(1) The Commissioners Court will not approve a Final Plat for subdivision of land unless it complies with all applicable requirements and standards of this chapter.
(2) For subdivisions within the ETJ of a municipality with which the County has entered into an agreement under 242.001(c) and (d), Local Government Code, County review, if any, shall be as provided in the agreement. If any provision of the chapter cannot be reconciled with such and agreement in a manner consistent with Chapter 245, Local Government Code, the agreement shall control. The County has entered into the following agreements:
(A) City of Austin, April 1, 2002.
(B) City of Westlake Hills, June 18, 2002.
(C) City of Lakeway, September 17, 2002.
(D) City of Pflugerville. September 30, 2002.
For Subdivisions within the ETJ of a municipality with which the County has not entered into an agreement under 242.001(c) and (d), Local Government Code, the County staff will coordinate its review with the municipality in order to avoid unnecessary duplication and conflict between county and municipal requirements and processes.
(3) In approving a Final Plat, the Court may order that the Executive Manager hold the plat in abeyance and not file it until the Owner has submitted construction security or other documents, provided proof that the Final Plat has been approved by any other governmental entity with platting or other jurisdiction, or met other prerequisites set by the Court. Upon approval by the Court and the Executive Manager’s determination the any prerequisites for filing have all been met, the Final Plat will be filed of record in the Plat Records of Travis County, along with any applicable covenants and/or restrictions, at the Owner’s expense. If the Executive Manager determines that any prerequisites for filing have not been met or another governmental entity requires changes to the plat as it was previously approved by the Court, the Court may reconsider the application and approve modifications or withdraw its previous approval. The Court shall act on a request for reconsideration with 30 days.
28 (4) An “Original Tract” means a tract of land which existed in its present configuration
prior to September 1, 1983.
(b) Applications
(1) An application for approval of a preliminary plan or final plat shall be filed with TNR by the record Owner or the duly authorized agent of the Owner. The preliminary plan and final plat application forms are in the appendix as Exhibit 82.201(C) and contain a written list of documentation and other information. For the application to be considered complete, this documentation and other information must be submitted in sufficient details so that the technical review process for compliance with the requirements of these Standards can commence.
(2) The application for approval of a preliminary plan or ‘Final Plat’ will be reviewed by TNR for completeness under the applicable requirements and procedures of this chapter.
(A) If the application is complete, the Executive Manager shall notify the Owner and TNR’s technical review process will begin.
(B) If the application is incomplete, the Executive Manager shall notify the Owner with ten (10) business days of receipt of the application of the documents or other information that is lacking. The Owner shall perform such work and provide such documentation as required to complete and resubmit it to the County. This process shall be repeated until the application is complete.
(C) Once the application has been completed; TNR shall review the completed application for compliance with these Standards.
(3) The Executive Manager will approve or disapprove a final plat application and notify the Owner of the result within forty-five (45) days after receiving a complete application. If the application is disapproved, the Executive Manager will provide a written list of the reasons for disapproval.
(A) If the Executive Manager approves the application, a request for final action will be placed on the Commissioners Court agenda.
(B) If the application is denied, the Owner may appeal to the Commissioners Court by requesting in writing within two (2) business days of being notified of the result that the application be placed on the Commissioners Court agenda for final action. If the Owner does not appeal, the Executive Manager’s disapproval constitutes final action.
(C) If the Owner appeal and the Commissioners Court does not take final action within sixty (60) days after receiving a complete application, the application is approved by operation of law and the Owner shall be refunded the greater of the unexpended portion of fifty percent (50%) of any plat application fee or deposit that has been paid.
29 (4) An application shall include all of the Original Tract, except as otherwise provided in
this Section. All property shall be platted with due regard to the orderly extension of roads, utilities, drainage, and other public facilities.
If less than an entire Original Tract is being subdivided and platted, the County will require the Owner to enter into a Phasing Agreement to provide for the orderly administration of the subdivision process in the subsequent platting of the balance of the tract. A copy of sample Phasing Agreement is included in the Appendix.
(5) The Executive Manager shall waive the requirement that an application include all of an Original Tract if:
(A) all of an Original Tract is not owned by the applicant and the portion of the Original Tract included in the Final Plat or a previously approved Preliminary Plat will satisfy the access requirements of Section 82.202.(d); and
(B) the balance of the Original Tract abuts or has access by a recorded easement to a public street or road, or the Final Plat or previously approved Preliminary Plan provides for such access to the balance of the Original Tract.
(6) The Phasing Agreement must be approved by the Commissioners Court upon the approval of the first Preliminary Plan or upon the approval of Alternative Fiscal, but no later that the date of the approval of the first Final Plat.
(7) An application for Final Plat approval may include all of a portion of the land included in an approved Preliminary Plan, subject to the requirement of a Phasing Agreement.
(8) The Commissioners Court may approve a Phasing Agreement which meets the following criteria:
(A) The Phasing Agreement is in substantially the form set forth in the Appendix;
(B) The Phasing Agreement adequately addresses the particular facts in proposed phased development so that the development process is accommodated and the public interest is protected;
(C) The dedication of roads and drainage, and the posting of construction security is roughly proportional to the impact of the development of the property; and (D) The form and substance of the Phasing Agreement is approved by the County
Attorney’s Office.
