HBA-KDB C.S.H.B. 2762 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2762
By: Brown, Betty
Land & Resource Management
4/23/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, municipalities plan and provide the proper development of
infrastructure for new subdivisions. A municipality has the authority to
adopt subdivision regulations, enforce a major thoroughfare plan, establish
right-of-way widths adequate for major thoroughfares, establish set-back
limits, contract with a developer to install public infrastructure without
bidding, and require new developments to get a certificate of plat
compliance before hooking-up utility connections to new residences.
However,  urban counties do not have the authority for such infrastructure
planning.  C.S.H.B. 2762 authorizes certain urban counties to plan and
provide infrastructure for subdivisions. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2762 amends the Local Government Code to authorize the
commissioners court of a county, by an order adopted and entered in the
minutes of the court, and after notice is published in a newspaper of
general circulation in the county: 

 _to adopt rules governing plats and subdivisions of land within the
unincorporated area of the county; 

_to require the width of a right-of-way on a street or major thoroughfare
to be not more than 120 feet;  

_to require the width of a right-of-way on a street or major thoroughfare
be more than 120 feet, if the requirement is consistent with a
transportation plan adopted by the metropolitan planning organization of
the region;  

_to  adopt reasonable standards for minimum lot frontages on county roads
and in relation to curves in the road, establish building and set-back
lines, and impose utility connection requirements.   

The bill prohibits the commissioners court from regulating, unless
authorized by state law:  the use of any building or property for business,
industrial, residential, or other purposes; the bulk, height, or number of
buildings constructed on a particular tract of land; the size of a building
that can be constructed on a particular tract of land; or the number of
residential units that can be built per acre of land. 

The bill authorizes the commissioners court to contract with a developer of
a subdivision or land in the unincorporated area of the county to construct
public improvements, not including a building, related to the development.
The bill requires a developer to construct public improvements and requires
the county to participate in the cost of the improvements.  The contract
must establish the limit of participation by the  county at a level not to
exceed 30 percent of the total contract price.  The bill provides that the
contract may allow participation by the county at a level not to exceed 100
percent of the total cost for any oversizing of improvements required by
the county.  The county is liable only for the agreed payment of its share,
which is required to be determined in advance either as a lump sum or as a
factor or percentage of the total actual cost as determined by an order of
the commissioners court.   The bill authorizes the county to include
additional safeguards against undue loading of cost, collusion, or fraud in
an order adopted by the commissioners court.  The developer must execute a
performance bond for the construction of the public improvements to ensure
completion of the project.  The bond must be executed by a corporate surety
in accordance with provisions relating to public work performance and
payment bonds.  

This bill applies only to a subdivision of land that is subject to county
regulations for general subdivision platting requirements and platting
requirements in a county near an international border.  The bill applies
only to a subdivision of land that is located in a county that has a
population of 150,000 or more and is adjacent to an international border,
has a population of 700,000 or more, or is adjacent to a county that has a
population of 700,000 or more and is within the same metropolitan
statistical area, as designated by the United States Census Bureau, as that
adjacent county. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 2762 modifies the original bill by setting forth provisions
regarding lot frontages and the connection of utilities and by decreasing
from 150 feet to 120 feet the width of a right-of-way on a street or major
thoroughfare required by the commissioners court.  The substitute requires
the width of a right-ofway on a street or major thoroughfare be more than
120 feet if the requirement is consistent with a transportation plan
adopted by the metropolitan planning organization of the region.  The
substitute removes the provision that authorizes the commissioners court to
impose impact fees.  The substitute sets forth certain prohibitions on the
authority of a commissioners court to regulate development.  The substitute
removes the provision that requires the commissioners court by order to
authorize payment under the contract as a fixed amount or as a factor or
percentage of the total cost.  The substitute removes the provision that
authorizes the county to inspect the developer's books and other records
related to the construction of public improvements.  The substitute differs
from the original bill by providing that the Act applies to a subdivision
of land that is subject to county regulations for subdivision platting
requirements in general or for subdivision platting requirements in a
county near an international border.  The original provided that the Act
only applies to a subdivision of land that is subject to county regulations
for general subdivision platting requirements.  The substitute provides
that the Act applies only to a subdivision of land that is located in a
county that has a population of 150,000 or more and is adjacent to an
international border, has a population of 700,000 or more, or is adjacent
to a county that has a population of 700,000 or more and is within the same
metropolitan statistical area as that adjacent county, as designated by the
United States Census Bureau.  The original provided that the Act only
applied to a subdivision of land located in a county that has a population
of 100,000 or more or  adjacent to a county that has a population of
100,000 or more and is within the same metropolitan statistical area, as
designated by the United States Census Bureau, as that adjacent county.