1-1     By:  Gallego (Senate Sponsor - Madla)                 H.B. No. 1703
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 23, 1999;
 1-3     April 26, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Intergovernmental Relations; May 14, 1999, reported adversely, with
 1-5     favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 4, Nays
 1-6     0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1703                   By:  Madla
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to the application and enforcement of traffic regulations
1-11     in private subdivisions.
1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13           SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 542, Transportation Code,
1-14     is amended by adding Section 542.007 to read as follows:
1-15           Sec. 542.007.  TRAFFIC REGULATIONS:  PRIVATE SUBDIVISIONS.
1-16     (a)  On petition of 25 percent of the property owners residing in a
1-17     subdivision located entirely in the unincorporated area of a county
1-18     in which the roads are privately maintained or on the request of
1-19     the governing body of the entity that maintains those roads, the
1-20     commissioners court of the county by order may extend any traffic
1-21     rules that apply to a county road to the roads of the subdivision
1-22     if the commissioners court finds the order in the interest of the
1-23     county generally.  The petition must specify the traffic rules that
1-24     are sought to be extended.  The court order may extend any or all
1-25     of the requested traffic rules.
1-26           (b)  As a condition of extending a traffic rule under
1-27     Subsection (a), the commissioners court may require that owners of
1-28     the property in the subdivision pay all or part of the cost of
1-29     extending and enforcing the traffic rules in the subdivision.
1-30           (c)  On issuance of an order under Subsection (a), the
1-31     private roads in the subdivision are considered to be county roads
1-32     for purposes of the application and enforcement of the specified
1-33     traffic rules.  The commissioners court may place official traffic
1-34     control devices on property abutting the private roads if:
1-35                 (1)  those devices relate to the specified traffic
1-36     rule; and
1-37                 (2)  the consent of the owner of that property is
1-38     obtained.
1-39           (d)  The governing body of a municipality by ordinance may
1-40     extend any traffic rules of this subtitle to privately maintained
1-41     roads in a subdivision that is located entirely in the municipality
1-42     and has 50 or more residents if:
1-43                 (1)  a plat of the subdivision has been filed in the
1-44     deed records of the county in which the subdivision is located;
1-45                 (2)  a request is made to the governing body of the
1-46     municipality by:
1-47                       (A)  a petition signed by 25 percent of the
1-48     property owners residing in the subdivision; or
1-49                       (B)  the governing body of the entity that
1-50     maintains the roads; and
1-51                 (3)  the request specifies the traffic rules that are
1-52     sought to be extended.
1-53           (e)  An ordinance may not be adopted under Subsection (d)
1-54     unless:
1-55                 (1)  the municipality finds the ordinance in the
1-56     interest of the public generally; and
1-57                 (2)  the ordinance specifies the traffic rules of this
1-58     subtitle that apply to the roads in the subdivision.
1-59           (f)  If after a request is made under Subsection (d)(2) the
1-60     governing body of the municipality does not adopt an ordinance
1-61     under Subsection (d) within 90 days after the date the request is
1-62     made, the municipality shall hold a public hearing on making the
1-63     traffic rules apply to the roads in the subdivision as provided in
1-64     the request.  The municipality shall publish notice of the hearing
 2-1     in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality not later
 2-2     than the 10th day before the date of the hearing.
 2-3           (g)  At the hearing, if the governing body of the
 2-4     municipality finds that the ordinance would be in the interest of
 2-5     the public generally, the municipality shall adopt an ordinance
 2-6     extending the traffic rules to the roads as provided in the
 2-7     request.
 2-8           (h)  If the governing body of a municipality adopts an
 2-9     ordinance under this section:
2-10                 (1)  the private roads in the subdivision are
2-11     considered to be municipal streets for the purposes of the
2-12     application and enforcement of the specified traffic rules; and
2-13                 (2)  the municipality may place official traffic
2-14     control devices on property abutting the private roads if:
2-15                       (A)  those devices relate to the specified
2-16     traffic rule;
2-17                       (B)  the devices are paid for by the entity that
2-18     maintains the road; and
2-19                       (C)  the consent of the owner of that property is
2-20     obtained.
2-21           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-22           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-23     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-24     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-25     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-26     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-27                                  * * * * *