By: Rodríguez  S.B. No. 692
         (In the Senate - Filed January 31, 2017; February 15, 2017,
  read first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
  Relations; April 11, 2017, reported adversely, with favorable
  Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 4, Nays 2;
  April 11, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 692 By:  Garcia
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to regulation by certain counties of lots in platted
  subdivisions that have remained undeveloped.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 232.008(h), Local Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (h)  Regardless of the date land is subdivided or a plat is
  filed for a subdivision, the commissioners court may deny a
  cancellation under this section if the commissioners court
  determines the cancellation will prevent the proposed
  interconnection of infrastructure to pending or existing
  development as defined by Section 232.0395 [232.0085].
         SECTION 2.  Section 232.0085, Local Government Code, is
  transferred to Subchapter B, Chapter 232, Local Government Code,
  redesignated as Section 232.0395, Local Government Code, and
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 232.0395  [232.0085].  CANCELLATION OF CERTAIN
  SUBDIVISIONS IF LAND REMAINS UNDEVELOPED. (a)  This section
  applies only to real property located in the unincorporated area
  of[:
               [(1)     outside municipalities and the extraterritorial
  jurisdiction of municipalities, as determined under Chapter 42; and
               [(2)  in] an affected county, as defined by Section
  16.341, Water Code, that:
               (1)  has adopted the model rules developed under
  Section 16.343, Water Code;[,] and
               (2)  is located along an international border.
         (b)  The commissioners court of a county may cancel, after
  notice and a hearing as required by this section, a subdivision for
  which the plat was filed and approved before September 1, 1989, if:
               (1)  the development of or the making of improvements
  in the subdivision was not begun before June 5, 1995 [the effective
  date of this section]; and
               (2)  the commissioners court by resolution has made a
  finding that the land in question is likely to be developed as a
  colonia.
         (c)  The commissioners court must publish notice of a
  proposal to cancel a subdivision under this section and the time and
  place of the required hearing in a newspaper of general circulation
  in the county for at least 21 days immediately before the date a
  cancellation order is adopted under this section. The county tax
  assessor-collector shall, not later than the 14th day before the
  date of the hearing, deposit with the United States Postal Service a
  similar notice addressed to each owner of land in the subdivision,
  as determined by the most recent county tax roll.
         (d)  At the hearing, the commissioners court shall permit any
  interested person to be heard. At the conclusion of the hearing,
  the court shall adopt an order on whether to cancel the subdivision.
  The commissioners court may adopt an order canceling a subdivision
  if the court determines the cancellation is in the best interest of
  the public. The court may not adopt an order canceling a
  subdivision if:
               (1)  the cancellation interferes with the established
  rights of a person who is a nondeveloper owner and owns any part of
  the subdivision, unless the person agrees to the cancellation; or
               (2)  the owner of the entire subdivision is able to show
  that:
                     (A)  the owner of the subdivision is able to
  comply with the minimum state standards and model political
  subdivision rules developed under Section 16.343, Water Code,
  including any bonding requirements; or
                     (B)  the land was developed or improved within the
  period described by Subsection (b).
         (e)  The commissioners court shall file the cancellation
  order for recording in the deed records of the county. After the
  cancellation order is filed and recorded, the property shall be
  treated as if it had never been subdivided, and the county chief
  appraiser shall assess the property accordingly. Any liens against
  the property shall remain against the property as it was previously
  subdivided.
         (f)  In this section:
               (1)  "Development" means the making, installing, or
  constructing of buildings and improvements.
               (2)  "Improvements" means water supply, treatment, and
  distribution facilities; wastewater collection and treatment
  facilities; and other utility facilities. The term does not
  include roadway facilities.
               (3)  "Nondeveloper owner" means a person who:
                     (A)  owns one or more lots in a subdivision to be
  occupied as the owner's personal residence; and
                     (B)  has not participated and does not participate
  in the marketing, promotion, or offering of lots for sale or lease
  as part of a common promotional plan in the ordinary course of
  business.
         SECTION 3.  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 4.  A 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
  September 1, 2017, to determine whether the subdivision is subject
  to a valid and existing subdivision plat.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2018.
 
  * * * * *