By Lewis of Orange H.B. No. 1821
75R5230 DRH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the subdivision of land outside a municipality.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 232.001(a), Local Government Code, is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 (a) The owner of a tract of land located outside the limits
1-7 of a municipality who divides the tract into two or more parts to
1-8 lay out a subdivision of the tract, including an addition, [or] to
1-9 lay out suburban lots or building lots, or [and] to lay out
1-10 streets, alleys, squares, parks, or other parts of the tract
1-11 intended to be dedicated to public use or for the use of purchasers
1-12 or owners of lots fronting on or adjacent to the streets, alleys,
1-13 squares, parks, or other parts must have a plat of the subdivision
1-14 prepared. A division of a tract under this subsection includes a
1-15 division regardless of whether it is made by using a metes and
1-16 bounds description in a deed of conveyance or in a contract for a
1-17 deed, by using a contract of sale or other executory contract to
1-18 convey, or by using any other method.
1-19 SECTION 2. Section 232.0015, Local Government Code, is
1-20 amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
1-21 (c) A county may not require a plat for a subdivision of
1-22 land used for agricultural purposes if each subdivided piece of
1-23 land will continue to be used for agricultural purposes.
1-24 SECTION 3. Section 232.003, Local Government Code, is
2-1 amended to read as follows:
2-2 Sec. 232.003. SUBDIVISION REQUIREMENTS. (a) By an order
2-3 adopted and entered in the minutes of the commissioners court, and
2-4 after a notice is published in a newspaper of general circulation
2-5 in the county, the commissioners court may:
2-6 (1) require a right-of-way on a street or road that
2-7 functions as a main artery in a subdivision, of a width of not less
2-8 than 50 feet or more than 100 feet;
2-9 (2) require a right-of-way on any other street or road
2-10 in a subdivision of not less than 40 feet or more than 70 feet;
2-11 (3) require that the shoulder-to-shoulder width on
2-12 collectors or main arteries within the right-of-way be not less
2-13 than 32 feet or more than 56 feet, and that the
2-14 shoulder-to-shoulder width on any other street or road be not less
2-15 than 25 feet or more than 35 feet;
2-16 (4) adopt, based on the amount and kind of travel over
2-17 each street or road in a subdivision, reasonable specifications
2-18 relating to the construction of each street or road;
2-19 (5) adopt reasonable specifications to provide
2-20 adequate drainage for each street or road in a subdivision in
2-21 accordance with standard engineering practices;
2-22 (6) require that each purchase contract made between a
2-23 subdivider and a purchaser of land in the subdivision contain a
2-24 statement describing the extent to which water will be made
2-25 available to the subdivision and, if it will be made available, how
2-26 and when; [and]
2-27 (7) require that the owner of the tract to be
3-1 subdivided execute a good and sufficient bond in the manner
3-2 provided by Section 232.004; and
3-3 (8) provide for drainage in the subdivision to:
3-4 (A) avoid concentration of storm drainage water
3-5 from each lot to adjacent lots;
3-6 (B) provide drainage away from all buildings;
3-7 and
3-8 (C) coordinate individual lot drainage with the
3-9 general storm drainage for the area.
3-10 (b) A utility, as defined by Section 232.021, may not serve
3-11 or connect any subdivided land with electricity or gas utilities
3-12 unless the utility receives a determination from the commissioners
3-13 court of the county that adequate water and sewer services are
3-14 available for the subdivision.
3-15 (c) The prohibition established by Subsection (b) applies
3-16 only to land that a utility first serves or connects with services
3-17 on or after September 1, 1997.
3-18 SECTION 4. Section 232.004, Local Government Code, is
3-19 amended to read as follows:
3-20 Sec. 232.004. BOND REQUIREMENTS. If the commissioners court
3-21 requires the owner of the tract to execute a bond, the owner must
3-22 do so before subdividing the tract unless an alternative financial
3-23 guarantee is provided under Section 232.0045. The bond must:
3-24 (1) be payable to the county judge of the county in
3-25 which the subdivision will be located or to the judge's successors
3-26 in office;
3-27 (2) be in an amount determined by the commissioners
4-1 court to be adequate to ensure proper construction of the roads and
4-2 streets in the subdivision, but not to exceed the estimated cost of
4-3 construction of the roads and streets;
4-4 (3) be executed with sureties as may be approved by
4-5 the court;
4-6 (4) be executed by a company authorized to do business
4-7 as a surety in this state if the court requires a surety bond
4-8 executed by a corporate surety; and
4-9 (5) be conditioned that the roads and streets and the
4-10 drainage requirements for the subdivision will be constructed:
4-11 (A) in accordance with the specifications
4-12 adopted by the court; and
4-13 (B) within a reasonable time set by the court.
4-14 SECTION 5. Section 232.008, Local Government Code, is
4-15 amended by adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
4-16 (h) The commissioners court may deny a cancellation under
4-17 this section if the commissioners court determines the cancellation
4-18 will prevent the interconnection of infrastructure to future or
4-19 existing development.
4-20 SECTION 6. Section 232.009, Local Government Code, is
4-21 amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (f) to
4-22 read as follows:
4-23 (c) After the application is filed with the commissioners
4-24 court, the court shall publish a notice of the application in a
4-25 newspaper of general circulation in the county. The notice must
4-26 include a statement of the time and place at which the court will
4-27 meet to consider the application and to hear protests to the
5-1 revision of the plat. The notice must be published at least three
5-2 times during the period that begins on the 30th day and ends on the
5-3 seventh day before the date of the meeting. Except as provided by
5-4 Subsection (f), if [If] all or part of the subdivided tract has
5-5 been sold to nondeveloper owners, the court shall also give notice
5-6 to each of those owners by certified or registered mail, return
5-7 receipt requested, at the owner's address in the subdivided tract.
5-8 (f) The commissioners court is not required to give notice
5-9 by mail under Subsection (c) if the plat revision only combines
5-10 existing tracts.
5-11 SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
5-12 applies only to land subdivided or a plat filed on or after that
5-13 date.
5-14 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
5-15 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-16 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-17 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-18 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.