CHAPTER 373. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN MUNICIPALITIES
LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE
TITLE 12. PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
SUBTITLE A. MUNICIPAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 373. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN MUNICIPALITIES
Sec. 373.001. SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as the
Texas Community Development Act of 1975.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Sec. 373.002. LEGISLATIVE FINDING; PUBLIC PURPOSES. (a) The
legislature finds that the activities specified in this chapter
contribute to the development of viable urban communities by
providing decent housing and a suitable living environment and by
expanding economic opportunities for persons of low and moderate
income.
(b) Activities conducted under this chapter are directed toward
the following purposes:
(1) elimination of slums and areas affected by blight;
(2) prevention of blighting influences and of the deterioration
of property and neighborhood and community facilities important
to the welfare of the community;
(3) elimination of conditions detrimental to the public health,
safety, and welfare;
(4) expansion and improvement of the quantity and quality of
community services essential for the development of viable urban
communities;
(5) more rational use of land and other natural resources;
(6) improved arrangement of residential, commercial, industrial,
recreational, and other necessary activity centers;
(7) restoration and preservation of properties of special value
for historic, architectural, or aesthetic reasons;
(8) reduction of the isolation of income groups in communities
and geographical areas, promotion of increased diversity and
vitality of neighborhoods through spatial deconcentration of
housing opportunities for persons of low and moderate income, and
revitalization of deteriorating or deteriorated neighborhoods to
attract persons of higher income; and
(9) alleviation of physical and economic distress through the
stimulation of private investment and community revitalization in
slum or blighted areas.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Sec. 373.003. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "community
development program" means a program adopted under this chapter.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Sec. 373.004. GOALS OF PROGRAM. Through a community development
program, a municipality may conduct work or activities designed
to:
(1) improve the living and economic conditions of persons of low
and moderate income;
(2) benefit low or moderate income neighborhoods;
(3) aid in the prevention or elimination of slums and blighted
areas;
(4) aid a federally assisted new community; or
(5) meet other urgent community development needs, including an
activity or function specified for a community development
program that incorporates a federally assisted new community.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Sec. 373.005. ELEMENTS OF PROGRAM. (a) To conduct work or
activities under Section 373.004, a municipality may adopt a
community development program by ordinance or resolution.
(b) A community development program may include:
(1) acquisition of real property, including air rights, water
rights, and other interests in real property, that:
(A) is blighted, deteriorated, deteriorating, undeveloped, or
inappropriately developed from the standpoint of sound community
development and growth;
(B) is appropriate for rehabilitation or conservation
activities;
(C) is appropriate for the preservation or restoration of
historic sites, the beautification of urban land, or the
conservation of open spaces, natural resources, and scenic areas;
(D) is appropriate for the provision of recreational
opportunities or the guidance of urban development; or
(E) is to be used for the provision of public works, facilities,
or other improvements eligible for assistance under this chapter
or is to be used for other public purposes;
(2) acquisition, construction, reconstruction, or installation
of public works, facilities, sites, or other improvements,
including construction, reconstruction, or installation that
implements design features or makes improvements that promote
energy or water use efficiency;
(3) municipal code enforcement in a deteriorated or
deteriorating area in which enforcement, combined with public
improvements and public services, may stop the decline of the
area;
(4) clearance, demolition, removal, and rehabilitation of
buildings and improvements, including rehabilitation that
promotes energy or water use efficiency, including assistance in
and financing of public or private acquisition of those
properties for rehabilitation, and including the renovation of
closed school buildings;
(5) rehabilitation of privately owned properties;
(6) special projects related to the removal of barriers that
restrict the mobility of elderly and handicapped persons;
(7) payments to housing owners for losses of rental income
incurred in holding for temporary periods housing units used for
the relocation of persons displaced by programs conducted under
this chapter;
(8) disposition, by sale, lease, donation, or otherwise, of real
property acquired under this chapter, or the retention of the
property for public purposes;
(9) provision of public services not otherwise available if the
services are designed to improve the community's public services
and facilities, including services related to employment
opportunities, economic development, crime prevention, child
care, health, drug abuse, education, welfare, or recreational
needs of persons residing in those areas, or are designed to
coordinate public and private development programs;
(10) payment of the nonfederal share required in connection with
a federal grant-in-aid program undertaken as part of a local
community development program;
(11) payment of the cost of completing a project funded under
Title I of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C.A. Section 1450 et
seq.) or a federally assisted new community assisted by loan
guarantees under Title X of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C.A.
