Draft Legislation Counter to Preserving Texas Communities
HB 24 Requires 60% of Notified Texas Taxpayers to Oppose Zoning Changes
HB 24 has been submitted in the 89th Texas Legislature.
This bill proposes amending the Texas Local Government code, to require a written petition to be signed by 60% or greater of notified hard-working Texas taxpayers, of their opposition to zoning changes or district boundary changes impacting their communities.
As an example, hard-working Texas taxpayers were not notified of zoning changes regarding 37 acres on the northwest corner of Highway 281 North and Borgfeld Drive. This property was not previously zoned for Multi-Family Apartments (MFA). The Affordable Housing developer, Pedcor Investments, used an attorney-lobbyist to convince the property owner to have their property rezoned to MFA, before Pedcor Investments purchased the property.
City of San Antonio officials may claim "the rezoning notification was listed on our website" or that rezoning sign was placed on the side of the property, which may have been a small sign, and buried in the bushes, etc. This property was rezoned for MFA as a result and additionally, is the future site of a low-income monolith "Affordable Housing" project that is uncharacteristic of 281 North and Borgfeld Drive communities, while the property will bring in hundreds of students into the already overcrowded public school system and not pay millions of dollars of property taxes into that public school system.
Nonetheless, even if hard-working Texas taxpayer communities were notified of this zoning change in this particular case, HB 24 would require a vastly greater number (60%) of local citizens to have to sign a petition to protest the change.
HB 24 will also have dire consequences on communities in northern Bexar County, Comal County, Kendall County, and Medina County and others where water resources are already at an existential crisis.
Texas Community Preservation has also recommended legislation to State of Texas elected officials and their staffs of increased means of notification to hard-working Texas tax payer communities, through SMS text technology from a 1-mile radius of a subject property of zoning changes, in order to maximize taxpayer notification and engagement.
Ensure you contact your State of Texas elected officials and tell them to vote "NO" on HB 24.
HB 24 (as of 3/8/2025)
SB 785 & HB 1835 New HUD-Code Manufactured Housing
SB 785 and HB 1835 are essentially the same draft legislation being proposed in the 89th Texas Legislature that states "a municipality shall permit the installation of a HUD-code manufactured home for use as a dwelling in any area determined appropriate by the municipality, including a subdivision, planned unit development, single lot, and rental community or park."
This means if a municipality wants to put manufactured housing (trailer homes, pre-built homes that are pieced together, etc.) in your community, they will be able to do it and actually incentivized by HUD tax abatement and tax credit programs to do it.
Imagine a single family residential neighborhood with custom homes or homes from a desirable home builder, yet undeveloped lots are available in that neighborhood, or adjacent to that neighborhood. A HUD-code manufactured home builder or partner will now be able to buy a lot or lots in those areas, and place a manufactured home in that location and there would potentially be nothing your POA or HOA Architectural Control Committee (ACC) could do about it.
Your very own taxes could potentially pay for this, to the demise of your own communities.
Write your State of Texas elected officials and their staffs, and demand they vote "NO" on these bills. Hopefully neither bill makes it out of committee.
SB 673 & HB 1779 Accessory Dwelling Unit
SB 673 and HB 1779 are nearly identical submitted legislation being proposed in the 89th legislature that states a political subdivision, essentially a city or municipality, cannot deny a property owner the ability to build and erect an "Accessory Dwelling Unit" on that same property.
This would have to be further understood as it pertains to things like a "Mother-in-Law" suite or "casita" that property owners could generally build on their property as part of the overall same dwelling and property.
It doesn't appear this draft legislation is innocent to that. This bill could end up allowing for low-income/HUD/Section 8 programs the ability to be placed onto a traditional single-family residential community in your community as part of these "Accessory Dwelling Unit."
I would vote "NO" on these bills, without further information and analysis.
SB 840 Zoning Amendment to Subchapter A, Chapter 211, Local Government Code
SB 840 is submitted legislation that aims to amend Subchapter A, Chapter 211, Local Government Code, that would essentially allow any commercially zoned land to become approved for multifamily residential housing, with no city regulation on height, setbacks, or parking. It would also allow for 36 units per acre density.
This would allow Section 8 and Affordable Housing to buy land this is not already zoned for Multi-Family Housing and not have to seek rezoning, and as such, there would be no public notification, etc.
I would vote no on this bill.
SB 854 Zoning Amendment to Chapter 212, Local Government Code
SB 854 is submitted legislation that aims to amend Chapter 212, Local Government Code, that would essentially would allow any religious organization or institution to erect multifamily housing on any property the religious organization owns, WITHOUT zoning hearings or approvals or city regulations on things like parking or height.
THIS IS A HARD NO!
Take Catholic Charities in San Antonio as an example. They were one of the biggest complicit actors in all of the illegal immigration facilitation in San Antonio. If this bill were to pass, organizations like Catholic Charities, and huge swaths of shill company LLCs and Trusts, and other special interest groups and lobbyists, will buy land and property anywhere and everywhere they can, typically armed with a blank check from taxpayers by the likes of the politics of the City of San Antonio and others, and place multifamily housing in as many places as possible.
Again, this should be a hard NO on this bill and Texans everywhere should be alarmed at this bill!