(9) A master development plan must be submitted for an applicant to meet “fair notice”
requirements under Section 82.102(a). Otherwise, an applicant may voluntarily submit a master development plan as a non-binding planning tool, but it is not required and will not be approved by the County Executive or the Commissioners Court, except as provided in Section 82.216(d), Water Availability-Protection of Surface and Ground Water Quantity and Quality. If submitted either voluntarily or to meet “fair notice” requirements, it shall consist of a written plan, supporting documentation, and a reasonably detailed map or schematic drawing, drawn to scale. The submittal must contain the following:
30 (A) the boundaries of the original tract(s) and phases of development, if any;
(B) the name of each adjacent platted subdivision and the name of each record owner of adjoining unplatted property;
(C) the location, width, and names of all existing or platted streets or public right of-way and all existing easements within and adjacent to the development;
(D) the layout and width of proposed arterials, thoroughfares and collector streets and the general configuration of proposed streets and alleys;
(E) the location, dimensions, and designations of land uses, including all waterways, a preliminary identification of critical environmental features, and other land protected from development and proposed setbacks from waterways and critical environmental features;
(F) Any sites proposed for special use, including parks, open space, flood detention, permanent water quality controls, and other public facilities;
(G) the approximate location of the 25-year flood plain and the 100-year flood plain, the location and width of existing drainage channels, creeks and water courses within the development; and
(H) estimates of the amount of water to be used and wastewater to be generated in all phases of development, identification of the source(s) of the water, a description of the new or existing water and wastewater facilities that will serve the development, a statement by a qualified engineer or geoscientist that the water source and the water and wastewater facilities will be of adequate capacity to serve the development, the owner and operator of the water and wastewater facilities and the location of the development with respect to any applicable certificates of convenience and necessity, and the schedule for creating any entity that will own or operate the facilities; and.
(I) the proposed location of drainage courses and any necessary off-site extensions.
(c) Expiration and Extension.
(1) Preliminary Plan.
(A) A Preliminary Plan application submitted at the election of the Owner under Section 82.203 shall conclusively be deemed to be withdrawn if, at the end of two years from the date of submittal of a complete preliminary plan Submission for review to the County, the applicant has not satisfied the applicable criteria for approval under these regulations. The Executive Manager may grant one 180-day extension to the review period for just cause. The request must be tendered in writing prior to the expiration of the initial review period.
(i) A preliminary plan expires:
31 (1) four years from the date of approval in a western watershed; and
(2) ten years from the date of approval in an eastern watershed.
(ii) The expiration date of a preliminary plan may be extended administratively for a period of two years if neither the preliminary plan nor the regulations, including the requirements of this chapter and Chapter 64 governing the original approval of the preliminary plan have significantly changed. No more than two such extensions shall be granted.
(iii) One or more extensions of the expiration date of a preliminary plan may be granted based on commitments that the applicant has made in an agreement with Travis County to complete infrastructure in increments or phases corresponding to each increment or phase of development of the land covered by the preliminary plan.
(d) Cancellation of Subdivision Plats
(1) General. This Section (d) applies only to real property located outside municipalities and their ETJ as defined in the Texas Local Government Code. Properties within a municipality’s ETJ shall follow the individual municipality’s established rules for vacation of subdivision plats. Vacations of plats within the ETJ of municipality must be approved by both the municipality and the County.
(2) Cancellation of Subdivision. A person owning real property that has been legally platted into lots or blocks may apply to the Commissioners Court through TNR to cancel all or part of the subdivision or portion thereof to be canceled. If Commissioners Court determines that the cancellation of all or part of the subdivision does not interfere with the established rights of any purchaser who owns any part of the subdivision or it is shown that the purchaser agrees to the cancellation, the Commissioners Court shall authorize the Owner of the subdivision to file an instrument cancelling the subdivision the subdivision in whole or in part. If the cancellation is approved, the property will be re-established as acreage tracts as it existed prior to subdivision. A sample cancellation shall be published in the local newspaper at least 21 days prior to the public hearing held at a regular Commissioners Court meeting.
In the event the cancellation is being done to facility a replat, the replat will be processed simultaneously with the cancellation action. The following documentation is required to be submitted to TNR for review prior to placing the request on the Commissioners Court agenda:
(A) Two copies of the plat to be canceled. If only a partial cancellation is being requested, the lots, blocks, and/or right-of-way to be cancelled must be delineated.
(B) Current tax certificates covering the area to be cancelled.
(C) Copies of the current owner’s deed(s) for the area to be cancelled.
32 (D) A request for cancellation.
(i) If the request is for a cancellation of the entire subdivision, a copy of the cancellation document showing the notarized signature of all owners of the lots or blocks in the subdivision.
(ii) If the request is for only a portion of the original plat, the document must reflect the notarized signature of at least 75% of the owners of the original lots in the subdivision, phase, or identifiable part. However, if the owners of at least 10% of the original lots file written objection to the cancellation with the Court, the granting of an offer of cancellation is at the discretion of the Court.