Section 1749aa et seq.) if a portion of the federally assisted
area has received grants under Section 107(A)(1) of the Housing
and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C.A. Section
5307(a)(1));
(12) relocation payments and assistance for individuals,
families, businesses, organizations, and farm operations if
determined by the municipality to be appropriate;
(13) activities necessary to develop a comprehensive community
development plan and to develop a policy-planning-management
capacity in order that recipients of assistance under this
chapter may more rationally and effectively determine their
needs, set long-term goals and short-term objectives, devise
programs and activities to meet those goals and objectives,
evaluate the progress of the programs, and carry out management,
coordination, and monitoring of activities necessary for
effective implementation of the programs;
(14) payment of reasonable administrative costs and carrying
charges related to the planning and execution of community
development and housing activities, including the provision of
information and resources to residents of areas in which
community development and housing activities are to be
concentrated with respect to the planning and execution of those
activities and including the carrying out of activities described
by Section 701(e) of the Housing Act of 1954 on the day before
the date of the enactment of the federal Housing and Community
Development Amendments of 1981;
(15) activities that are conducted by public or private entities
if the activities are necessary or appropriate to meet the needs
and objectives of the community development plan, including:
(A) acquisition of real property;
(B) acquisition, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation,
or installation of public facilities, site improvements,
utilities, commercial or industrial buildings or other
structures, or other commercial or industrial real property
improvements; and
(C) planning;
(16) grants to:
(A) neighborhood-based nonprofit organizations, local
development corporations, or other entities organized to
implement neighborhood revitalization projects, community
economic development projects, or energy or water conservation
projects;
(B) federally assisted new communities; or
(C) neighborhood-based nonprofit organizations or other private
or public nonprofit organizations for the purpose of assisting,
as part of neighborhood revitalization or other community
development, the development of shared housing opportunities in
which elderly families benefit as a result of living in a
dwelling in which facilities are shared with others in a manner
that effectively and efficiently meets the housing needs of the
residents and as a result reduces their cost of housing;
(17) provision of assistance to private, for-profit entities if
the assistance is necessary or appropriate to carry out an
economic development project; and
(18) the rehabilitation or development of housing assisted under
Section 17 of the United States Housing Act of 1937.
(c) A municipality may implement programs to provide financing
for the acquisition, construction, improvement, or rehabilitation
of privately owned buildings and other improvements or to assist
private, for-profit entities if the assistance is necessary or
appropriate to carry out an economic development project, through
the use of loans and grants from federal money remitted to the
municipality at the interest rates and on the terms and
conditions determined by the municipality. A municipality may not
provide municipal property or municipal funds for private
purposes. The programs and financing must be in keeping with an
approved community development plan that the municipality has
determined to be a public purpose. A program established for
financing the acquisition, construction, improvement, or
rehabilitation of buildings and improvements, or for financing
economic development projects, through the use of federal funds
may prescribe procedures under which the owners of the buildings,
improvements, or economic development projects agree to partially
or fully reimburse the municipality.
(d) A municipality may issue notes or other obligations
guaranteed by the secretary of housing and urban development
under Section 108, Housing and Community Development Act of 1974
(42 U.S.C. Section 5308), as amended, for the purpose of
providing financing for those activities described in Section
108, Housing and Community Development Act (42 U.S.C. Section
5308), as amended, in furtherance of an approved community
development program. The Section 108 guaranteed notes
additionally may be secured by and made payable from the same
sources as obligations issued under Subchapter C, Chapter 271,
Local Government Code, subject to the notice provisions set forth
therein. The Section 108 guaranteed notes or other obligations
may be issued in such form, denominations, manner, terms, and
conditions, bear interest at such rates, be interim or permanent
notes or obligations, be subject to transfer, exchange, change,
conversion, or replacement, and be sold in such manner, at such
price, and under such terms, all as provided in the ordinance or
resolution authorizing the issuance of such Section 108
guaranteed notes or obligations.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1, Sec. 77(a), eff. Aug. 28,
1989; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 980, Sec. 51, eff. Sept. 1, 1997;
Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 330, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.
Sec. 373.006. REQUIRED PROCEDURES BEFORE ADOPTION OF COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. Before exercising powers under Section
373.005, the governing body of the municipality must:
(1) identify areas of the municipality in which predominantly
low and moderate income persons reside, that are blighted or slum
areas, or that are federally assisted new communities;
(2) establish community development program areas in which
community development activities, building rehabilitation, or the
acquisition of privately owned buildings or land is proposed;
(3) adopt, by resolution or ordinance, a plan under which
citizens may publicly comment on the proposed community
development program;
(4) conduct public hearings on the proposed program before the
15th day before the date of its final adoption by the governing
body; and
(5) adopt the community development program by resolution or
ordinance.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Sec. 373.007. LIMITATION ON MUNICIPAL POWERS; EFFECT ON URBAN
RENEWAL. (a) This chapter does not grant a municipality the
power of condemnation to rehabilitate or remove buildings or to
acquire real property for the purpose of resale.
(b) This chapter does not authorize a municipality to implement
an urban renewal project under Chapter 374 without compliance
with the provisions of that chapter. This chapter does not affect
the status, operations, contracts, or other obligations of any
urban renewal agency created under Chapter 374. This chapter does
not prevent a municipality from exercising urban renewal
authority under Chapter 374.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.