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ORDINANCE NO. 2887
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 110, THE SUBDIVISION
CHAPTER OF THE NORTH RICH LAND HILLS CODE OF
ORDINANCES TO PROVIDE FOR ADEQUATE FACILITIES AND
MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR PUBLIC FACILITIES AND FOR THE
TIMING OF DEDICATION AND CONSTRUCTION OF PUBLIC
FACILITIES; ESTABLISHING REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO ROUGH
PROPORTIONALITY DETERMINATIONS FOR ALL PLAT AND
DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS WHICH IMPOSE EXACTION
REQUIREMENTS; PROVIDING FOR DEFINITIONS; PROVIDING FOR
PROCEDURES; ESTABLISHING PROCEDURES FOR APPEAL
THEREOF; PROVIDING THAT THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BE
CUMULATIVE OF ALL ORDINANCES; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY
CLAUSE; PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN
EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the City of North Richland Hills is a home rule city acting under its charter
adopted by the electorate pursuant to Article XI, Section 5, of the Texas
Constitution and Chapter 9 of the Local Government Code; and
WHEREAS, the City desires to assure both that development impacts are mitigated
through contributions of rights-of-way, easements and construction of
capital improvements, and that a subdivision contribute not more than its
proportionate share of such costs as required by Section 212.904, Texas
Local Government Code; and
WHEREAS, notice of public hearings before the Planning and Zoning Commission and
the City Council has been published at least ten (10) days prior to such
hearings and such hearings have been held on the regulations contained
hereinbelow as required by Section 110-44 of the North Richland Hills
Code of Ordinances; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND
HILLS, TEXAS:
Section 1: That Chapter 110 of the North Richland Hills Code of Ordinances is hereby
amended by adding a new Article XIII which shall read as follows:
Article XIII. Adequacy of Public Facilities; Proportionality
Sec. 110-445: Purpose and Policy
(a) These subdivision regulations of the City are designed and intended to achieve
the following purposes and shall be administered so as to:
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(1) promote the health, safety, morals and general welfare of the community
and the safe, orderly and healthful development of the City;
City;
(2) establish adequate policies and procedures to guide development of the
(3) provide for the establishment of minimum specifications for construction
and engineering design criteria for public infrastructure improvements to maintain land
values, reduce inconveniences to residents of the area, and to reduce related
unnecessary costs to the City for correction of inadequate facilities that are designed to
serve the public;
(4) ensure that development of land and subdivisions shall be of such nature,
shape and location that utilization will not impair the general welfare;
(5) ensure against the dangers of fires, floods, erosion, landslides, or other
such menaces;
(6) preserve the natural beauty and topography of the City and to ensure
appropriate development with regard to these natural features;
(7) realistically and harmoniously relate new development of adjacent
properties;
(8) provide the most beneficial circulation of traffic throughout the City, having
particular regard to the avoidance of congestion in the streets and highways, and
pedestrian traffic movements; and to provide for the proper location and width of streets;
(9) ensure that public facilities for water supply, drainage, disposal of sanitary
and industrial waste, and parks are available for every building site and with adequate
capacity to serve the proposed subdivision before issuance of a certificate of occupancy
or release of utility connections or final inspection within the boundaries of the plat;
(10) assure that new development adequately and fairly participates in the
dedication and construction of public infrastructure improvements that are necessitated
by or attributable to the development or that provide value or benefit that makes the
development feasible;
(11) help prevent pollution, assure the adequacy of drainage facilities, control
storm water runoff, safeguard the water table, and encourage the wise use and
management of natural resources throughout the City and its extraterritorial jurisdiction
in order to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the community and the value of
the land; and
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(12) provide for open spaces through the most efficient design and layout of
the land, while preserving the land use intensity as established in the Zoning Ordinance
of the City.
(b) To carry out the purposes hereinabove stated, it is declared to be the policy of
the City to guide and regulate the subdivision and development of land in such a
manner as to promote orderly growth both within the City and where applicable.
(c) Land must not be platted until proper provision has been made for adequate
public facilities for roadways, drainage, water, wastewater, public utilities, capital
improvements, parks, recreation facilities, and rights-of-way for streets.
(d) Proposed plats or subdivisions which do not conform to the policies and
regulations shall be denied, or, in lieu of denial, disapproved conditioned on
conformance with conditions.