(E) In the case of utility easement or right-of-way cancellation, letters from utility providers either stating that the release of the easement and/or rights-of-way will not create a limitation on area service or outlining the areas to be retained for easements.
(F) Certification of public notice at least twenty-one (21) days prior to the court hearing.
(e) Revision of Plat
(1) This Section (e) applies to real property located outside of the corporate limits of a municipality. Properties within a municipality’s ETJ shall also follow the individual municipality’s established rules for replatting without vacating or amending subdivision plats.
(2) A person who has subdivided land that is subject to the subdivision controls of the County may apply in writing to the Commissioners Court for permission to revise the subdivision plat file for record with the County Clerk.
(3) After the application is filed with the Commissioners Court, the Court shall publish a notice of the application in a newspaper of general circulation in the County. The notice must include a statement of the time and place at which the court will meet to consider the application and to hear protests to the revision of the plat. The notice must be published at least three times during the period that begins on the 30th day and ends on the 7th day before the date of the meeting. If all or part of the subdivided tract has been sold to nondeveloper owners, the Court shall also give notice to each of those owners by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, at the owner’s address.
(4) The following documentation must be submitted to TNR for review prior to placing the request on the Commissioners Court’s agenda:
(A) Two copies of the plat proposed to be revised, with a delineation of any partial revisions.
(B) Current ownership information for the subdivision.
33 (C) The agreement, if any, of any owners to be affected by the revision.
(5) The Commissioners Court shall adopt an order to permit the revision of the subdivision plat if it is shown to the Court that:
(A) The revision will not interfere with the established right of any owner of a part of the subdivided land; or
(B) Each owner whose rights may be interfered with has agreed to the revision.
(6) If the Commissioners Court permits a person to revise a subdivision plat, the person may make the revision by filing for record with the County Clerk a revised plat or part of a plat that indicated the changes made to the original plat.
(f) Use of Other Standards
Except as expressly provided either in paragraph (4) below or elsewhere in the Code, the Executive Manager of TNR may allow the use of other standards which differ from these Standards, but which protect the public interest and comply with sound engineering principles and practices (“Other Standards”), except as they relate to Construction Security, Permits, and non-engineering issues. If the Executive Manager refuses to grant a request to use Other Standards, the Owner may appeal such a decision to the Commissioners Court.
(1) Administrative Process. An applicant desiring to use Other Standards, which are under the purview of the Executive Manager, shall submit a written request identifying the specific section and/or subsection of the Standard(s) from which the use of Other Standards is requested and justification for the request.
(A) The applicant shall be notified in writing within fifteen (15) working days of the receipt of the request, if the use of Other Standards is granted.
(B) If the use of Other Standards is denied, the applicant may appeal the decision in writing to the Commissioners Court within fifteen (15) days of the notifications of the denial. The request for Commissioners Court hearing must be delivered to the Executive Manager. The Executive Manager will then submit an agenda request to the Commissioners Court for the Court’s consideration in accordance with the Commissioners Court’s Rule of Procedure. The County Attorney’s office will be notified of the request.
(2) Non-administrative Process. Except as expressly provided either in paragraph (4) below or elsewhere in this Code, a request for the use of Other Standards which differ from the constructions Security, permit, and non-engineering requirements of the Standards, will require approval by the Commissioners Court. Applications for the use of such Other Standards should be made to the Executive Manager, who will submit the necessary agenda request.
(3) An application for a request to use Other Standards should be submitted at the same time an application is filed. Such a request may be submitted after filing an application for a Preliminary Plan or Final Plat. An application for a request to use Other Standards shall be processed according to the procedures established by these Standards.
34 (4) In the City of Austin’s ETJ:
(A) The City of Austin shall have sole authority to grant variances and waivers from this chapter:
(i) regarding design of water, wastewater, and electric utility infrastructure, unless the City of Austin is not the utility provider, in which case the entity, that is the utility provider shall have sole authority to grant variances and waivers;
(ii) regarding environmental and stormwater quality controls and airport zoning;
(iii) in City of Austin near term annexation areas, regarding transportation facilities and floodplain management and stormwater conveyance.
(g) Appeals
An appeal of a determination by the Executive Manager under these Standards will be to the Commissioners Court on the basis of a written application to the Executive Manager specifying the basis of the appeal.
(h) Public Notice for Non-Residential Development Applications
Upon receipt of a Preliminary Plan, Final Plat or site plan including a proposed non-residential land use by the applicant anywhere in Travis County except for inside a municipalities full purpose jurisdiction, public notice will be sent to the local Emergency Service District, the Travis County Fire Marshal and all neighborhood and home owner’s associations within 1000 feet of the proposed development. The notice will describe the development including the proposed land use. The applicant will prepare the notification letter, site location map, a plan of the project and the mailing list. Upon approval from TNR staff the applicant will mail the notification by certified mail to the local Emergency Service District, the Travis County Fire Marshal and all neighborhood and home owner’s associations within 1000 feet of the proposed development.
The applicant will file as part of the application process proof of notification prior to the approval
The applicant will file as part of the application process proof of notification prior to the approval