|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to the provision of affordable housing and other services |
|
in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 12, Local Government Code, is |
|
amended by adding Chapter 394A to read as follows: |
|
CHAPTER 394A. LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY COLONIA AND REGIONAL |
|
HOUSING DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE |
|
Sec. 394A.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: |
|
(1) "Development council" means the Lower Rio Grande |
|
Valley Development Council. |
|
(2) "Planning council" means the research and advisory |
|
council established under Section 394A.004. |
|
Sec. 394A.002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies only to |
|
Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy Counties and the Lower Rio Grande |
|
Valley Development Council. |
|
Sec. 394A.003. POWERS AND DUTIES OF DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL. |
|
In administering this chapter, the development council shall: |
|
(1) employ or contract for staff to support the |
|
planning council; |
|
(2) maintain on its website: |
|
(A) a list of associations representing |
|
low-income persons and colonias; and |
|
(B) all minutes and other records related to the |
|
meetings of the planning council; and |
|
(3) approve the housing and colonia improvement plan |
|
adopted by the planning council under Section 394A.005. |
|
Sec. 394A.004. POWERS AND DUTIES OF PLANNING COUNCIL. |
|
(a) The planning council is a research and advisory council of the |
|
development council. |
|
(b) In carrying out its responsibilities under this |
|
chapter, the planning council shall: |
|
(1) provide for the maximum feasible participation of |
|
persons of low, very low, and extremely low income and residents of |
|
colonias in the development of the housing and colonia improvement |
|
plan under Section 394A.005; |
|
(2) coordinate with local, state, and federal |
|
agencies, as needed; |
|
(3) conduct public meetings and hold public hearings; |
|
(4) develop, adopt, and submit for approval by the |
|
development council a housing and colonia improvement plan as |
|
required by Section 394A.005; and |
|
(5) develop and review recommendations related to |
|
meeting the region's affordable housing needs, providing colonia |
|
residents with adequate public services, and improving living |
|
conditions in colonias and low-income neighborhoods in the region |
|
as provided in Section 394A.005. |
|
Sec. 394A.005. HOUSING AND COLONIA IMPROVEMENT PLAN. |
|
Provided sufficient resources are available, the planning council |
|
shall develop and adopt a housing and colonia improvement plan to |
|
address the region's affordable housing needs and the provision of |
|
adequate public services in colonias. In developing and adopting |
|
the plan, the planning council shall provide a recommendation for |
|
or against establishing or implementing: |
|
(1) a periodic regional assessment of living |
|
conditions in colonias and low-income neighborhoods that includes |
|
an assessment of public services and facilities and housing |
|
availability, affordability, conditions, needs, and market demand; |
|
(2) a coordinated regional affordable housing plan |
|
that encourages the production of both owner and renter occupied |
|
housing, addressing housing program allocations, housing policies, |
|
and community development policies impacting housing and |
|
prioritizing assistance to the worst-case housing needs of |
|
homeowners and renters; |
|
(3) an agreement with the secretary of state to assign |
|
colonia ombudspersons currently working in the region to cooperate |
|
with the development council to carry out affordable housing |
|
programs; |
|
(4) an agreement by which the colonia ombudspersons |
|
support the development council by producing, updating, and |
|
maintaining an accurate publicly available database of colonias |
|
that documents the availability, conditions, and adequacy of |
|
housing and public services in those colonias, including |
|
streetlights, storm drainage, garbage collection, public |
|
transportation, roads, sidewalks, and distance to essential |
|
services, including schools, hospitals, and grocery stores; |
|
(5) a process for ensuring compliance with existing |
|
model subdivision rules in colonias and new subdivisions, including |
|
a survey of the effectiveness of existing model subdivision rules |
|
and an examination of health and safety conditions in subdivisions |
|
developed under existing rules; |
|
(6) a process by which the development council may |
|
recommend to the counties in its jurisdiction any necessary changes |
|
to model subdivision rules needed to: |
|
(A) protect the health, safety, and financial |
|
condition of the residents of affected subdivisions and colonias; |
|
and |
|
(B) ensure that colonias are provided |
|
infrastructure that will facilitate their annexation into adjacent |
|
incorporated municipalities; |
|
(7) a process to investigate issues of noncompliance |
|
with the model subdivision rules and refer noncompliance issues to |
|
the appropriate county attorney or the Texas attorney general; |
|
