| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to a property owner's right to remove a tree or vegetation |
|
|
that the owner believes poses a fire risk. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 240.909(b), Local Government Code, is |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(b) Except as provided by Section 250.007, the [The] |
|
|
commissioners court of a county subject to this section may |
|
|
prohibit or restrict the clear-cutting of live oak trees in the |
|
|
unincorporated area of the county. |
|
|
SECTION 2. The heading to Chapter 250, Local Government |
|
|
Code, is amended to read as follows: |
|
|
CHAPTER 250. MISCELLANEOUS LOCAL GOVERNMENT REGULATORY AUTHORITY |
|
|
[OF MUNICIPALITIES AND COUNTIES] |
|
|
SECTION 3. Chapter 250, Local Government Code, is amended |
|
|
by adding Section 250.007 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 250.007. REMOVAL OF TREE OR VEGETATION THAT POSES FIRE |
|
|
RISK. (a) Except as provided by Subsections (b) and (c), a |
|
|
municipality, county, or other political subdivision may not enact |
|
|
or enforce any ordinance, rule, or other regulation that restricts |
|
|
the ability of a property owner to remove a tree or vegetation on |
|
|
the owner's property that the owner believes poses a risk of fire to |
|
|
a structure on the property or on adjacent property, including a |
|
|
regulation that requires the owner to file an affidavit or notice |
|
|
before removing the tree or vegetation. |
|
|
(b) This section does not prevent the enforcement of an |
|
|
ordinance, rule, or other regulation: |
|
|
(1) on property being developed under a municipal |
|
|
permit; or |
|
|
(2) that: |
|
|
(A) restricts the ability of a property owner to |
|
|
remove a tree eight inches or larger in diameter at four and a half |
|
|
feet above the natural ground, except that no restrictions may be |
|
|
made on the ability to remove a mesquite (genus Prosopis), juniper |
|
|
(genus Juniperus), or salt cedar (genus Tamarix) tree, regardless |
|
|
of size; or |
|
|
(B) is designed to mitigate tree-borne diseases |
|
|
as recommended by the Texas A&M Forest Service. |
|
|
(c) This section does not apply to a municipality whose |
|
|
extraterritorial jurisdiction is immediately adjacent to or |
|
|
includes all or part of a federal military installation in active |
|
|
use as of September 1, 2013. |
|
|
SECTION 4. Chapter 202, Property Code, is amended by adding |
|
|
Section 202.013 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 202.013. REGULATION OF CERTAIN TREE OR VEGETATION |
|
|
REMOVAL. (a) A property owners' association may not include or |
|
|
enforce a provision in a dedicatory instrument that restricts the |
|
|
ability of a property owner to remove a tree or vegetation on the |
|
|
owner's property that the owner believes poses a risk of fire to a |
|
|
structure on the property or on adjacent property, including a |
|
|
provision that requires the owner to file an affidavit or notice |
|
|
before removing the tree or vegetation. |
|
|
(b) This section does not apply to a provision in a |
|
|
dedicatory instrument designed to mitigate tree-borne disease as |
|
|
recommended by the Texas A&M Forest Service. |
|
|
SECTION 5. Section 202.013, Property Code, as added by this |
|
|
Act, applies to a dedicatory instrument without regard to whether |
|
|
the dedicatory instrument takes effect or is renewed before, on, or |
|
|
after the effective date of this Act. |
|
|
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|
|
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|
|
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|
|
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|
|
Act takes effect September 1, 2013. |