HBA-KDB H.B. 2951 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2951 By: Walker Land & Resource Management 3/28/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, planned unit developments affected by municipal zoning regulations are not exempt from provisions relating to the issuance of local permits. If a project takes several years to complete from the initial purchase to a finished building site, a municipality may change its zoning codes to restrict the previously planned project before it is completed. This may significantly change the economics of a project. House Bill 2951 exempts such planned unit developments from municipal zoning regulations relating to the issuance of local permits. 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. ANALYSIS House Bill 2951 amends the Local Government Code to provide that a project for the subdivision of land for development that requires a permit includes all of the land within a preliminary plat, final plat, preliminary plan, site plan, or planned unit development, and includes all uses permitted by the applicable land use regulations. The bill adds preliminary plats, planned unit developments, and all other developments for land covered by a preliminary plat, site plan, or planned unit development to the list of projects that can be considered collectively to be one series of permits for a project. The bill provides that a change in the specific use of all or a portion of the land within a preliminary plat, final plat, preliminary plan, site plan, or planned unit development is not a new project requiring one or more additional permits if the new use is permitted by right, under special conditions, or approval under the land use regulations. Municipal zoning regulations that do not affect development regulations under a planned unit development are exempt from provisions relating to the issuance of local permits. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001.