(8) a process by which colonia residents may petition |
|
to initiate a legal action to enforce model subdivision rules; |
|
(9) a regional hiring plan that provides for outreach |
|
to workers and qualified businesses, job training activities, |
|
compliance certification, and reporting requirements for hiring |
|
for projects using any financial assistance provided by the |
|
development council; |
|
(10) a program to improve the administration of the |
|
money reserved under the community development block grant colonia |
|
set aside; |
|
(11) a program by which the Texas Department of |
|
Transportation and the Department of Public Safety of the State of |
|
Texas cooperate with the development council to identify funding |
|
resources, placing a priority on identifying existing regional |
|
funding for colonia public safety programs; |
|
(12) a regional authority to administer programs |
|
implemented based on recommendations made under this section; |
|
(13) a process by which residents of a colonia may |
|
petition to enact a restrictive covenant in the colonia that |
|
provides for: |
|
(A) residential or commercial building standards |
|
or codes; |
|
(B) maximum impervious cover on a lot; |
|
(C) permitted land uses; |
|
(D) non-permitted nuisances; |
|
(E) a program and fee for solid waste services to |
|
be paid by residents and property owners; or |
|
(F) a program and fee for street lighting to be |
|
paid by residents and property owners; |
|
(14) a colonia improvement district to facilitate |
|
comprehensive planning for housing, community development needs, |
|
public infrastructure, and public services in colonias through: |
|
(A) establishment of a management district to |
|
carry out functions permitted under state law; |
|
(B) adoption of a binding land use plan governing |
|
permitted land uses; |
|
(C) establishment of minimum standards for |
|
residential and nonresidential structures and a contract with a |
|
municipality or county to enforce those standards; and |
|
(D) establishment and administration of a tax |
|
increment reinvestment zone or tax increment financing to fund |
|
housing improvements and repairs or provide public services and |
|
facilities; |
|
(15) a comprehensive needs assessment and planning |
|
study that employs community planners to work in cooperation with |
|
colonia residents, county officials, and officials from adjacent |
|
municipalities to assess housing, public services, and public |
|
infrastructure needs, including: |
|
(A) essential public services; |
|
(B) transportation; |
|
(C) solid waste disposal; |
|
(D) drainage; |
|
(E) land use regulation; |
|
(F) building codes; |
|
(G) health codes; |
|
(H) hazardous conditions; |
|
(I) provisions of utilities; |
|
(J) public safety; |
|
(K) sidewalks; |
|
(L) elimination of blight; |
|
(M) streetlights; |
|
(N) energy savings and efficiencies; |
|
(O) parks and recreational facilities; and |
|
(P) development of underutilized or abandoned |
|
property; |
|
(16) a program to facilitate the cooperation of |
|
colonia residents and adjacent municipalities to provide planning |
|
and financial assistance to encourage the annexation of the colonia |
|
by a municipality when appropriate and consistent with the |
|
interests and desires of the residents; |
|
(17) a program of cooperation between the development |
|
council and the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs |
|
for the direction of the activities of colonia self-help centers; |
|
(18) a program to designate one or more areas within |
|
the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality as an enhanced |
|
urban residential development district to: |
|
(A) prevent the proliferation of substandard |
|
colonias and suburban sprawl in unincorporated areas; and |
|
(B) promote quality, affordable, and orderly |
|
residential development through building standards, land use |
|
planning, and financial incentives for public improvements and |
|
housing assistance; |
|
(19) a colonia land bank to provide affordable housing |
|
in any part of the region served by the development council; |
|
(20) a comprehensive regional drainage plan to: |
|
(A) establish reasonable and appropriate |
|
standards for storm water protection for colonias and development |
|
districts; |
|
(B) examine and consider low-impact and |
|
alternative approaches to storm water protection to reduce costs |
|
and speed the provision of protection to colonias; |
|
(C) mitigate storm water flooding within |
|
colonias; |
|
(D) develop cost estimates for each colonia in |
|
the region for the provision of storm water protection in the |
|
colonia, including appropriately engineered storm water drainage |
|
that connects with the regional drainage system; and |
|
(E) identify, apply for, secure, and administer |
|
grants and other funding to carry out any plan developed under this |
|
section; |
|
(21) a plan to cooperate with the Public Utility |
|
Commission of Texas, local public housing authorities, affordable |
|
housing providers, and homeowners to establish, evaluate, and |
|
report on an energy self-sufficiency program to: |
|
(A) evaluate appropriate technologies, including |
|
