HB 3299

Background

In the 86th Legislative Session of the State of Texas, HB 2439 was approved and signed by the Governor.  This bill prohibited a municipality from adopting any development regulation specifying that a required building product, be used in any residential or commercial structure if the developer’s proposed building product, material, or method is approved by a national model building code.  

Context to Melissa

Prior to the passage of HB 2439, exterior construction of all residential and commercial structures was to be 80% brick exterior.  With the implementation of HB 2439, all residential and/or commercial buildings could not be required to meet 80% brick exterior if the exterior product the developer wanted to use was allowed by a national building code.  Melissa had to negotiate with every developer to ensure their exterior elevation at least was complimentary to the surrounding area and vision for Melissa, knowing that Melissa could not require the use of any particular material at any percentage.  

For Your Consideration

HB 3299 was recently filed, which would allow cities to regulate exterior building materials on commercial buildings.  While this bill would continue to prohibit governmental entities from imposing restrictions on the use of building products approved by national model codes for residential buildings, passage would remove the same prohibition on commercial buildings, thus the City could establish reasonable exterior construction material standards.