(e) There shall be an essential nexus between the requirement to dedicate rights-of-
way and easements and/or to construct public works improvements in connection with a
new subdivision and the need to offset the impacts on the City's public facilities systems
created by such new development.
Sec. 110-446: Adequate Public Facilities
(a) Land proposed to be subdivided must be served adequately by essential public
facilities and services, including water and wastewater facilities, roadway and
pedestrian facilities, drainage facilities and park facilities. An application for a plat or
development may be denied unless adequate public facilities necessary to support and
serve the development exist or provision has been made for the facilities, whether the
facilities are to be located within the property being platted or offsite.
(b) It is necessary and desirable to provide for dedication of rights-of-way and
easements for public works improvements to support new development at the earliest
stage of the development process.
(c) The City desires to assure both that impacts of new development are mitigated
through contributions of rights-of-way, easements and construction of capital
improvements, and that a new development be required to contribute not more than its
proportionate share of such costs.
(d) Proposed public works improvements serving new development shall conform to
and be properly related to the public facilities elements of the City's adopted Master
Plan, other adopted master plans for public facilities and services, and applicable capital
improvements plans, and shall meet the service levels specified in such plans.
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Sec. 110-447: Minimum Standards
(a) The standards established in Article X of Chapter 110 and Article III of Chapter
94 of the Code of Ordinances and other ordinances of the city for dedication and
construction of public works improvements and infrastructure are based upon
engineering studies and historical usages and demands by different categories of
development. These regulations identify certain minimum requirements and sizes for
utilities, roadways, parks and other facilities that the City Council has determined to be
necessary in order to provide the minimum level of service necessary to protect or
promote the public health, safety, and welfare and to assure the quality of life currently
enjoyed by the citizens of North Richland Hills. It is the intent of these regulations that
no development occur until and unless these minimum levels of service are met.
Therefore, each subdivision in the City shall be required to dedicate, construct and/or
upgrade required facilities and infrastructure to a capacity that meets these minimum
levels.
(b) For each category of public infrastructure, a minimum standard of infrastructure,
and in some cases, service level, has been developed based upon historic studies and
construction projects of the City and other cities. These minimum standards take into
consideration the soil conditions and topographic configuration of the City, the use and
impact analyses of the North Central Texas Council of Governments in developing
standard specifications for public works installation, and other historical use and
performance experiences of the City that reflect the minimum level of facilities and
services that must be built to meet the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of North
Richland Hills.
(c) In order to maintain prescribed levels of public facilities and services for the
health, safety and general welfare of its citizens, the City may require the dedication of
easements and rights-of-way and/or construction of on-site and/or off-site public works
improvements for water, wastewater, road, drainage or park facilities to serve a
proposed subdivision, or require the payment of fees in lieu thereof. If adequate levels
of public facilities and services cannot be provided concurrent with the schedule of
development proposed, the City may deny the subdivision until the public facilities and
services can be provided, or require that the development be phased so that the
availability and delivery of facilities and services coincides with the demands for the
facilities created by the development.
(d) Whenever the City Council determines that levels of service in excess of these
minimum standards are necessary in order to promote the orderly development of the
City, the owner shall qualify for reimbursement for any costs in excess of the minimum
levels of service through City participation, to the extent funds are available by a pro
rata reimbursement policy or other means adopted by the City.
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See 110-448: Adequacy of Specific Facilities
(a) All lots to be platted shall be connected to a public water system which has
capacity to provide water for domestic use and emergency purposes, including
adequate fire protection.
(b) All lots to be platted shall be served by an approved means of wastewater
collection and treatment. The City may require the phasing of development and/or
improvements in order to maintain adequate wastewater capacity.
(c) Proposed roads shall provide a safe, convenient and functional system for
vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian circulation and shall be properly related to the
applicable thoroughfare plan and any amendments thereto, and shall be appropriate for
the particular traffic characteristics of each proposed subdivision or development. New
subdivisions shall be supported by a thoroughfare network having adequate capacity,
and safe and efficient traffic circulation. Each development shall have adequate access
to the thoroughfare network. The city may require the phasing of development and/or
improvements in order to maintain a safe, convenient and functional system of roads for
vehicular and pedestrian circulation.
(d) Drainage improvements serving new development shall be designed to prevent
overloading the capacity of the downstream drainage system. The City may require the
phasing of development, the use of control methods such as retention or detention, the
construction of off-site drainage improvements, or drainage impact fees in order to
mitigate the impacts of the proposed subdivision.
