84R7590 JRR-D
 
  By: Martinez H.B. No. 3814
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the control of access to state highways by the Texas
  Department of Transportation.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 203.031(a-1), Transportation Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a-1)  In the exercise of its authority to manage access to
  or from a controlled access highway under Subsection (a)(2) or (4),
  the commission by rule shall:
               (1)  require that a decision by a department district
  office denying a request for access to a specific location on a
  controlled access highway be in writing and include the reasons for
  the denial;
               (2)  provide procedures for appealing a denial under
  Subdivision (1), including procedures that:
                     (A)  allow the applicant to appeal the denial to
  the department's design division before the 31st day after the date
  written notice of the denial is given to the applicant;
                     (B)  provide that if an appeal under Paragraph (A)
  is not decided before the 31st [91st] day after the date the appeal
  was filed, the access applied for must be granted; and
                     (C)  allow the applicant to appeal the decision of
  the design division to the director and, if the decision is
  affirmed, to a board of variance appointed by the director and
  composed of at least three persons who may not be below the level of
  department division director, office director, or district
  engineer and who were not involved in the original decision to deny
  access;
               (3)  provide that properly platted access points to or
  from a controlled access highway that are located on undeveloped
  property are subject to the access management standards in effect
  at the time the points were platted regardless of when the initial
  request for access was submitted to the department, but only if:
                     (A)  development of the property begins and the
  request for access at the platted locations is submitted to the
  department before the fifth anniversary of the date the plat was
  recorded; and
                     (B)  the design of the highway facility in the
  vicinity of the platted access points did not materially change
  after the date the plat was recorded so as to significantly impact
  traffic patterns to the extent that the platted access points
  present a threat to public safety;
               (4)  require that:
                     (A)  owners of land adjacent to a proposed highway
  construction project be provided written notice of the project at
  least 60 days before the date construction begins if the project
  will permanently alter permitted access to or from a controlled
  access highway at the owners' existing locations; and
                     (B)  the access described by Paragraph (A) be
  reinstated to the most practicable extent possible after due
  consideration of the impact on highway safety, mobility, and
  efficient operation of any changed traffic patterns resulting from
  the construction;
               (5)  adopt criteria for determining when a variance to
  access management standards may be granted, including criteria
  that, in addition to highway safety, mobility, and efficient
  operation concerns, takes into consideration any of the following
  consequences resulting from denial of the owner's request for
  access to a specific location on a controlled access highway that
  may impact a property owner:
                     (A)  denial of reasonable access to the property;
  and
                     (B)  undue hardship on a business located on the
  property; [and]
               (6)  clarify that the remodeling or demolition and
  rebuilding of a business does not cause new access management
  standards to apply unless the department makes an affirmative
  finding in writing that the remodeled or rebuilt business will
  significantly impact traffic patterns to the extent that the
  current access location presents a threat to public safety;
               (7)  ensure that the application of access management
  standards does not result in inconsistent access to or from a
  controlled access highway for properties used for the same or
  similar purposes; and
               (8)  adopt access management standards that:
                     (A)  ensure sufficient access to or from a
  controlled access highway for properties that are two acres or
  less; and
                     (B)  require direct access to a controlled access
  highway for properties that are adjacent to the highway and have at
  least two hundred feet of frontage on the highway.
         SECTION 2.  Not later than January 1, 2016, the Texas
  Transportation Commission shall adopt the rules required by Section
  203.031, Transportation Code, as amended by this Act.
         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, 2015.