By Shields H.B. No. 132 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to the regulation by home-rule municipalities of streets, 1-3 avenues, alleys, and boulevards. 1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-5 SECTION 1. A home-rule municipality has the following 1-6 powers: 1-7 1. To regulate and restrict access to streets, 1-8 avenues, alleys, and boulevards in the municipality, including the 1-9 erection of and maintenance of fences, gates, or other structures. 1-10 The municipality may act alone or in conjunction with another 1-11 entity or person. 1-12 2. Subject to the following provisions, a home-rule 1-13 municipality shall grant permission for the property-owners of a 1-14 street to erect and maintain fences, gates or other structures 1-15 which control access to the street: 1-16 a. Application shall be made in the form of a 1-17 petition on which the majority of the property-owners of the street 1-18 have expressed a desire that such a fence, gate, or other structure 1-19 be erected. 1-20 b. The cost of erecting and maintaining such 1-21 structure shall be borne equally by all property-owners of the 1-22 street. 1-23 c. The fence, gate or other structure may not 2-1 restrict access to the street by any vehicle between the hours of 2-2 6:00 am and 9:00 pm. 2-3 d. Provision shall be made for emergency 2-4 vehicles or vehicles operated by a utility to access the street at 2-5 all times. 2-6 e. Erection of a fence, gate or other structure 2-7 under the provisions of this Act shall not effect the 2-8 municipality's ownership of the street, nor its obligation to 2-9 maintain the street and any utilities located thereon. 2-10 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the 2-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 2-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 2-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 2-14 days in each house be suspended, and that this Act take effect and 2-15 be in force from and after its passage, and it is so enacted.