1-1     By:  Turner of Coleman (Senate Sponsor - Wentworth)   H.B. No. 1445
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 2001;
 1-3     April 27, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Intergovernmental Relations; May 11, 2001, reported favorably by
 1-5     the following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 11, 2001, sent to
 1-6     printer.)
 1-7                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-8                                   AN ACT
 1-9     relating to the authority of municipalities and counties to
1-10     regulate subdivisions in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a
1-11     municipality.
1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13           SECTION 1. Section 242.001, Local Government Code, is amended
1-14     to read as follows:
1-15           Sec. 242.001.  REGULATION OF SUBDIVISIONS GENERALLY. (a)
1-16     This section applies only to a county operating under Sections
1-17     232.001-232.005 or Subchapter B or C, Chapter 232.  Subsections
1-18     (b)-(e) do not apply to a county with a municipality with a
1-19     population of 1.9 million or more, or to the extraterritorial
1-20     jurisdiction of such a municipality.  Subsection (g) applies to a
1-21     county and area to which Subsections (b)-(e) do not apply.
1-22           (b)  For an area in a municipality's extraterritorial
1-23     jurisdiction, as defined by Section 212.001, a plat may not be
1-24     filed with the county clerk without the approval of [both] the
1-25     governmental entity authorized under Subsection (c) or (d) to
1-26     regulate subdivisions in the area [municipality and the county].
1-27     [However, if one of those governmental entities requires a plat to
1-28     be filed for the subdivision of a particular tract of land in the
1-29     extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality and the other
1-30     governmental entity does not require the filing of a plat for that
1-31     subdivision, the authority responsible for approving plats for the
1-32     governmental entity that does not require the filing shall issue on
1-33     request of the subdivider a written certification stating that a
1-34     plat is not required to be filed for that subdivision of the land.
1-35     The certification must be attached to a plat required to be filed
1-36     under this subsection.]
1-37           (c)  Except as provided by Subsection (d)(4), a municipality
1-38     and a county may not both regulate subdivisions in [In] the
1-39     extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality.  The municipality
1-40     and the county shall enter into a written agreement that identifies
1-41     the governmental entity authorized to regulate subdivision plats
1-42     and approve related permits in the extraterritorial jurisdiction.
1-43     For a municipality in existence on September 1, 2001, the
1-44     municipality and county shall enter into a written agreement under
1-45     this subsection on or before January 1, 2002.  For a municipality
1-46     incorporated after September 1, 2001, the municipality and county
1-47     shall enter into a written agreement under this subsection not
1-48     later than the 120th day after the date the municipality
1-49     incorporates.  The municipality and the county shall adopt the
1-50     agreement by order, ordinance, or resolution.  The agreement must
1-51     be amended by the municipality and the county if necessary to take
1-52     into account an expansion or reduction in the extraterritorial
1-53     jurisdiction of the municipality.  The municipality shall notify
1-54     the county of any expansion or reduction in the municipality's
1-55     extraterritorial jurisdiction.
1-56           (d)  An agreement under Subsection (c) may grant the
1-57     authority to regulate subdivision plats and approve related permits
1-58     in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality as follows:
1-59                 (1)  [,]  the municipality may be granted exclusive
1-60     jurisdiction to regulate subdivision plats and approve related
1-61     permits in the extraterritorial jurisdiction and may regulate
1-62     subdivisions under Subchapter A of Chapter 212 and other statutes
1-63     applicable to municipalities;
1-64                 (2)  [, and] the county may be granted exclusive
 2-1     jurisdiction to regulate subdivision plats and approve related
 2-2     permits in the extraterritorial jurisdiction and may regulate
 2-3     subdivisions under Sections 232.001-232.005, Subchapter B or C,
 2-4     Chapter 232, and other statutes applicable to counties;
 2-5                 (3)  the municipality and the county may apportion the
 2-6     area within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality
 2-7     with the municipality regulating subdivision plats and approving
 2-8     related permits in the area assigned to the municipality and the
 2-9     county regulating subdivision plats and approving related permits
2-10     in the area assigned to the county; or
2-11                 (4)  the municipality and the county may enter into an
2-12     interlocal agreement that:
2-13                       (A)  establishes one office that is authorized
2-14     to:
2-15                             (i)  accept plat applications for tracts of
2-16     land located in the extraterritorial jurisdiction;
2-17                             (ii)  collect municipal and county plat
2-18     application fees in a lump-sum amount; and
2-19                             (iii)  provide applicants one response
2-20     indicating approval or denial of the plat application; and
2-21                       (B)  establishes a consolidated and consistent
2-22     set of regulations related to plats and subdivisions of land as
2-23     authorized by Chapter 212, Sections 232.001-232.005, Subchapters B
2-24     and C, Chapter 232, and other statutes applicable to municipalities
2-25     and counties that will be enforced in the extraterritorial
2-26     jurisdiction[.  If a municipal regulation conflicts with a county
2-27     regulation, the more stringent provisions prevail].
2-28           (e)  If a municipality and a county fail to enter into a
2-29     written agreement as required by Subsection (c), the issues in
2-30     dispute shall be submitted to a binding arbitration process that
2-31     uses a qualified alternative dispute resolution arbitrator not
2-32     later than the fifth day after the expiration of the period
2-33     prescribed by Subsection (c) for entering into a written agreement.
2-34     Each party shall submit its final proposal to the arbitrator not
2-35     later than the 15th day after the expiration of the period
2-36     prescribed by Subsection (c) for entering into a written agreement.
2-37     If the parties cannot agree on an arbitrator, the county shall
2-38     select an arbitrator, the municipality shall select an arbitrator,
2-39     and those two arbitrators shall select an arbitrator who will
2-40     decide the issues in dispute.  Each party shall pay one-half of the
2-41     arbitration costs.  The arbitrator shall issue a decision not later
2-42     than the 45th day after the expiration of the period prescribed by
2-43     Subsection (c) for entering into a written agreement.  An
2-44     arbitration decision issued under this subsection is enforceable in
2-45     a court in the county in which the municipality's extraterritorial
2-46     jurisdiction is located.
2-47           (f) [(d)]  In an unincorporated area outside the
2-48     extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality, the municipality
2-49     may not regulate subdivisions or approve the filing of plats,
2-50     except as provided by The Interlocal Cooperation Act, Chapter 791,
2-51     Government Code [(Article 4413(32c), Vernon's Texas Civil
2-52     Statutes)].
2-53           (g)  For an area in a municipality's extraterritorial
2-54     jurisdiction, as defined by Section 212.001, a plat may not be
2-55     filed with the county clerk without the approval of both the
2-56     municipality and the county.  However, if one of those governmental
2-57     entities requires a plat to be filed for the subdivision of a
2-58     particular tract of land in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of
2-59     the municipality and the other governmental entity does not require
2-60     the filing of a plat for that subdivision, the authority
2-61     responsible for approving plats for the governmental entity that
2-62     does not require the filing shall issue on request of the
2-63     subdivider a written certification stating that a plat is not
2-64     required to be filed for that subdivision of the land.  The
2-65     certification must be attached to a plat required to be filed under
2-66     this subsection.
2-67           SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
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