87th Session Recap - Zoning and Local Land Use Policy

H.B. 1475 - Relating to municipal board of adjustment zoning variances based on unnecessary hardship.

Last session, the legislature took action to make necessary reforms to help clarify the process of appealing a land development decision to a Board of Adjustment (“BOA”). Right now, municipalities have a list of items that are considered hardships for purposes of appealing to the BOA for a zoning variance.  However, there is no consistency across cities. Additionally, these hardships are not spelled out in code, resulting in arbitrary and nonsensical requirements. During the debate for this bill, it was pointed out in some cities, economic and financial reasons are not considered a hardship, which is one of the major reasons a person would apply for a variance.

This law details in state law conditions of an unnecessary hardship as:

• Compliance cost is greater than 50% of the appraised value or the structure as shown on last tax appraisal roll;
• Compliance would result in a loss to the lot on which the structure is located of at least 25% of the area on which development may occur;
• Compliance would make the structure not compliant with another city ordinance or building code or “other requirement;”
• Compliance would make unreasonable encroachment on adjacent property or easement; or
• The city considers the structure to be a nonconforming structure.

Time and application of these change will tell the full story of its impact, but this new law, which TMHA supported, could have a positive impact and serve as another avenue of defense against cities imposing arbitrary and nonsensical regulations on land use for manufactured homeowners and manufactured home communities.

The new law is effective September 1, 2021.

S.B. 1679 - Relating to the creation of an urban land bank by certain municipalities.

S.B. 1679 addresses many current issues with the City of Houston’s current land bank program.  The bill creates the Houston Land Bank by taking into consideration best practices of land banks across the nation. The Houston Land Bank will be authorized to acquire and manage vacant, abandoned, deteriorated, and foreclosed properties in order to return such properties to new productive uses.

S.B. 1679 facilitates the acquisition of properties by the land bank at tax foreclosure sales without limiting in any manner the redemption rights of the owners. S.B. 1679 provides tools to repurposing abandoned properties for tax producing and public uses, including affordable housing, flood control, workforce housing, public service housing, community-based economic development, food desert solutions, beautification, and parks and recreation.

S.B. 1679 also creates a joint interim committee to study land banks.

The bill becomes effective on September 1, 2021.