Summary of Private Streets and Street Easements not Maintained by Bexar County. January 12, 2016

Transcription

1 Summary of Private Streets and Street Easements not Maintained by Bexar County January 12,

2 Summary of Discussion Definitions History of County Subdivision Regulations Developer s Responsibilities Requirements to Accept a Road for County Maintenance 4 Categories of Private Streets and Street Easements not Maintained by the County Cost Estimates to bring those Private Streets and Street Easements into Compliance Potential Solutions 2

3 Definitions Developer An Individual or Company responsible for laying out and improving a tract of land. When public improvements are established at the time of a subdivision plat, this is the individual responsible for installing and maintaining improvements until other entity accepts responsibility for maintenance. Lot Owner An Individual or Company who purchases one or more lots from a developer or previous lot owner. 3

4 Definitions Public Use Declaration or Public Right of Way Allows for public use of a right of way but does not authorize or require a county to maintain the roads. Publicly Maintained A process used to verify that constructed improvements meet County Standards and that the improvements are accepted by Commissioners Court. 4

5 Bexar County Subdivision Plat Regulations History February 27, 1963 :Commissioners Court passed a Court Order establishing Construction standards for roads and subdivisions outside of the boundaries of any city and outside of an area adjacent to and 5 miles in width from the city limits (ETJ). 5 Pages long Streets required 60 ROW constructed with flex base and asphalt Revised 1967 December 3, 1986: Bexar County revised its subdivision regulations and construction standards now including the area within the ETJ. 28 Pages Provided for more detailed Construction requirements Amended in 1991, 1999 and 2000 May 10, 2005: In accordance with Local Government Code Chapter 242 requiring Counties and Cities to have the same subdivision regulations in the ETJ, Bexar County adopted certain provisions of the City of San Antonio s unified development code (UDC) Chapter 35. 5

6 Developer Responsibilities Before recording plat: Develop a Plat depicting the location of lots, streets, drains, and associated easements complying with Bexar County Standards Develop Construction plans to construct streets and drains that are acceptable to Bexar County Construct Streets, Drains or Post Performance Bond covering cost of the construction of streets and drains 6

7 Developer Responsibilities After recording plat: Post Maintenance Bond Maintain Streets and Drains until Commissioners Court Accepts Improvements for Maintenance Penalty for Developer not completing above steps is Bexar County does not accept streets and drains for maintenance 7

8 Requirements to Accept Road for Maintenance Construction Plans Reviewed and Accepted by Public Works Inspections conducted during street and drain construction Materials must pass testing during construction Begin Developer Maintenance Period for approximately one (1) year after all the following have been completed: Plat Recorded Pass Final Inspection Post Warranty Bond After the warranty period is complete, Roads are accepted for maintenance by Commissioners Court 8

9 Public Works Assets Major Assets 1266 Center Line Miles of Roads 151 Bridges 1807 Culverts 149 Low Water Crossings Signs Annual Maintenance Over 100 Miles of Roads Resurfaced Over 4200 Acres of ROW Mowed Over 1 Million Ft of Roads Restriped Over 3000 Signs Replaced 9

10 Data Collection for Assets not Maintained by Public Works Public Works staff used a GIS street layer obtained from Bexar Metro 911 to identify the street segments located outside of municipal limit that have not accepted for Bexar County maintenance. Street segments were evaluated using data from the Public Works streets database for the following: Segments identified as annexed, expired, TxDOT, under developer warranty within the last year, under construction, or proposed were deleted from the list since the segments will follow the process to be accepted for public maintenance. Segments identified as privately maintained were classified as Private Streets (Gated Communities). Segments identified as paper streets or under permit hold were classified as Paper Streets or Streets Not Accepted for maintenance. Segments that were not filtered out using the streets database information described above were evaluated in GIS using aerial photography, subdivision plat layers, and parcel data to classify the segment into one of four categories described on the next slide. 10

11 4 Categories of Private Streets & Street Easements Paper Streets or Streets not accepted for maintenance are streets located in dedicated rights-of-way (ROW) established by a plat or early road map that have not been constructed or were never constructed to Bexar County standards. Private Streets (Gated Communities) are platted subdivisions that have streets identified to be privately maintained with the streets designated as private lots. Private Maintained Streets (Not Platted) are streets established with a street name located in an area but were not established by a plat. Ingress-Egress Easements are segments that have been given road names although the road area was not established by a plat or early map providing access to dwellings or businesses 11

12 Paper Streets or Streets not accepted for maintenance 270 Streets 70 Center lane Miles Private Streets (Gated Community) 1265 Streets 287 Center lane Miles Private Streets (Not Platted) 8 Streets 2 Center lane Miles Ingress-Egress Easements 481 street easements 210 Center lane Miles Total: 2023 Streets 569 Center lane Miles 12

13 M A P 13

14 Estimated Cost to bring Streets into Compliance with Bexar Standards Assumes construction of a County rural section; two 12 lanes with bar ditches, no sidewalks, including the following: Mobilization/Insurance/Bond/Engineering Erosion Control/Traffic Control Street Excavation/Fill/Drainage Subgrade preparation/treatment/8 flex base Two Course Surface Treatment Top soil and hydromulching 14

15 Road Assessment Program Potential Solutions Available statutory alternative allowing residents petition Commissioners Court to assess cost to construct/repair on each lot usually in the form of a lien. Rural and Community Development Loans Identify areas that meet federal poverty levels and compete for federal loan to construct/repair streets. Road Improvement District Available statutory alternative allowing residents within subdivision vote to create a tax district to reimburse cost to construct/repair streets. Public Safety Develop criteria to identify conditions Bexar County will construct/repair streets at taxpayer s expense without reimbursement 15

16 Potential Solutions Donated Materials and Labor Public Works requests donation of TxDOT materials to be delivered at a designated site in or near community. Residents, at their own cost, seek out individuals or companies with equipment who may, at no cost or reduced cost, prepare and install donated materials. Seek Exception to Texas Water Code This is required since this is not an alternative for counties that do not meet specific criteria and are funded by Community Development Block Grants. The exception would need to identify certain areas of a county to be eligible for additional State funding. This would need to be done during a Legislative Session. Hidalgo County was granted an exception. Identify Alternatives within Transportation Code Chapter 251 Address when neighborhood does not qualify for HUD funding but assessment value is greater than property value. This would need to be done during a Legislative Session. 16

17 Questions 17