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