Sec. 212.134. NOTICE AND PUBLIC HEARING REQUIREMENTS

(a) Before a moratorium on property development may be imposed, a municipality must conduct public hearings as provided by this section.

(b) A public hearing must provide municipal residents and affected parties an opportunity to be heard. The municipality must publish notice of the time and place of a hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality on the fourth day before the date of the hearing.

(c) Beginning on the fifth business day after the date a notice is published under Subsection (b), a temporary moratorium takes effect. During the period of the temporary moratorium, a municipality may stop accepting permits, authorizations, and approvals necessary for the subdivision of, site planning of, or construction on real property.

(d) One public hearing must be held before the governing body of the municipality. Another public hearing must be held before the municipal zoning commission, if the municipality has a zoning commission.

(e) If a general-law municipality does not have a zoning commission, two public hearings separated by at least four days must be held before the governing body of the municipality.

(f) Within 12 days after the date of the first public hearing, the municipality shall make a final determination on the imposition of a moratorium. Before an ordinance adopting a moratorium may be imposed, the ordinance must be given at least two readings by the governing body of the municipality. The readings must be separated by at least four days. If the municipality fails to adopt an ordinance imposing a moratorium within the period prescribed by this subsection, an ordinance imposing a moratorium may not be adopted, and the temporary moratorium imposed under Subsection (c) expires.

Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 441, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.