Bill Sponsors / Authors:

  Rep. Tom Oliverson
  R - Cypress

  Sen. Paul Bettencourt
  R - Houston

 

Supporting Documents / Links:

•   Jennifer Ostlin Opposing SB 2037
  April 3, 2023
•   Jennifer Ostlin Opposing SB 2037
  May 15, 2023

Senate Bill 2037 - ETJ Regulations on Lot Size and Public Roads

The State of Texas defines a city’s rights and responsibilities for properties within its boundaries and the area immediately surrounding (ETJ) within the Local Government Code.

For the City of Houston, its ETJ is about a 5-mile band around the City’s general-purpose boundary unless that area intersects with another municipality and/or its ETJ. Two important regulatory authorities that the City has over its ETJ is the development and subdivision of land as well as that the authority to consent to the creation and expansion of other governmental entities such as municipal utility districts (MUDs).

The City uses these two tools in order to ensure that new development around the City is compatible to the requirements within the City so that the area maintain a high quality of health and safety and so if the area were to ever be annexed, that area would seamlessly work within the City limits. As growth continues to happen in the ETJ, this bill further limits the City from applying certain types of regulations on development in the ETJ.

SB 2037 proposed the following changes to the City’s authority to regulate development in the ETJ by regulating lot size, lot dimensions, the minimum width of lot frontage, how far back a lot must be set from a road, or another component of lot density on a particular tract of land, whether the regulations directly or indirectly touch on these matters. Additionally, the bill restricts county authority from regulating the same elements. 

By removing all ability to density restriction, without corresponding changes to the public street dedication requirements, will hinder the City’s, and the counties’, ability to ensure safe and orderly traffic circulation and access.