I . 

MARK WHITE 

Attorney General 

Supreme Court Building 

P. 0. BOX 12548 

Austin. TX. 78711. 2548 

5121475-2501 

Telex 9101874-1387 

Telecopier 5121475-0266 

1607 Main St., Suite 1400 

Dallas, TX. 75201.4709 

2141742-8944 

4824 Alberta Ave., Suite 160 

El Paso. TX. 799052793 

915/533-3484 

1220 Oaks Ave., Suite 202 

HOUS,O~, TX. 77002-6986 

7131650-0666 

806 Broadway, Suite 312 

Lubbock, TX. 79401-3479 

8061747-5238 

4309 N. Tenth. Suite B 

McAlten, TX. 78501-1685 

5121682.4547 

200 Main Plaza, Suite 400 

San Antonio, TX. 78205-2797 

5121225-4191 

An Equal Opportunity1 

Affirmative Action Employer 

The Attorney General of Texas 

September 13, 1982 

Honorable Ron Wilson, Chairman 

Health Services Committee 

Texas House of Representatives 

P. 0. Box 2910 

Austin, Texas 78769 

Dear Representative Wilson: 

Opinion No. hW-515 

Re: Public hearing prior to 

approval of a site for a 

housing authority project 

You have inquired whether section 13a of article 1269k, V.T.C.S., 

required a housing authority to give public notice for final 

authorization of the construction of housing projects, if the vote for 

final authorization was held after September 1, 1981. Section 13a, 

which was effective September 1, 1981, states as 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 the proposed housing project 

the opportunity to comment on the proposed 

project. 

(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 before 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 

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 

P. 1864 
Honorable Ron Wilson - Page 2 (m-515) 

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 

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 

proposed project. The commissioners may rely on 

the most 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 

dimensions 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 

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 

public meeting. 

Cc) An incorporated city or town or other 

political subdivision of the State may not issue a 

permit, certificate, or other authorization for 

the construction or occupancy of a housing project 

under this Act unless the housing authority has 

complied with the requirements of this section. 

(Emphasis added). 

"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 

undertaking may embrace the adaption of such area 

to public purposes, including parks or other 

recreational or community purposes; or (2) to 

provide decent, safe, and sanitary urban 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. 1865 
I . 

Honorable Ron 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 'housing project' 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 in your letter requesting the opinion: 

Let us assume that for an unspecified purpose a 

housing authority purchased real property before 

the effective date of section 13a; that after the 

effective date, the commissioners of the housing 

authority first voted to locate a housing project 

on the property; and that after this vote the 

commissioners authorized the construction of a 

housing project on the property. 

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) If your 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) If your answer to the first question is in 

the negative, does the prohibition established by 

section 13a of the Housing Authorities Law apply 

to a housing authority that acts in accordance 

with the previously described assumptions? 

Under the statute, the relevant inquiry is as follows: when did 

the housing commissioners approve the site for a housing project? 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 

p. 1866 
. . 

Honorable Ron Wilson - Page 4 (Ml+515) 

approval of the site for the housing project occurred after the 

effective date of section 13a and the requirements of that provision 

would have been applicable. 

A housing authority has the power to provide for the construction 

of a housing project. Sec. 8(b). This power may be exercised by 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 commissioners approve 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 project would not in itself constitute 

such approval. The commissioners could in theory have purchased land 

for its own administrative uses, and only later decided to use it for 

a housing project. 

SUMMARY 

Section 13a of article 1269k, V.T.C.S., 

requires a housing authority to give public notice 

for approval of a site for a housing project if 

the approval occurred after September 1, 1981. 

MARK WHITE 

Attorney General of Texas 

JOHN W. FAINTER, JR. 

First Assistant Attorney General 

RICHARD E. GRAY III 

Executive Assistant Attorney General 

Prepared by Susan L. Garrison 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Susan L. Garrison, Chairman 

Jon Bible 

Rick Gilpin 

Patricia Hinojosa 

Jim Moellinger 

Bruce Youngblood 

P. 1867