This section lets a commissioners court set a process for certain older subdivisions and, if it does, requires county regulations to be at least as strict as applicable minimum standards and to state their limits clearly.
Sec. 232.045. APPLICABILITY OF INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIREMENTS TO LOTS UNDEVELOPED FOR 25 YEARS OR MORE. (a) This section applies only to a county that is adjacent to an international border and contains a municipality with a population of 500,000 or more. (b) A commissioners court by order may implement a process: (1) applicable to a subdivision in which 50 percent or more of the lots are undeveloped or unoccupied on or after the 25th anniversary of the date the plat for the subdivision was recorded with the county; and (2) through which the county, to the extent practicable, may apply to the subdivision more current street, road, drainage, and other infrastructure requirements. (c) A regulation or standard adopted by a county under this section must be no less stringent than the minimum standards and other requirements under the model rules for safe and sanitary water supply and sewer services adopted under Section 16.343, Water Code, and any other minimum public safety standards that would otherwise be applicable to the subdivision. (d) A regulation or standard adopted by a county under this section applies only to a lot that is owned by an individual, firm, corporation, or other legal entity that directly or indirectly offers lots for sale or lease as part of a common promotional plan in the ordinary course of business, and each regulation or standard must expressly state that limitation. For the purposes of this subsection, "common promotional plan" means a plan or scheme of operation undertaken by a person or a group acting in concert, either personally or through an agent, to offer for sale or lease more than two lots when the land is: (1) contiguous or part of the same area of land; or (2) known, designated, or advertised as a common unit or by a common name. Added by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 346 (S.B. 1402), Sec. 1, eff. January 1, 2020. Amended by: Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 644 (H.B. 4559), Sec. 146, eff. September 1, 2023. SUBCHAPTER C. SUBDIVISION PLATTING REQUIREMENTS IN CERTAIN ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED COUNTIES