By Shields H.B. No. 730
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 730:
By Hill C.S.H.B. No. 730
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to promoting security and safety for neighborhood
1-3 residents by permitting the limiting of access to certain municipal
1-4 streets and alleys.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 311, Transportation Code,
1-7 is amended by adding Section 311.009 to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 311.009. LIMITING ACCESS TO STREET OR ALLEY IN CERTAIN
1-9 MUNICIPALITIES TO PROMOTE NEIGHBORHOOD SECURITY AND SAFETY.
1-10 (a) This section applies only to a street or alley of a
1-11 municipality with a population of more than 900,000 the majority of
1-12 which is located in a county with a population of less than
1-13 1,500,000 if:
1-14 (1) the lots or parcels constituting at least 90
1-15 percent of the lots or parcels abutting the street or alley are
1-16 improved with single-family residences; and
1-17 (2) the street or alley is not designated as a major
1-18 thoroughfare by the municipality.
1-19 (b) The governing body of the municipality shall authorize a
1-20 person to limit access by appropriate means, including establishing
1-21 a gate or similar structure, to a street or alley or a portion of a
1-22 street or alley of the municipality if a petition described by this
1-23 subsection is submitted to the governing body. Each signature on
1-24 the petition must be notarized. The petition must be signed by:
2-1 (1) the authorized representatives of a homeowners
2-2 association that represents the owners of the lots or parcels
2-3 abutting the street or alley if at least 75 percent of the members
2-4 of the homeowners association vote by written ballot in favor of
2-5 the petition; or
2-6 (2) at least 75 percent of the owners of the lots or
2-7 parcels abutting the street or alley.
2-8 (c) Except as provided by Subsection (i), the governing body
2-9 of the municipality shall authorize a person to limit access not
2-10 later than the 90th day after the date a petition that meets the
2-11 requirements of Subsection (b) is submitted to the governing body.
2-12 "Access to a street or alley may be limited at a maximum of
2-13 two points within the length of any block, including restrictions
2-14 at each end of the block. A "block" is defined for purposes of
2-15 this subsection as the length of a street or alley between two
2-16 cross street or between a cross street and a dead end." Access to
2-17 a street or alley may not be limited under this section between the
2-18 hours of 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.
2-19 (e) Before access to a street or alley is limited as
2-20 provided by this section, the person responsible for providing and
2-21 maintaining a means for limiting access to the street or alley
2-22 shall file a plan with the governing body to ensure that:
2-23 (1) neighborhood residents, emergency vehicles,
2-24 vehicles operated by a utility, and representatives of a
2-25 governmental entity acting on behalf of the governmental entity
2-26 have access to the street or alley at all times; and
2-27 (2) other persons operating vehicles have a means to
3-1 obtain access to the street or alley if approved by a neighborhood
3-2 resident, the homeowners association, or the municipality.
3-3 (f) The homeowners association, if the homeowners
3-4 association submits the petition, or the property owners whose lots
3-5 or parcels abut the street or alley are:
3-6 (1) liable for the cost of providing and maintaining a
3-7 means for limiting access; and
3-8 (2) responsible for providing public notice
3-9 identifying at least two individuals who:
3-10 (A) represent the homeowners association or
3-11 property owners;
3-12 (B) are responsible for coordinating access to
3-13 the street or alley; and
3-14 (C) may be reached 24 hours a day.
3-15 (g) The municipality that has jurisdiction of a street or
3-16 alley for which access is limited under this section remains
3-17 responsible for maintaining the street or alley. A utility
3-18 servicing the property abutting a street or alley for which access
3-19 is limited under this section remains responsible for maintaining
3-20 service to the property. The municipality or utility may not
3-21 request reimbursement from the homeowners association or the
3-22 property owners for those maintenance activities.
3-23 (h) If a structure authorized by this section limits access
3-24 from or to a state highway, the structure:
3-25 (1) may not be placed on a state highway right-of-way;
3-26 (2) may not restrict visibility of the operator of a
3-27 vehicle on the state highway or the intersecting street or alley;
4-1 (3) may not be placed more than 75 feet from the state
4-2 highway right-of-way; and
4-3 (4) must be approved by the department regarding the
4-4 location, position, and placement.
4-5 (i) Not later than the 60th day after the date the petition
4-6 is submitted to the governing body of the municipality, the
4-7 governing body may hold a public hearing to consider adopting an
4-8 ordinance or resolution declaring the street or alley that is the
4-9 subject of the petition a major thoroughfare. The governing body
4-10 may declare the street or alley a major thoroughfare after the
4-11 public hearing if the street or alley has at least two of the
4-12 following characteristics:
4-13 (1) the posted speed limit on the street or alley is
4-14 at least 30 miles per hour;
4-15 (2) at least one traffic-control signal controls
4-16 traffic on the street or alley;
4-17 (3) the street or alley has more than two lanes for
4-18 motorized vehicular traffic;
4-19 (4) a public or private primary or secondary school or
4-20 a public park abuts the street or alley;
4-21 (5) a building, excluding a residential building,
4-22 owned or leased by a governmental entity abuts the street or alley;
4-23 or
4-24 (6) a place of worship or a commercial lot abuts the
4-25 street or alley.
4-26 (j) In this section, "traffic-control signal" has the
4-27 meaning assigned by Section 541.304.
5-1 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
5-2 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-3 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-4 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-5 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-6 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-7 passage, and it is so enacted.