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MARK WHITE Attorney General

Supreme Court Building P. 0. BOX 12548 Austin. TX. 78711. 2548 5121475-2501 Telex 9101874-1387 Telecopier 5121475-0266

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An Equal Opportunity1 Affirmative Action Employer 

# The Attorney General of Texas

September 13, 1982

HonorableRon Wilson, Chairman Health ServicesCommittee TexasHouse of Representatives P. 0. Box 2910 Austin, Texas 78769

Dear RepresentativeWilson: OpinionNo. hW-515

Re: Public hearing prior to approval of a site for a housing authorityproject

You have inquiredwhether section 13aof article 1269k,V.T.C.S., required a housing authority to give public notice for final authorizationof the constructionof housingprojects, if thevote for final authorizationwas held after September 1, 1981. Section 13a, which was effectiveSeptember 1, 1981, statesas follows:

closest available facility to the site of the proposed project. At least a majority of the CCltlUlliSSiOnSrS must attend the meeting. The commissioners shall give any person who owns or leases real property within a one-fourth mile radius of the site of theproposedhousingproject the opportunity to comment on the proposed project.
(b) In addition to any other notice required by law, the commissionersshallpost notice of the date, hour, place, and subject of the meeting at least 30 days before the scheduled day of the meeting on a bulletinboard 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 convenient to the public in the city hall if the proposed project is to be located within the boundaries of an incorporated city. The commissioners shall have a copy of the notice

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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 notice must be published one time at least 30 days before the scheduled day of the meeting. The commissioners shall mail a notice containing the same information30 daysbefore the date of themeeting to any person who owns real property within one-fourth of a mile radius of the site of the proposed project. The commissionersmay rely on themost recent county tax roll for the names and addresses of the owners. The commissioners shall also have posted at the proposed project site 30 days before the date of the meeting a sign having dimensionsno 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 thoroughfare and shall state the nature of the project, the location of the project, the names and addresses of all governmental entities involved in the development of the proposed project, and the date, time, and place of the publicmeeting.
Cc) An incorporated city or town or other political subdivisionof the Statemay not issuea permit, certificate, or other authorization for the constructionor occupancyof a housingproject under this Act unless the housing authority has complied with the requirements of this section. (Emphasisadded). "Housing project" is defined by article 1269k, V.T.C.S., as follo"s:
'Housing Project' shall mean a*Y work or

undertaking: (1) to demolish, clear, or remove buildings from any slum area; such work or undertakingmay embrace the adaption of such area to public purposes, including parks or other recreational or community purposes; or (2) to provide decent, safe, and sanitaryurban or rural dwellings, apartments, or other living accommodations for persons of low income; such work or undertaking may include buildings, land, equipment, facilities,and other real or personal

p. 1865I

. HonorableRon Wilson - Page 3 (MW-515)

property for necessary, convenient, or desirable appurtenances, streets, sewers, water service, parks, site preparation, gardening, administrative, community, health, recreational, educational, welfare, or other purposes; or (3) to accomplish a combination of the foregoing. The term 'housingproject' also may be applied to the planning of the buildings and improvements, the acquisition of p=op==ty, the demolition of existing structures, the construction, reconstruction, alteration, and repair of the improvements and all other work in connection therewith.

You state as follows inyour letterrequestingthe opinion:

Let us assume that for an unspecifiedpurpose a housing authority purchased real property before the effectivedate of section 13a; that after the effective date, the commissioners of the housing authority firstvoted to locate a housing project
on the property; and that after this vote the commissioners authorized the construction of a housingproject on theproperty.

You ask the following specific questions concerning this situation:
(1) Does a housing authority's purchase of

real property for an unspecified purpose constitute approval of a site for a housing project?
(2) Ifyour answer to the first question is in the negative, what action by a housing authority constitutes approval of a site for a housing project?
(3) Ifyour answer to the first question is in the negative, does the prohibition establishedby section 13a of the Housing Authorities Law apply to a housing authority that acts in accordance with thepreviouslydescribedassumptions?

Under the statute, the relevant inquiry is as follows: when did thehousing commissionersapprove the site for a housingproject? The requirements of section 13a must be complied with prior to such approval. We cannot resolve disputed fact questions in the opinion process. However, on the assumed facts you have presented, the

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HonorableRonWilson - Page 4 (Ml+515)

approval of the site for the housing project occurred after the effective date of section 13a and the requirementsof that provision would have been applicable.

A housing authorityhas thepower toprovide for the construction of a housingproject. Sec. 8(b). This power may be exercisedby the housing commissioners acting as a body, in accordance with relevant procedures set out in the statute and bylaws. Sets. 5, 8(a). We believe the official act by which the housing commissionersapprove a site for a housing project must be reasonably recognizable as such action. The purchase of land without any indication that it would become the site for a housing projectwould not in itself constitute such approval. The commissionerscould in theory have purchased land for its own administrativeuses, and only laterdecided to use it for
a housingproject.

SUMMARY

Section 13a of article 1269k, V.T.C.S., requiresa housing authorityto givepublicnotice for approval of a site for a housing project if the approvaloccurredafter September 1, 1981.

MARK WHITE AttorneyGeneral of Texas

JOHNW. FAINTER,JR. FirstAssistantAttorneyGeneral

RICHARD E. GRAY III ExecutiveAssistantAttorneyGeneral
Preparedby SusanL. Garrison AssistantAttorneyGeneral

APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE

SusanL. Garrison,Chairman Jon Bible Rick Gilpin PatriciaHinojosa JimMoellinger BruceYoungblood

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