85R2834 DMS-D
 
  By: González of El Paso H.B. No. 3924
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to regulation by certain counties of lots in platted
  subdivisions that have remained undeveloped for 25 years or more.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 232, Local Government
  Code, is amended by adding Section 232.045 to read as follows:
         Sec. 232.045.  APPLICABILITY OF INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIREMENTS
  TO LOTS UNDEVELOPED FOR 25 YEARS OR MORE. (a)  This section applies
  only to a county with a population of more than 800,000 that is
  adjacent to an international border.
         (b)  A commissioners court by order may implement a process:
               (1)  applicable to a subdivision in which 50 percent or
  more of the lots are undeveloped or unoccupied on or after the 25th
  anniversary of the date the plat for the subdivision was recorded
  with the county; and
               (2)  through which the county, to the extent
  practicable, may apply to the subdivision more current street,
  road, drainage, and other infrastructure requirements.
         (c)  A regulation or standard adopted by a county under this
  section must be no less stringent than the minimum standards and
  other requirements under the model rules for safe and sanitary
  water supply and sewer services adopted under Section 16.343, Water
  Code, and any other minimum public safety standards that would
  otherwise be applicable to the subdivision.
         (d)  A regulation or standard adopted by a county under this
  section applies only to a lot that is owned by an individual, firm,
  corporation, or other legal entity that directly or indirectly
  offers lots for sale or lease as part of a common promotional plan
  in the ordinary course of business, and each regulation or standard
  must expressly state that limitation. For the purposes of this
  subsection, "common promotional plan" means a plan or scheme of
  operation undertaken by a person or a group acting in concert,
  either personally or through an agent, to offer for sale or lease
  more than two lots when the land is:
               (1)  contiguous or part of the same area of land; or
               (2)  known, designated, or advertised as a common unit
  or by a common name.
         SECTION 2.  The county may not apply an order adopted under
  Section 232.045, Local Government Code, as added by this Act, to a
  subdivision that is the subject of a judicial proceeding pending on
  May 1, 2017, to determine whether the subdivision is subject to a
  valid and existing subdivision plat.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2018.