HBA-EDN H.B. 3161 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3161
By: Bonnen
Land & Resource Management
4/1/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

In 1999, the legislature required counties and local governments to
consider the approval of subdivision plat applications and permits solely
upon the regulations and rules in place when the permit or application was
filed.  In response, some counties have experienced landowners wanting to
sell off lots on subdivision plats that were filed before county
subdivision regulations existed.  Such subdivision plats generally do not
meet the minimal infrastructure requirements of contemporary subdivisions
and the development of these plats to achieve these requirements could be
burdensome to adjacent landowners and the surrounding community.  House
Bill 3161 provides that the approval of a subdivision plat expires fifty
years after the plat is approved by a commissioners court and provides that
a landowner wanting to sell or transfer lots on plats older than fifty
years will have to resubmit their plat for approval under contemporary
standards.   
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 3161 amends the Local Government Code to provide that if no
portion of the land subdivided under a plat approved by a commissioners
court is sold or transferred before January 1 of the 51st year after the
year in which the plat was approved, the approval of the plat expires and
the owner must resubmit a plat of the subdivision for approval.  A plat
resubmitted for approval is subject to the requirements prescribed for
subdivisions at the time the plat is resubmitted. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001.