Austin, TX – Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) passed Senate Bill 2037 out of the Texas Senate to stop the unauthorized over-regulation to approve plats by cities and counties. “SB 2037 increases the affordability of market-built housing by stopping unauthorized over-regulation by local officials,” said Senator Bettencourt.

Currently, cities in the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) and counties in unincorporated areas are abusing their authority to approve plats by not following current restrictions in the Local Government Code. Senator Bettencourt’s office was made aware of many instances of cities and counties using roundabout methods to impose minimum lot sizes as a way to decide who and what they want in their backyard.

“In the debate, the City of Houston’s ETJ in Northwest Harris County is the perfect example of why SB 2037 is needed. There is simply no indication that the City of Houston has any intention of actually annexing these neighborhoods, so why do they still have ETJ rights?” Commented Senator Bettencourt.

These types of abuses contradict market-driven housing development and only make housing more costly than what consumers can afford. SB 2037 seeks to make it abundantly clear that cities in the ETJ and counties in unincorporated areas may not regulate lot density, either directly or indirectly, through minimum lot sizes, lot dimensions, minimum width of lot frontages, lot setbacks, or any other components of lot density.

SB 2037 will head to the Texas House of Representatives to be heard and passed before being sent to the Governor to be signed into law. “This a great first step forward to empowering residents and landowners who are being regulated by cities and counties WITHOUT representation,” concluded Senator Bettencourt.

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