Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

THE ATTCIIRSEY GExERAL
OF' TEXLWC~
No\,ember12, 1986
Honorable Oscar H. Mausy opinion No. JM-576
Chairman
Committee on Jurisprudence Re: Whether article 1269k. V.T.C.S.,
Texas State Senate requires a housing authority to
P. 0. Box 12068 hold a public hearing before it
Austin, Texas 78711 may authorize the acquisition of
existing structures
Dear Senator Mauzy:
You have requested O'J!Copinion about the scope of the public
hearing requirement in section 13a of the Housing Authorities Law,
article 1269k, V.T.C.S. f,pecifically,you want to know whether the
Housing Authority of the I:ity of Houston [HACH] must hold a public
hearing before it may auth,xcisethe acquisition of existing dwellings
to be used for low-incone housing. You do not ask about the
applicability of the Open Meetings Act. See generally V.T.C.S. art.
6252-17.
The purpose of the Housing Authorities Law is to clear slums and
to provide decent housing :Eor persons of low income. See V.T.C.S.
art. 1269k, 52. Article 1:!69kgives housing authorities the power to
authorize "housing projects." Art. 1269k. §8; see also art. 1269k,
53(i) (definition of "housing project"). In 1981 the Housing
Authorities Law was amended to include the following provision:
Sec. 13a. (a) A housing authority may not
authorize the corstruction of a housing project and
may not obtain any permit, certificate, or other
authorization required by an incorporated city or
town or other poLitica subdivision of the State
for any Dart of the construction of a housing
project unless thla commissioners of the authority
hold a public mtzting about the proposed project
prior to that si& being approved for the housing
project. The cormdssioners shall hold the meeting
at the closest c.vailable facility to the site of
the proposed pro.)ect. At least a majority of the
commissioners mwt attend the meeting. The com-
missioners shall give any person who owns or leases
real property within a one-fourth mile radius of
the site of the proposed housing project the
opportunity to ccmment on the proposed project.
p. 2573
Honorable Oscar H. Mauzy - Page 2 (JM-576)
(b) In addition to any other notice required by
law, the commissioners shall post notice of the
date, hour, place, and subject of the meeting at
least 30 days lIefore the scheduled day of the
meeting on a bulletin board at a place convenient
to the public in the county courthouse of the
county in which the proposed project is to be
located and on a bulletin board at a place con-
venient to the public in the city hall if the
proposed project is to be located within the
boundaries of an incorporated city. The commis-
sioners shall have a copy of the notice published
in a newspaper or newspapers that individually or
collectively provide general circulation to the
county in which the proposed project is to be
located. The not.icemust be published one time at
least 30 days lIefore the scheduled day of the
meeting. The ccmmissioners shall mail a notice
containing the same information 30 days before the
date of the meeting to any person who owns real
property within one-fourth of a mile radius of the
site of the prolxlsed project. The commissioners
may rely on the u,ostrecent county tax roll for the
names and addresses of the owners. The com-
missioners shall also have posted at the proposed
project site 30 days before the date of the meeting
a sign having dinensions no smaller than four feet
by four feet and bearing in eight-inch letters a
caption stating 'Site of Proposed Housing Project.'
The sign shall be located at a point on the
proposed project site visible from a regularly
travelled thorou&fare and shall state the nature
of the project, the location of the project, the
names and addresses of all governmental entities
involved in th? development of the proposed
project, and thlz date, time, and place of the
public meeting.
Cc) A* incorporated city or town or other
political subdivj.sionof the State may not issue a
permit, certificate, or other authorization for any
part of the consixuction or for the occupancy of a
housing project llnder this Act unless the housing
authority has complied with the requirements of
this section.
(d) For purpcses of the public meeting require-
ments in Subsection (a) of this section and for the
purposes of Section 6 of this Act, 'housing pro-
ject' means, in addition to the definition pre-
scribed in Subsection (I), Section 3, of this Act:
p. 2574
Honorable Oscar 8. Mauzy - Page 3 (J&576)
(1) any work or undertaking that is financed in
any way by public funds or tax exempt revenue bonds
and undertaken for any of the reasons listed in
Subsection (I) of Section 3; or
(2) a building over which a housing authority
has jurisdiction .and which has any part reserved
for occupancy by persons receiving income or rental
supplements from s governmental entity. (Emphasis
added).
V.T.C.S. art. 1269k. 913a. You ask whether section 13a requires HACH
to hold a public hearing before it may acquire existing dwellings.