solar, wind, geothermal, and fuel cell, for very low-income |
|
households in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and create a |
|
demonstration program to implement one or more of the technologies |
|
in the region; |
|
(B) evaluate power purchase agreements with |
|
respect to public housing authorities and owner and rental housing |
|
occupied by households of very low and extremely low income; and |
|
(C) prioritize households of very low and |
|
extremely low income for participation in the program; and |
|
(22) in cooperation with the Texas Department of |
|
Housing and Community Affairs, a process to provide through the |
|
qualified allocation plan any regional scoring incentives |
|
necessary to ensure that low-income housing tax credits are awarded |
|
to developments in the Lower Rio Grande Valley region. |
|
Sec. 394A.006. QUALIFICATIONS OF PLANNING COUNCIL MEMBERS. |
|
(a) The development council shall appoint to the planning council |
|
from each county, any part of which is located in the Lower Rio |
|
Grande Valley: |
|
(1) the county judge; |
|
(2) the mayor of the most populous municipality; |
|
(3) an elected official from a municipality not |
|
described by Subdivision (2); |
|
(4) a resident of a colonia; |
|
(5) a representative of a nonprofit organization |
|
representing colonia residents; and |
|
(6) a person of extremely low or very low income living |
|
in an incorporated area. |
|
(b) At least one member selected under Subsection (a)(3) |
|
must be from a municipality with a population of less than 5,000. |
|
(c) Members selected under Subsections (a)(1), (2), and (3) |
|
may designate another elected official from their jurisdiction to |
|
represent them at meetings of the planning council other than for |
|
purposes of voting for the adoption of the housing and colonia |
|
improvement plan under Section 394A.005. |
|
Sec. 394A.007. MEETINGS OF PLANNING COUNCIL. (a) Meetings |
|
of the planning council are subject to the open meetings law, |
|
Chapter 551, Government Code. Planning council members shall |
|
receive training in the requirements of that chapter. |
|
(b) The planning council: |
|
(1) may hold meetings when called by the presiding |
|
officer or seven of the members; |
|
(2) shall keep minutes of meetings; |
|
(3) shall post on the development council's website |
|
not later than the third day before the date of a planning council |
|
meeting all materials provided to the planning council that are |
|
relevant to a matter proposed for discussion at the meeting; |
|
(4) shall make available in hard copy format to the |
|
members of the public in attendance at the meeting any materials |
|
provided to the planning council by the development council at a |
|
planning council meeting; |
|
(5) shall provide for public comment for each item on |
|
the planning council's agenda at the meeting; and |
|
(6) shall adopt rules that give the public a |
|
reasonable amount of time for testimony at meetings. |
|
Sec. 394A.008. ADOPTION OF RECOMMENDATIONS AND PLAN; |
|
HEARING REQUIRED. (a) Before adopting the housing and colonia |
|
improvement plan developed under Section 394A.005 and in an area |
|
that is convenient and proximate to large populations of colonia |
|
residents, the planning council shall hold a public hearing in each |
|
county any part of which is located in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. |
|
(b) Hearings may not be held earlier than 5:30 p.m. |
|
(c) The planning council shall mail a notice of the hearing |
|
in English and Spanish to any association listed on the development |
|
council website that represents low-income persons and colonias. |
|
(d) Professional simultaneous translation from English to |
|
Spanish and from Spanish to English shall be provided at the |
|
hearing. |
|
SECTION 2. (a) If sufficient funding is not available, the |
|
Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council is not required to |
|
appoint an advisory council to develop and adopt the plan required |
|
by Section 394A.005, Local Government Code, as added by this Act. |
|
If sufficient funding to develop and adopt the plan is not |
|
available, the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council shall |
|
provide to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of |
|
the house of representatives, and the committee in each house of the |
|
legislature that has primary jurisdiction over housing matters a |
|
statement that the council is unable to implement Chapter 394A, |
|
Local Government Code, as added by this Act. |
|
(b) Subject to Subsection (a) of this section, not later |
|
than March 1, 2015, the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council |
|
shall provide to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker |
|
of the house of representatives, and the committee in each house of |
|
the legislature that has primary jurisdiction over housing matters |
|
the report and recommendations developed under Chapter 394A, Local |
|
Government Code, as added by this Act, and make recommendations |
|
regarding additional authority needed to achieve the purposes of |
|
that chapter. |
|
SECTION 3. 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. |