Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 1204 amends the Local Government Code to require a municipality and a county that have not reached an agreement on the regulation of subdivisions within the municipality’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) by a certain date to enter into arbitration to settle the disputed issues. Either entity can request arbitration, and neither can refuse to participate. The bill sets out the procedures for selecting an arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators, who must render a decision within 60 days of selection. If a decision is not reached by that time, the arbitrator or arbitration panel must issue an interim decision that remains in effect until a decision is reached. The bill places limitations on the arbitrator’s authority, prohibits the municipality and county from arbitrating regulation of an individual plat, and provides that only one of the two entities may approve permits in the ETJ after an agreement has been executed. It holds the municipality and county equally liable for arbitration costs and requires them to certify that their agreement complies with applicable state law. The bill exempts from the regulation agreement a tract of land in an ETJ that is subject to certain development agreements between the municipality and the property owner. The bill stipulates that if a regulation or agreement establishes a plan for future roads that conflicts with a proposal or plan adopted by a metropolitan planning organization (MPO), the MPO proposal or plan prevails. The bill makes property that is released from a municipality's ETJ and for which approval of certain plat applications is pending subject only to county approval of the application and related permits and county regulation of the plat. The bill stipulates that any expansion or reduction in an ETJ that affects property subject to a plat application or an application for a related permit filed with either the county or the municipality does not affect any rights accrued in the process, and the application's approval by either entity remains effective regardless of its ETJ designation. The bill provides alternative procedures for the revision of a plat located outside a municipality and the ETJ of a municipality with a population of at least 1.5 million.