By: Bettencourt  S.B. No. 2037
         (In the Senate - Filed March 9, 2023; March 21, 2023, read
  first time and referred to Committee on Local Government;
  April 20, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 7,
  Nays 0, one present not voting; April 20, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the regulation of platting and subdivisions of land by a
  municipality or county.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 212.003(a), Local Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  In [The governing body of a municipality by ordinance
  may extend to the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality
  the application of municipal ordinances adopted under Section
  212.002 and other municipal ordinances relating to access to public
  roads or the pumping, extraction, and use of groundwater by persons
  other than retail public utilities, as defined by Section 13.002,
  Water Code, for the purpose of preventing the use or contact with
  groundwater that presents an actual or potential threat to human
  health. However, unless otherwise authorized by state law, in] its
  extraterritorial jurisdiction a municipality shall not regulate,
  either directly or indirectly:
               (1)  the use of any building or property for business,
  industrial, residential, or other purposes;
               (2)  the bulk, height, or number of buildings
  constructed on a particular tract of land;
               (3)  the size of a building that can be constructed on a
  particular tract of land, including without limitation any
  restriction on the ratio of building floor space to the land square
  footage;
               (4)  the number of residential units that can be built
  per acre of land; [or]
               (5)  the size, type, or method of construction of a
  water or wastewater facility that can be constructed to serve a
  developed tract of land if[:
                     [(A)] the facility meets the minimum standards
  established for water or wastewater facilities by state and federal
  regulatory entities; or
               (6)  minimum lot sizes, lot dimensions, lot frontages,
  lot setbacks, or other components of lot density [and
                     [(B) the developed tract of land is:
                           [(i)  located in a county with a population
  of 2.8 million or more; and
                           [(ii) served by:
                                 [(a)  on-site septic systems
  constructed before September 1, 2001, that fail to provide adequate
  services; or
                                 [(b)  on-site water wells constructed
  before September 1, 2001, that fail to provide an adequate supply of
  safe drinking water].
         SECTION 2.  Sections 232.101(a) and (b), Local Government
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  By an order adopted and entered in the minutes of the
  commissioners court and after a notice is published in a newspaper
  of general circulation in the county, the commissioners court may
  adopt rules governing plats and subdivisions of land within the
  unincorporated area of the county as authorized in this subchapter
  [to promote the health, safety, morals, or general welfare of the
  county and the safe, orderly, and healthful development of the
  unincorporated area of the county].
         (b)  A [Unless otherwise authorized by state law, a]
  commissioners court shall not regulate, either directly or
  indirectly [under this section]:
               (1)  the use of any building or property for business,
  industrial, residential, or other purposes;
               (2)  the bulk, height, or number of buildings
  constructed on a particular tract of land;
               (3)  the size of a building that can be constructed on a
  particular tract of land, including without limitation and
  restriction on the ratio of building floor space to the land square
  footage;
               (4)  the number of residential units that can be built
  per acre of land;
               (5)  a plat or subdivision in an adjoining county; [or]
               (6)  road access to a plat or subdivision in an
  adjoining county; or
               (7)  minimum lot sizes, lot dimensions, lot frontages,
  lot setbacks, or other components of lot density.
         SECTION 3.  Section 212.003(a), Local Government Code, as
  amended by this Act, and Sections 232.101(a) and (b), Local
  Government Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to a plat filed
  on or after the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 4.  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, 2023.
 
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