1-1 By: Rosson S.B. No. 542
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed February 13, 1995; February 14, 1995,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on International
1-4 Relations, Trade, and Technology; March 1, 1995, reported
1-5 adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following
1-6 vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; March 1, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 542 By: Rosson
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to allowing certain counties to cancel certain platted
1-11 subdivisions if the land has not been developed and is likely to be
1-12 developed as a colonia.
1-13 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-14 SECTION 1. (a) The legislature finds that:
1-15 (1) Certain conditions along the border of the United
1-16 States and Mexico have resulted in a proliferation of substandard
1-17 housing developments in which the lack of basic infrastructure has
1-18 caused a serious and unacceptable health and safety risk.
1-19 Prevention and remediation of these conditions and their results
1-20 are of vital importance to the health, safety, and welfare of the
1-21 residents of these areas.
1-22 (2) The state has a vital role and an essential public
1-23 interest in establishing procedures for effective county prevention
1-24 of substandard housing developments while protecting the legitimate
1-25 rights of private property ownership.
1-26 (b) The purposes of this Act are to:
1-27 (1) provide counties with a mechanism to cancel
1-28 certain subdivisions that are likely to be developed without
1-29 provision of basic infrastructure;
1-30 (2) provide adequate notice to interested parties of
1-31 public hearings on this issue; and
1-32 (3) apply model rules developed under Section 16.343,
1-33 Water Code, to the affected subdivision when replatted.
1-34 SECTION 2. Chapter 232, Local Government Code, is amended by
1-35 adding Section 232.0085 to read as follows:
1-36 Sec. 232.0085. CANCELLATION OF CERTAIN SUBDIVISIONS IF LAND
1-37 REMAINS UNDEVELOPED. (a) This section applies only to real
1-38 property located:
1-39 (1) outside municipalities and the extraterritorial
1-40 jurisdiction of municipalities, as determined under Chapter 42; and
1-41 (2) in an affected county, as defined by Section
1-42 16.341, Water Code, that has adopted the model rules developed
1-43 under Section 16.343, Water Code.
1-44 (b) The commissioners court of a county may cancel, after
1-45 notice and a hearing as required by this section, a subdivision for
1-46 which the plat was filed and approved before September 1, 1989, if:
1-47 (1) the development of or the making of improvements
1-48 in the subdivision was not begun before January 1, 1995; and
1-49 (2) the commissioners court by resolution has made a
1-50 finding that the land in question is likely to be developed as a
1-51 colonia.
1-52 (c) The commissioners court must publish notice of a
1-53 proposal to cancel a subdivision under this section and the time
1-54 and place of the required hearing in a newspaper of general
1-55 circulation in the county for at least 21 days immediately before
1-56 the date a cancellation order is adopted under this section. The
1-57 county tax assessor-collector shall, not later than the 14th day
1-58 before the date of the hearing, deposit with the United States
1-59 Postal Service a similar notice addressed to each owner of land in
1-60 the subdivision, as determined by the most recent county tax roll.
1-61 (d) At the hearing, the commissioners court shall permit any
1-62 interested person to be heard. At the conclusion of the hearing,
1-63 the court shall adopt an order on whether to cancel the
1-64 subdivision. The commissioners court may adopt an order canceling
1-65 a subdivision if the court determines the cancellation is in the
1-66 best interest of the public. The court may not adopt an order
1-67 canceling a subdivision if:
1-68 (1) the cancellation interferes with the established
2-1 rights of a person who owns any part of the subdivision, unless the
2-2 person agrees to the cancellation; or
2-3 (2) the owner of the entire subdivision is able to
2-4 show that:
2-5 (A) the owner of the subdivision is able to
2-6 comply with the minimum state standards and model political
2-7 subdivision rules developed under Section 16.343, Water Code,
2-8 including any bonding requirements; or
2-9 (B) the land was developed or improved within
2-10 the period described by Subsection (b).
2-11 (e) The commissioners court shall file the cancellation
2-12 order for recording in the deed records of the county. After the
2-13 cancellation order is filed and recorded, the property shall be
2-14 treated as if it had never been subdivided, and the county tax
2-15 assessor-collector shall assess the property accordingly.
2-16 (f) In this section:
2-17 (1) "Development" means the making, installing, or
2-18 constructing of buildings and improvements.
2-19 (2) "Improvements" means water supply, treatment, and
2-20 distribution facilities; wastewater collection and treatment
2-21 facilities; and other utility facilities. The term does not
2-22 include roadway facilities.
2-23 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-26 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-27 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-28 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-29 passage, and it is so enacted.
2-30 * * * * *