HBA-ATS, NIK C.S.H.B. 2659 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2659 By: Krusee Land & Resource Management 4/23/1999 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE In certain road districts that have refinanced outstanding bonded indebtedness, the county in which the road district lies is the ultimate guarantor of millions of dollars in bonds. If some of the territory of the road district lies within a city, the territory within the road district can be negatively impacted by changes in impervious cover limits that the city may impose. Repayment of the bonds becomes difficult if the amount of land within the district that can be developed is limited. C.S.H.B. 2659 assures that land can be developed at current impervious cover limits. If the city changes these limits that apply to more than 20 percent of the land in an assessment road district after March 9, 1999, and before March 9, 2019, it must pay the bonds within the district. This requirement does not apply to an affected land owner who agrees in writing to a regulation that reduces the amount of impervious cover or reduces the total allowable floor area of a building on developed land. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 3, Title 22, V.T.C.S., by adding Article 726a, as follows: ARTICLE 726a. LAND DEVELOPMENT IN ROAD DISTRICT WITH OUTSTANDING INDEBTEDNESS Sec. 1. DEFINITIONS. Defines "affected area," "assessment road area," "land development,"and "regulation." Sec. 2. CHANGES IN REGULATION OF LAND DEVELOPMENT. (a) Requires a political subdivision to pay the outstanding bonded indebtedness of the assessment road district (district) if, after March 9, 1999, and before March 9, 2019, the political subdivision changes land development regulations applying to more than 20 percent of the land in an assessment road district in a manner that reduces the regulated amount of impervious cover or the total allowable floor area of a building on developed land. (b) Provides that Subsection (a) does not apply to an affected land owner who agrees in writing to a regulation that reduces the amount of impervious cover or reduces the total allowable floor area of a building on developed land. Sec. 3. ANNEXATION OF PROPERTY TO AN ASSESSMENT ROAD DISTRICT. Authorizes a person who owns land in an affected area to request that a governing body of a district annex any part of the owner's land that is within two miles of the district's boundaries. Authorizes the governing body of the district to annex the land by resolution, on request. Requires the governing body of the district, after the annexation of the land under this section, to reapportion the remaining assessment on the owner's land on a per acre basis for all the owner's land in the district. Sec. 4. EXPIRATION. Establishes March 10, 2019, as the expiration date of this article. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 2659 modifies the original bill in the caption by providing that this Act relates to the regulation of land development by a political subdivision that affects certain property in or near, rather than in, certain road districts. C.S.H.B. 2659 modifies the original bill in SECTION 1 (proposed Section 2(a), Article 726a, V.T.C.S.) by requiring a political subdivision to pay the outstanding bonded indebtedness of the assessment road district (district) if, after March 9, 1999, and before March 9, 2019, the political subdivision changes land development regulations applying to more than 20 percent of the land in an assessment road district in a manner that reduces the regulated amount of impervious cover or the total allowable floor area of a building on developed land. The original bill required the political subdivision to pay all landowners within the district the amount of any assessments prepaid on any part of that land for which no building permit has been issued or no improvement has been constructed, in addition to its obligation to pay the outstanding bonded indebtedness of the district, if the political subdivision changed land development regulations applying to land in an affected area in a manner that reduced the regulated amount of impervious cover or the total allowable floor area of a building on developed land. The original contained neither a 20-year period nor a requirement of a minimum percentage of affected land. The substitute also modifies the original by replacing proposed Section 2(b), Article 726a, V.T.C.S., of the original, which prohibits a political subdivision from changing or amending its regulations regarding land development within an affected area in any way that reduces the allowed amount of impervious cover, as defined in the political subdivision's regulations, or reduces the total allowable floor area of a building on developed land more than five percent, with a new provision that provides that proposed Subsection (a) does not apply to an affected land owner who agrees in writing to a regulation that reduces the amount of impervious cover or reduces the total allowable floor area of a building on developed land. The substitute also modifies the original by adding Section 4, Article 726a, V.T.C.S., to establish March 10, 2019, as the expiration date of this article. C.S.H.B. 2659 modifies the original bill by deleting SECTION 3 (emergency clause).