LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                              Austin, Texas
                                     
                    FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
  
                              April 23, 2001
  
  
          TO:  Honorable Gary Walker, Chair, House Committee on Land &
               Resource Management
  
        FROM:  John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
  
       IN RE:  HB450  by Yarbrough (Relating to notice and hearings
               regarding the application for certain building permits
               and the authority of municipalities to deny certain
               building permits.), As Introduced
  
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*  No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.                    *
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Local Government Impact
  
The bill applies only to municipalities with a population greater than
one million.  Under the provisions of the bill, applicable cities could
deny an application for a commercial building permit that otherwise meets
all restrictions relating to the use of the property.  The application
could be denied if either the permit department or the governing body of
the municipality, after conducting a public hearing as described below,
determine that denial is in the best interest of the public.

The permit department and the applicant would be required to provide
written notice to each property owner within 1,500 feet of the property
on which the proposed construction or repair would take place.  If the
owners of at least 20 percent of the property included in the notice sign
a written petition protesting the issuance of the commercial building
permit within 30 days of the notice, the governing body would be required
to hold a public hearing and publish a notice of the hearing in a
newspaper.

The bill would take effect on September 1, 2001.

Current law regarding the issuance of commercial building permits in
municipalities with a population of over one million requires the permit
department to issue a permit if the application meets all state and local
restrictions relating to the use of the property.

Officials with the cities of Dallas and Houston indicated implementation
of the provisions of the bill would require increasing their staff to
add employees to prepare and mail the notices. The city officials stated
that approximately 6,000 commercial building permit applications are
processed annually.   Both cities projected that the costs of salary and
benefits for additional staff, printing notices, and postage for mailing
the notices would be several million dollars per year.
  
  
Source Agencies:   304   Comptroller of Public Accounts
LBB Staff:         JK, CL, DB