Sec. 110-449: Improvement of Adjacent and Abutting Existing Streets and Utilities
In the case of existing adjacent or abutting roads, the City may require that the entire
right-of-way be dedicated and/or improved to the City's design standards, based upon
factors including the impact of the proposed subdivision on the road, safety to the
traveling public, conditions and life expectancy of the road, the impact of the proposed
subdivision on other roads, the timing of this development in relation to need for
improving the road, the impact of the traffic on the road and City's roadway system as a
whole.
Sec. 110-450: Timing of Dedication and Construction
(a) The City shall require an initial demonstration that a proposed subdivision shall
be adequately served by public facilities and services at the time for approval of the first
development application that portrays a specific plan of development, including but not
limited to a petition for establishing a planned development zoning district, or other
overlay zoning district; or a developer's agreement; or an application for a preliminary or
final plat.
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(b) The obligation to dedicate rights-of-way and/or to construct one or more public
works improvements to serve a new subdivision may be deferred until approval of a
subsequent phase of the subdivision, at the sole discretion of the city's engineer, upon
written request of the property owner, or at the City's own initiative. As a condition of
deferring the obligation, the City may require that the subdivider include provisions in
the developer's agreement, specifying the time for dedication of rights-of-way for and/or
construction of public works improvements serving the subdivision.
Sec. 110-451: Proportionality Determination by City's Engineer
(a) Prior to a decision by the Planning and Zoning Commission on a preliminary plat
application, or if no preliminary plat application is required, on a final plat application, or
any other application for which an exaction requirement is a condition of approval, the
city's engineer shall prepare a written statement affirming that each exaction
requirement to be imposed as a condition of approval is roughly proportionate to the
demand created by the subdivision or development on the applicable public facilities
system of the City, taking into consideration the nature and extent of the development
proposed. In making this determination, the city's engineer may consider the following:
(1) categorical findings of the North Central Texas Council of Governments in
developing standard specifications for public infrastructure improvements;
(2) the proposed and potential use of the land;
(3) the timing and sequence of development in relation to availability of
adequate levels of public facilities systems;
(4) impact fee studies, traffic impact studies, drainage studies or other studies
that measure the demand for services created by developments and the impact on the
city's public facilities system;
(5) the function of the public infrastructure improvements in serving the
proposed subdivision or development;
(6) the degree to which public infrastructure improvements necessary to serve
the proposed subdivision are supplied by other developments;
(7) the anticipated participation by the City in the costs of necessary public
infrastructure improvements;
(8) the degree to which acceptable private infrastructure improvements to be
constructed and maintained by the applicant will offset the need for public infrastructure
improvements;
(9) any reimbursements for the costs of public infrastructure improvements for
which the proposed subdivision is eligible; and/or
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(10) any other information relating to the impacts created by the proposed
subdivision or development on the city's public facilities systems.
(b) Based upon the proportionality determination, the city's engineer shall affirm that
the exaction requirements of the Subdivision Ordinance, or other ordinance requiring
the permit, as applied to the proposed subdivision or development, do not impose costs
on the applicant for public infrastructure improvements that exceed those roughly
proportionate to the impact of the proposed subdivision or development.
(c) The city's engineer may require that the applicant, at its expense, submit any
information or studies that may assist in making the proportionality determination.
Sec. 110-452: Definitions.
For purposes of this ordinance, the following terms have the following definitions:
CITY'S ENGINEER: An engineer employed within the City's public works department
and licensed by the State of Texas. Such engineer is referred to in this Article as the
"city's engineer."
EXACTION REQUIREMENT: a requirement imposed as a condition for approval of a
plat, preliminary plat, building permit, planned development district or other
development application to:
(1) dedicate an interest in land for a public infrastructure improvement;
(2) construct a public infrastructure improvement; or
(3) pay a fee in lieu of constructing a public infrastructure improvement.
PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT: a water, wastewater, roadway,
drainage or park facility that is a part of one or more of the City's public facilities
systems.
PUBLIC FACILITIES SYSTEM: with respect to water, wastewater, roadway, drainage
or parks, the facilities owned or operated by or on behalf of the City to provide services
to the public, including existing and new developments and subdivisions.
Sec. 110-453: Rough Proportionality Determination of Planning and Zoning
Commission and City Council.
