By Gutierrez H.B. No. 1053
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1053:
By Hill C.S.H.B. No. 1053
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to access to neighborhood streets or alleys in certain
1-3 municipalities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 311, Transportation Code,
1-6 is amended by adding Section 311.905 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 311.905. RESTRICTED ACCESS TO NEIGHBORHOOD STREET OR
1-8 ALLEY. (a) This section applies only to:
1-9 (1) a municipality with a population of 80,000 or
1-10 more; and
1-11 (2) a street or alley if the lots or parcels
1-12 constituting at least 90 percent of the lots or parcels abutting
1-13 the street or alley have single-family residences located on them.
1-14 (b) The governing body of the municipality may adopt an
1-15 ordinance to restrict access to a neighborhood street or alley if
1-16 the governing body determines that a compelling safety interest
1-17 exists.
1-18 (c) A municipality shall consider the following factors to
1-19 determine whether a compelling safety interest exists:
1-20 (1) traffic activity on the street or alley,
1-21 including:
1-22 (A) the number of citations issued for traffic
1-23 offenses;
1-24 (B) the volume of traffic; and
2-1 (C) the frequency of accidents;
2-2 (2) criminal activity in the neighborhood, including
2-3 the rate of:
2-4 (A) arrests; and
2-5 (B) calls by neighborhood residents to law
2-6 enforcement; and
2-7 (3) other factors that the governing body determines
2-8 may constitute a compelling safety interest.
2-9 (d) The method by which access is restricted to a
2-10 neighborhood street or alley shall ensure that the following
2-11 persons have a means of access:
2-12 (1) neighborhood residents;
2-13 (2) law enforcement personnel;
2-14 (3) health and safety personnel;
2-15 (4) invitees of neighborhood residents;
2-16 (5) electric, telephone, natural gas, cable service,
2-17 and water utility personnel; and
2-18 (6) other persons the governing body determines
2-19 require access.
2-20 (e) The authority granted under this section includes the
2-21 authority to install and maintain a fence, gate, or other
2-22 structure. If a fence, gate, or other structure restricts access
2-23 from a neighborhood street or alley to the state highway system,
2-24 the structure:
2-25 (1) may not be placed on the state highway
2-26 right-of-way;
2-27 (2) may not restrict the visibility of the operator of
3-1 a vehicle on either the state highway system or the intersecting
3-2 neighborhood street or alley; and
3-3 (3) must be approved by the department as to its
3-4 location, position, and placement and may not be placed less than
3-5 75 feet from the state highway right-of-way.
3-6 (f) A municipality may adopt an ordinance under this section
3-7 only after conducting a public hearing on the proposed ordinance at
3-8 which the public is given the opportunity to present testimony and
3-9 written evidence about the proposed ordinance. The municipality
3-10 shall give at least two weeks' public notice of the hearing. The
3-11 governing body shall publish notice of the time, place, and subject
3-12 of the hearing in English and Spanish in at least one newspaper of
3-13 general circulation in the municipality. The governing body shall
3-14 provide notice by mail of the time, place, and subject of the
3-15 hearing to the residents of the neighborhood affected by the
3-16 proposed ordinance.
3-17 (g) A municipality may not restrict access to a public
3-18 street or alley under this section if the restriction would
3-19 interfere with the public's access to residential areas, commercial
3-20 developments, or other properties that are served or planned to be
3-21 served in whole or in part by the public street or alley to be
3-22 restricted and that lie beyond the immediate neighborhood to be
3-23 protected under this section by restricted access. A property
3-24 owner may waive, in writing, the provisions of this subsection and
3-25 allow a municipality to restrict access to a public street or alley
3-26 described by this subsection. A municipality shall develop
3-27 procedures to implement a waiver under this subsection.
4-1 (h) A municipality may adopt an ordinance limiting the
4-2 access to a street or alley between the hours determined by the
4-3 municipality.
4-4 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
4-5 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-6 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-7 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-8 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-9 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-10 passage, and it is so enacted.