By Hilbert H.B. No. 1466
76R5807 CAG-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to comprehensive annexation planning by a municipality.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Chapter 43, Local Government Code, is amended by
1-5 adding Subchapter I to read as follows:
1-6 SUBCHAPTER I. ANNEXATION PLANNING
1-7 Sec. 43.301. APPLICATION. This chapter applies only to a
1-8 municipality with a population of 225,000 or more.
1-9 Sec. 43.302. RESTRICTIONS ON ANNEXATION OR REGULATION. A
1-10 municipality may not annex or regulate any area under this chapter
1-11 unless the annexation or regulation conforms to an annexation plan
1-12 adopted under this subchapter.
1-13 Sec. 43.303. ANNEXATION PLAN. (a) A municipality shall
1-14 prepare an annexation plan that describes any proposed annexations
1-15 or regulations in the municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction
1-16 for a 10-year period following the publication of the plan. A
1-17 municipality may modify the plan annually.
1-18 (b) The plan adopted by the municipality must ensure that
1-19 the annexation or regulation of an area occur in a manner that:
1-20 (1) is orderly;
1-21 (2) treats all areas in the municipality's
1-22 extraterritorial jurisdiction in the same manner;
1-23 (3) provides all necessary or requested information to
1-24 residents of the area to be annexed or regulated in a timely
2-1 manner;
2-2 (4) is fiscally responsible to residents of the
2-3 municipality and the area to be annexed or regulated;
2-4 (5) requires the municipality to cooperate with the
2-5 residents of the area and any other political subdivision located,
2-6 in whole or in part, in the area; and
2-7 (6) follows a logical and progressive manner.
2-8 Sec. 43.304. CONTENTS OF PLAN. (a) The plan shall:
2-9 (1) describe the municipality's method of determining
2-10 the areas in the municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction that
2-11 will be annexed or regulated in the five years following the date
2-12 the plan is prepared; and
2-13 (2) indicate whether residents of the affected area
2-14 may vote in any municipal election or participate in municipal
2-15 government.
2-16 (b) A plan may not propose to annex or regulate an area in
2-17 the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality if the area
2-18 is not directly adjacent to the boundaries of the municipality. An
2-19 area is not directly adjacent to the boundaries of a municipality
2-20 if the area is adjacent to the boundaries of the municipality by a
2-21 strip of area in the municipality that follows the course of a
2-22 road, highway, river, stream, or creek, and that has a width of
2-23 less than 1,000 feet at any point in the strip of area.
2-24 Sec. 43.305. ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY. (a) A municipality
2-25 shall conduct an economic impact study before annexing an area.
2-26 (b) The study shall:
2-27 (1) measure the economic impact on the municipality
3-1 and the area proposed to be annexed; and
3-2 (2) follow procedures similar to those adopted by
3-3 state agencies in conducting an economic impact analysis.
3-4 (c) The study shall be conducted by an independent entity
3-5 selected by the municipality and an entity representing the
3-6 interests of the area proposed to be annexed. If a municipal
3-7 utility district or other special district exists in the area, the
3-8 district shall be the representative entity.
3-9 Sec. 43.306. SERVICE PLAN REQUIREMENTS. Before annexing any
3-10 area, the municipality shall contact the existing service providers
3-11 in the area proposed for annexation and develop any service plan
3-12 required under Section 43.056.
3-13 Sec. 43.307. REPORT REGARDING PLANNING STUDY AND REGULATORY
3-14 PLAN. (a) Before the 10th day before the date the first hearing
3-15 required by Section 43.052 is held, the municipality must prepare a
3-16 report regarding the proposed annexation of an area and make the
3-17 report available to the public. The report must contain the
3-18 results of the planning study conducted for the area in accordance
3-19 with Subsection (c) and must contain the regulatory plan prepared
3-20 for the area in accordance with Subsection (d).
3-21 (b) Notice of the availability of the report shall be
3-22 published at least twice in a newspaper of general circulation in
3-23 the area proposed to be annexed. The notice may not be smaller
3-24 than one-quarter page of a standard-size or tabloid-size newspaper,
3-25 and the headline on the notice must be in 18-point or larger type.
3-26 (c) The planning study must:
3-27 (1) project the kinds and levels of development that
4-1 will occur in the area in the next 10 years;
4-2 (2) describe the issues the municipality considers to
4-3 give rise to the need for the annexation of the area and the public
4-4 benefits to result from the annexation;
4-5 (3) analyze the economic, environmental, and other
4-6 impacts the annexation of the area will have on the residents,
4-7 landowners, and businesses in the area; and
4-8 (4) identify the proposed zoning of the area and
4-9 inform the public that any comments regarding the proposed zoning
4-10 will be considered at the public hearings for the proposed
4-11 annexation.
4-12 (d) The regulatory plan must identify the kinds of land use
4-13 and other regulations that will be imposed in the area.
4-14 SECTION 2. A municipality shall adopt a plan under
4-15 Subchapter I, Chapter 43, Local Government Code, as added by this
4-16 Act, not later than January 1, 2000. A municipality may not annex
4-17 an area or impose a new regulation in an area until the
4-18 municipality has adopted a plan under this section.
4-19 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-20 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-21 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-22 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-23 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-24 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-25 passage, and it is so enacted.