(a) The Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council shall consider the City's
engineer's report concerning the proportionality of the exaction requirements in making
a decision on a plat application. The Commission and the City Council may consider
the city's engineer's report in granting a variance to the requirements of the Subdivision
Ordinance.
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(b) The City official responsible for issuing a permit for which an exaction
requirement is imposed as a condition of approval shall consider the city's engineer's
report concerning the proportionality of the exaction requirements in making its decision
as to whether to grant the permit.
Sec. 110-454: Rough Proportionality Appeal
(a) An applicant for a preliminary or final plat or for a permit which imposes an
exaction requirement as a condition of approval may file an appeal to contest any
exaction requirement, other than impact fees, imposed as a condition of approval or in
which the failure to comply is grounds for denying the plat application pursuant to the
Subdivision Ordinance.
(b) The purpose of a proportionality appeal is to assure that an exaction requirement
imposed on a proposed plat or development as a condition of approval does not result
in a disproportionate cost burden on the applicant, taking into consideration the nature
and extent of the demands created by the proposed subdivision or development on the
City's public facilities systems.
Sec. 110-455 Appeals Procedure
(a) An applicant for a preliminary or final plat or an applicant seeking approval for
any other permit or zoning for which an exaction requirement is imposed shall file a
written appeal with the City Secretary within 10 days of the date the Planning and
Zoning Commission or the city official responsible for issuing the permit takes action
applying the exaction requirement. This may include denial of the permit or plat. The
applicant shall submit 15 copies of the appeal.
(b) A separate appeal form shall be submitted for each exaction requirement for
which relief is sought. The City Secretary shall forward the appeal to the City Council
for consideration.
(c) The applicant may request postponement of consideration of the applicant's plat
application by the City Council pending preparation of the study required by subsection
(f), in which case the applicant shall also waive the statutory period for acting upon a
plat for the time necessary for the City Council to decide the appeal.
(d) No developer's agreement may be executed by the City until the time for appeal
has expired or, if an appeal is filed, until the City Council has made a determination with
respect to the appeal.
(e) The appeal shall state the reasons that application of the exaction requirement is
not roughly proportional to the nature and extent of the impact created by the proposed
subdivision or development on the City's public facilities systems and does not
reasonably benefit the proposed subdivision or development.
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(f) The appellant shall submit to the city's engineer 15 copies of a study in support
of the appeal that includes, with respect to each specific exaction requirement
appealed, the following information within 30 days of the date of appeal, unless a longer
time is requested:
(1) total capacity of the City's water, wastewater, roadway, drainage, or park
system, as applicable, to be utilized by the proposed subdivision or development,
employing standard measures of capacity and equivalency tables relating the type of
development proposed to the quantity of system capacity to be consumed by the
subdivision. If the proposed subdivision is to be developed in phases, such information
also shall be provided for the entire development, including any phases already
developed;
(2) total capacity to be supplied to the City's public facilities systems for water,
wastewater, roadway, drainage or parks, as applicable, by the exaction requirement.
This information shall include any capacity supplied by prior exaction requirements
imposed on the development;
(3) comparison of the capacity of the applicable City public facilities systems
to be consumed by the proposed subdivision or development with the capacity to be
supplied to such systems by the proposed exaction requirement. In making this
comparison, the impacts on the City's public facilities systems from the entire
subdivision or development shall be considered;
(4) the amount of any City participation in the costs of oversizing the public
infrastructure improvements to be constructed by the applicant in accordance with the
City's requirements;
(5) comparison of the minimum size and capacity required by City standards
for the applicable public facilities systems to be utilized by the proposed subdivision or
development with the size and capacity to be supplied by the proposed exaction
requirement; and
(6) any other information that shows the alleged disproportionality between
the impacts created by the proposed development and the exaction requirement
imposed by the City.
(g) The city's engineer shall evaluate the appeal and supporting study and shall
make a recommendation to the City Council based upon the city's engineer's analysis of
the information contained in the study and utilizing the same factors considered by the
engineer in making the original proportionality determination.
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Sec. 110-456: City Council Decision
(a) The City Council shall decide the appeal within 30 days of the date of final
submission of any evidence by the applicant. Upon receipt of the final submission of
evidence from the applicant, the City Secretary shall schedule a time and date for the
City Council to consider the appeal and shall cause the applicant to be notified at the
address specified in the appeal form of the time, date and location at which the City
Council shall consider the appeal.
