Neighborhood groups warn of bill to limit, kill city regulations

Members of two neighborhood coalitions have been contacting members of the Texas House to alert them to what they perceive as an especially dangerous bill, one that could strip cities throughout the state, as well as counties and special districts, of their ability to protect citizens from a variety of dangers.

The bill is scheduled to come before the House today, the deadline for initial approval of House bills.

House Bill 3135 compels local governments to review all land development regulations, including zoning, subdivision requirements, development review, construction codes, fire, electric, heating, plumbing, energy conservation, water and flooding codes as well as “any other related aspect of land development as determined by the political subdivision.”

After such reviews, the bill states, “The governing body shall repeal or amend a regulation that interferes with the production of new housing or development related to existing housing.”

Cities and counties will be required to produce an impact statement for each of their regulations and repeal and replace or re-adopt those regulations once every 10 years. HB 3135 requires every governing body of every city, county or special-purpose district to conduct an initial review of each land development regulation by Sept. 1, 2028.

A press release from Our Own Backyards of Texas notes that the bill specifies that “this regulation includes not only zoning, but also public safety provisions like fire, electrical, water, and flood-related code. That means HB 3135 will compel local governments to roll back their own safety provisions to ensure housing development is unrestricted. The State of Texas would bear no financial or legal responsibility for these changes.” The bill’s author is Republican state Rep. Lynn Stucky, a veterinarian from Denton.

The Austin Monitor spoke with staff in the offices of five members of the Travis County delegation, who said they had received calls and/or emails about the subject.

Photo made available through a Creative Commons license.

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