner of the tract; and
(2) not included, funded, and approved in:
(A) a capital improvement plan adopted by the
municipality; or
(B) a similar plan adopted by a county in which
the municipality is located or the state.
(d) A municipal authority responsible for approving plats
may not refuse to review a plat or to approve a plat for recordation
for failure to identify a corridor, as defined by Section 201.619,
Transportation Code, unless the corridor is part of an agreement
between the Texas Department of Transportation and a county in
which the municipality is located under that section.
(e) If a municipal authority responsible for approving
plats fails or refuses to approve a plat that meets the requirements
of this subchapter, the owner of the tract that is the subject of
the plat may bring an action in a district court in a county in which
the tract is located for a writ of mandamus to compel the municipal
authority to approve the plat by issuing to the owner applicable
approval documentation. The prevailing party may recover
reasonable and necessary attorney's fees and court costs in the
action.
SECTION 8. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act but not later than January 1, 2024, each municipality
shall adopt and publish the list described by Section 212.0081,
Local Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an application submitted on or after the effective date of this Act.
An application submitted before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law applicable to the application immediately
before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 10. 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, 2023.
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