(b) The applicant shall be allotted time, not to exceed 30 minutes, to present
testimony at the City Council meeting. The Council shall base its decision on the
criteria listed in Sections 11 0-457(a) and 110-461 (f) and may:
(1) deny the appeal and impose the exaction requirement in accordance with
the city's engineer's recommendation or the Planning and Zoning Commission's
decision on the plat or other development application; or
(2) grant the appeal, and waive in whole or in part an exaction requirement to
the extent necessary to achieve proportionality; or
(3) grant the appeal, and direct that the City participate in the costs of
acquiring land for or constructing the public infrastructure improvement.
(c) In deciding an appeal, the City Council shall determine whether application of the
exaction requirement is roughly proportional to the nature and extent of the impact
created by the proposed subdivision on the City's public facilities systems for water,
wastewater, roadway, drainage, or park facilities, as applicable, and reasonably benefits
the subdivision. In making such determination, the Council shall consider:
(1) the evidence submitted by the applicant;
(2) the city's engineer's report and recommendation, considering in particular
the factors identified in Sections 11 0-457(a) and 110-461 (f); and
(3) if the property is located within the City's extraterritorial jurisdiction, any
recommendations from the county.
(d) The City Council may require the applicant or the city's engineer to submit
additional information that it deems relevant in making its decision.
Sec. 110-457: Action following Decision of City Council
(a) If the City Council finds in favor of the applicant and waives the exaction
requirement as a condition of plat approval, or modifies the exaction requirement to the
extent necessary to achieve rough proportionality, the applicant shall resubmit the plat
Ordinance No. 2887
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application to the Planning and Zoning Commission or City official responsible for
issuing the permit within 30 days of the date the City Council takes action, with any
modifications necessary to conform the plat with the City Council's decision. The
applicant shall not be deemed to have prevailed in the event that the City Council
modifies the exaction requirement.
(b) If the City Council finds in favor of an applicant for any other permit and waives
the exaction requirement as a condition of permit approval, or modifies the exaction
requirement to the extent necessary to achieve rough proportionality, the applicant shall
resubmit the permit application to the responsible official within 30 days of the date the
City Council takes action, with any modifications necessary to conform the application
with the City Council's decision. Failure to day so will result in the expiration of any
relief granted by the City Council.
(c) If the City Council denies the appeal and the applicant has executed a waiver of
the statutory period for acting upon a plat, the City shall place the plat application on the
agenda of the Planning and Zoning Commission within 30 days of the City Council's
decision.
(d) If the rough proportionality appeal was submitted appealing the imposition of an
exaction requirement for a plat application, and City Council grants relief to an applicant
but the applicant fails to conform the plat to the City Council's decision within the 30 day
period provided, the relief granted by the City Council on the appeal shall expire.
(e) If the plat application is modified to increase the number of residential dwelling
units or the intensity of non-residential uses, the City Manager or city's engineer may
require a new study to validate the relief granted by the City Council.
(f) If the plat application for which relief was granted is denied on other grounds, a
new appeal shall be required on any subsequent application.
Sec. 110-458: Appeal of City Council Decision.
An applicant may appeal the decision of the City Council to the county or district court of
the county in which the development is located within 30 days of the date that the
Council issues its final decision. In the event that the applicant prevails in such action,
the applicant will be entitled to attorneys' fees and costs, including expert witness fees.
Sec. 110-459: Miscellaneous.
(a) This ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of ordinances of the City of
North Richland Hills, Texas, except where the provisions of this ordinance are in direct
conflict with the provisions of such ordinances, in which event the conflicting provisions
of such ordinances are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict.
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(b) It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the phrases,
clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of this ordinance are severable, and if any
phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this ordinance shall be declared
unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction,
such unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses,
sentences, paragraphs and sections of this ordinance, since the same would have been
enacted by the City Council without the incorporation in this ordinance of any such
unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section.
(c) All rights and remedies of the City are expressly saved as to any and all
violations of the provisions of Chapter 110 of the Code of Ordinances, or any other
ordinances affecting subdivision regulations which have accrued at the time of the
effective date of this ordinance; and, as to such accrued violations and all pending
litigation, both civil and criminal, whether pending in court or not, under such
ordinances, same shall not be affected by this ordinance but may be prosecuted until
final disposition by the courts.
(d) This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage.
PASSED AND APPROVED on the 12th day of June, 2006.
By:
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APP~ I , ' TO FORM, CONTENT AND LEGALITY:
Ordinance No. 2887
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