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.
2-68 * * * * *