S.B. 2222: Worthy of Our Support

Time is getting short to move important legislation onto the floor. Please take a minute to call or email your Representatives and Senators about S.B. 2222.

As you may know, intense development is increasingly impinging upon the critical military mission at Camp Bullis in northern Bexar County. As land surrounding Camp Bullis is developed, endangered Golden Cheeked Warblers are relocating to the base, thus limiting the land available to the military to conduct training. It goes without saying that the Army contributes immensely to the local ecnomony, but their presence has meant good stewardship of several thousand acres over the Edwards Aquifer as well.

In response to concerns about Camp Bullis, Senator Leticia Van de Putte has drafted S.B. 2222, which would create Regional Military Sustainability Commissions (RMSCs) and grant them the authority to regulate development in unincorporated territories located within five miles of the boundary lines of any military installation for which a Joint Use Study has been completed. (A draft JLUS for Camp Bullis is available online.) If passed, S.B. 2222 will help to ensure compatible development around a military installation. Developers and builders who oppose any sort of land use regulations are, of course, opposed to this bill.

As stewards of the Edwards Aquifer and the wildlife dependent upon it, we urge you to contact your Senators and members of the Veteran Affairs & Military Installations Committee and encourage them to support this bill. Those of you in Jeff Wentworth's district, we especially need you to contact him and ask for his support. Please help us move this legislation toward passage this session!

GEAA Supports County Authority!

The Texas Hill Country is one of the fastest growing regions of Texas. Ninety percent of the region is in unincorporated areas of the counties and is governed solely by county government. Unfortunately, counties have very limited ability to manage growth in unincorporated areas – the problem HB 3265 seeks to address. HB 3265 gives Hill Country counties new, limited authority to provide for orderly growth, protect property rights, protect natural resources, and keep up with the cost of transportation infrastructure needed to support new growth. This legislation seeks to do this by establishing density rules, setbacks between incompatible land uses, and infrastructure cost recovery fees.

Density Rules: Under HB 3265, counties will be able to establish density averages where water resources are limited and fragile. This would give developers flexibility to condense development or use large lots, depending on what is more feasible and/or appropriate for the land.

Setbacks between Incompatible Uses: In order to protect property values, HB 3265 allows counties to be able to provide some distance between existing neighborhoods or ranches and newly proposed industrial uses.

Infrastructure Cost Recovery Fees: As new development reaches further out into the Hill Country, counties struggle to upgrade state and county roads. HB 3265 gives counties power to collect reasonable fees from new development to help offset the costs of improving roads associated with development.

The bill specifies that before one or more of these new tools becomes available in any county, the county will need to develop a county plan and hold a public election for approval.

A group of county judges, commissioners, and county attorneys who have been working together for two years to build consensus in the Hill Country regarding county authority needs brought HB 3265 to the legislature. Representatives Patrick Rose, Doug Miller, and Pete Gallego are the bill’s co-authors. This bill has been assigned to the House Committee on County Affairs - if your Representative is a member, please ask him or her to support HB 3265!

We Need Your Support for Villarreal's Grandfathering Bill!

HB 2506, filed by Rep. Mike Villarreal, is scheduled for a public hearing on Monday, April 27th.

HB 2506 would limit the ability of a developer to seek exemptions from current city ordinances on the basis of dated plat or permit application. Currently, a developer may bring suit if a city denies the developerʹs petition to transfer the vested development rights of a dated plat or permit to a new permit for construction at the same location as the dated plat or permit. The bill would require that the developer bring suit in such a case within five years after submitting the original plat or permit application.

Current state law exempts development projects from city ordinances that were passed after a city received the first plats or permit applications. The grandfathered exemption may be continued regardless of how vague or old the original applications were, whether the property is sold or used for a different purpose, or how many years or decades pass before any construction begins. As a result, communities have often been unable to enforce local requirements regarding protection of the water supply, trees, or other local resources.

If you are a constituent of any of the members of the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee, please contact your Representative and urge him or her to support this important bill!

Halleluja!

HB 3265, co-authored by Patrick Rose, Doug Miller and Pete Gallego, was approved by the County Affairs Committee yesterday and will now move onto the calendar of the full House of Representatives.

This bill, among the bills we love the most this session, will give limited authority by local option to 15 hill country counties if passed. Thanks to the many County Judges and County Commissioners who testified in behalf of this important bill. And an especially big thanks to Representatives Rose and Miller for thier stellar support and hard work in moving this forward.

To see an archived video of the full hearing, go to the County Affairs archive site and choose the broadcast listed on 4/6/09. We will keep you posted as the bill moves to the floor.