By: Rosson, Truan S.B. No. 542
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to allowing certain counties to cancel certain platted
1-2 subdivisions if the land has not been developed and is likely to be
1-3 developed as a colonia.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. (a) The legislature finds that:
1-6 (1) Certain conditions along the border of the United
1-7 States and Mexico have resulted in a proliferation of substandard
1-8 housing developments in which the lack of basic infrastructure has
1-9 caused a serious and unacceptable health and safety risk.
1-10 Prevention and remediation of these conditions and their results
1-11 are of vital importance to the health, safety, and welfare of the
1-12 residents of these areas.
1-13 (2) The state has a vital role and an essential public
1-14 interest in establishing procedures for effective county prevention
1-15 of substandard housing developments while protecting the legitimate
1-16 rights of private property ownership.
1-17 (b) The purposes of this Act are to:
1-18 (1) provide counties with a mechanism to cancel
1-19 certain subdivisions that are likely to be developed without
1-20 provision of basic infrastructure;
1-21 (2) provide adequate notice to interested parties of
1-22 public hearings on this issue; and
1-23 (3) apply model rules developed under Section 16.343,
1-24 Water Code, to the affected subdivision when replatted.
2-1 SECTION 2. Chapter 232, Local Government Code, is amended by
2-2 adding Section 232.0085 to read as follows:
2-3 Sec. 232.0085. CANCELLATION OF CERTAIN SUBDIVISIONS IF LAND
2-4 REMAINS UNDEVELOPED. (a) This section applies only to real
2-5 property located:
2-6 (1) outside municipalities and the extraterritorial
2-7 jurisdiction of municipalities, as determined under Chapter 42; and
2-8 (2) in an affected county, as defined by Section
2-9 16.341, Water Code, that has adopted the model rules developed
2-10 under Section 16.343, Water Code, and is located along an
2-11 international border.
2-12 (b) The commissioners court of a county may cancel, after
2-13 notice and a hearing as required by this section, a subdivision for
2-14 which the plat was filed and approved before September 1, 1989, if:
2-15 (1) the development of or the making of improvements
2-16 in the subdivision was not begun before the effective date of this
2-17 section; and
2-18 (2) the commissioners court by resolution has made a
2-19 finding that the land in question is likely to be developed as a
2-20 colonia.
2-21 (c) The commissioners court must publish notice of a
2-22 proposal to cancel a subdivision under this section and the time
2-23 and place of the required hearing in a newspaper of general
2-24 circulation in the county for at least 21 days immediately before
2-25 the date a cancellation order is adopted under this section. The
2-26 county tax assessor-collector shall, not later than the 14th day
2-27 before the date of the hearing, deposit with the United States
3-1 Postal Service a similar notice addressed to each owner of land in
3-2 the subdivision, as determined by the most recent county tax roll.
3-3 (d) At the hearing, the commissioners court shall permit any
3-4 interested person to be heard. At the conclusion of the hearing,
3-5 the court shall adopt an order on whether to cancel the
3-6 subdivision. The commissioners court may adopt an order canceling
3-7 a subdivision if the court determines the cancellation is in the
3-8 best interest of the public. The court may not adopt an order
3-9 canceling a subdivision if:
3-10 (1) the cancellation interferes with the established
3-11 rights of a person who is a nondeveloper owner and owns any part of
3-12 the subdivision, unless the person agrees to the cancellation; or
3-13 (2) the owner of the entire subdivision is able to
3-14 show that:
3-15 (A) the owner of the subdivision is able to
3-16 comply with the minimum state standards and model political
3-17 subdivision rules developed under Section 16.343, Water Code,
3-18 including any bonding requirements; or
3-19 (B) the land was developed or improved within
3-20 the period described by Subsection (b).
3-21 (e) The commissioners court shall file the cancellation
3-22 order for recording in the deed records of the county. After the
3-23 cancellation order is filed and recorded, the property shall be
3-24 treated as if it had never been subdivided, and the county chief
3-25 appraiser shall assess the property accordingly. Any liens against
3-26 the property shall remain against the property as it was previously
3-27 subdivided.
4-1 (f) In this section:
4-2 (1) "Development" means the making, installing, or
4-3 constructing of buildings and improvements.
4-4 (2) "Improvements" means water supply, treatment, and
4-5 distribution facilities; wastewater collection and treatment
4-6 facilities; and other utility facilities. The term does not
4-7 include roadway facilities.
4-8 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-13 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-14 passage, and it is so enacted.