Before we reach your question, we must determine whether HACH has
the authority to acquire existing dwellings to be used as low-income
housing. A housing authority has the following powers:
(b) Within its area of operation: to prepare,
carry out, acqu:Q:e, lease, and operate housing
projects; to procide for the construction, recon-
struction, impronzment, alteration, or repair of
any housing preject
_ or any part thereof.
. . . .
Cd) To lease or rent any dwellings, houses,
accommodations, Lands, buildings, structures, or
facilities embraced in any housing project and
(subject to the :.imitationscontained in this Act)
to establish and revise the rents or charges there-
for; to own, ho:.d, and improve real or personal
property; to purchase, lease, obtain options upon,
acquire by gift, q;rant, bequest, devise, or other-
wise any real orJ>ersonal property or any interest
therein; to acquire by the exercise of the power of
eminent domain any real property; to sell, lease,
exchange, transff:r,assign, pledge, or dispose of
any real or pe:rsonal property or any interest
therein to insurl:or provide for the insurance of
any real or personal property or operations of the
authority against any risks or hazards; to procure
Insurance or guarantees from the Federal Govern-
ment of the paymznt of any debts or parts thereof
(whether or not incurred by said authority) secured
by mortgages on any property included in any of its
housing projects. (Emphasis added).
V.T.C.S. art. 1269k. 558(b), (d).
P
p. 2575
Honorable Oscar H. Mauzy - Page 4 (JM-576)
Article 1269k, 53(i) defines "housing project" as follows:
'Housing Projt,ct'shall mean any work or under-
taking: (1) to demolish, clear, or remove buildings
from any slum a*'ea; such work or undertaking may
embrace the adaption of such area to public pur-
poses, including parks or other recreational or
community purposes; or (2) to provide decent, safe,
and sanitary urban or rural dwellings, apartments,
or other living &ommodations for persons of low
income; such wtn,k or undertaking may include
buildings, land, equipment, facilities, and other
real or personal property for necessary, con-
venient, or desirable appurtenances, streets,
sewers, water sstrvice, parks, site preparation,
gardening, administrative, community, health,
recreational, eiucational, welfare, or other
purposes; or (3) to accomplish a combination of the
foregoing. The term 'housing project' also may be
applied to the planning of the buildings and
improvements, the acquisition of property, the
demolition of -e&sting structures, the construc-
tion, reconstruction, alteration, and repair of the
improvements and all other work in connection
therewith. (Emphasis added).
The grant of authority to housing authorities to acquire real property
and to carry out any undertaking to provide decent, safe, and sanitary
dwellings is broad enougt to include the power to authorize the
acquisition of existing dwellings to he used for low-income housing.
We must read section 138 in light of that broad grant of authority.
Section 13a, subsection (a), provides that a housing authority
must hold a public hearing before it authorizes the construction of a
housing project. V.T.C.S, art. 1269k, §13a(a). That language is
unambiguous. When words in common use are used in a statute, they are
to be interpreted as ex:?ressing the meaning in which they are
ordinarily understood. --
Satterfield v. Satterfield, 448 S.W.2d 456, 459
(Tex. 1969). "Construction' means "the act of building." Webster's
New International Dictionary, (3rd ed. 1961). The acquisition of
existipg structures is not ordinarily considered to be "construc-
tion." If the legislature had intended to require a public hearing
1. Fact questions ma)' arise in cases in which proposed improve-
ments to existing structures are extensive enough that they might
constitute uconstruction."
p. 2576
.
Honorable Oscar H. Mauzy - Page 5 (JM-576)
before a housing authority could authorize a housing project, it could
have easily done so. Instead, the legislature chose language making
the requirement applicable only to the construction of housing
projects. Therefore, we cannot construe section 13a as requiring a
housing authority to hold a public hearing before it authorizes the
acquisition of existing structures. If the legislature intends
section 13a to have a broader effect, it should amend the statute.
SUMMARY
Section 13a of article 1269k does not require
a housing authority to hold a public hearing
before it author:.z:esthe acquisition of existing
structures.
Jzb
MATTOX
Attorney General of Texas
JACK HIGXTOWRR
First Assistant Attorney General
MARY KELLER
Executive Assistant Attorney General
RICK GILPIN
Chairman, Opinion Committee
Prepared by Sarah Woelk
Assistant Attorney General
p. 2577