Oh, Zone: Proposed Senate Bill Shrouds Cities’ Zoning Laws and Procedures in a Haze of Uncertainty
Senate Bill 2215, sponsored by Senator Campell out of the 25th District, and currently in the House Committee of Land and Resource Management, would, if passed, add a new subchapter to Chapter 211 of the Texas Local Government Code (“211”), which relates to municipal zoning authority. The new “Subsection D. Enforcement” would allow any person “affected or aggrieved” by a city’s failure to comply with any of the provisions of 211 to immediately seek mandamus, declaratory, or injunctive relief in district court. It would also permit the recovery of attorneys’ fees and court costs to the prevailing party. Finally, the bill explicitly waives a city’s sovereign immunity for purposes of any actions brought against it under any piece of 211.
Initially, when the bill was introduced, it contained a mandatory provision limiting any search for relief to the three equitable remedies of mandamus, declaratory judgment, and injunction. The engrossed version now instead provides these forms of relief as permissive and non-exclusive. The addition of this “do not pass go” approach could easily lead to unnecessary and costly litigation when the administrative procedures that have been utilized since the statute was enacted in 1987 are more than sufficient to protect the interests of property owners.
Property owners already have a host of methods by which they may seek redress when they feel a city has zone them wrong. A property owner can seek to declare an ordinance void under the Texas Uniform Declaratory Judgment Act. A cause of action is also available when regulation by a municipality amounts to an unconstitutional taking. First and foremost, however, is the process that is spelled out in great detail and conveniently handy when perusing 211, . . . because that’s where it is!
The statutory scheme of 211 already provides comprehensive and organized (not to mention time-worn and practice-tested) administrative procedures for appeals to a board of adjustment, after which the property owner may then proceed to district court. See Local Gov’t Code §§ 211.010 and 211.011.
The Texas Legislature, during its 88th Session in 2023, passed several amendments to 211 that already tipped the balance heavily in favor of the property owners’ due process and property rights. See Local Gov’t Code §§ 211.006-211.007, 211.0166, and 211.019. For example, when a property owner goes to contest a non-conforming use determination in the trial court, there is an atypically high burden placed on cities to refute the allegations. See Local Gov’t Code §§ 211.019(k)(1) and § 211.019 (k)(2). Added during that same session and found within the same section is a provision that waives “a municipality’s immunity from suit and governmental immunity from liability…for purposes of an action brought by a property owner or lessee to enforce the rights and remedies under this section.” See Local Gov’t Code §§ 211.019(p).
S.B. 2215 would cloak the entirety of 211 with this penumbra of vulnerability. The bill’s author asserts the purpose of it is to provide clarity to already-existing law. What it would achieve is to murky the waters of an otherwise seasoned and reliable process by giving property owners a premature avenue to the courthouse.
The bill was left pending after public comment this morning of May 22, 2025. Fingers crossed for sunny skies ahead, but clouds may be gathering on Capitol Hill…
Please do not rely on this article as legal advice. We can tell you what the law is, but until we know the facts of your given situation, we cannot provide legal guidance. This website is for informational purposes and not for the purposes of providing legal advice.
