Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN iionoreble Ir'la. YelCerman ACLing County Attorney XraVIII COunLY Austin, Texas Deer Sirs Opinion No. O-6210 Rer Authority st on the above question end not4 he question, aa Acti% County A is tbaL addi- tional ecquielt & Austin outride th4 city llmlts onues of the aountg, You ark in your loving que~tlonst 6081-B prohibit orporatod city e of parks and 8 of 640 acres i purchaee or s Artlole 6081-D prohibit of any lncorporatod city r the purpose of parks and outsida of 1~s oity limits, by purchese or condemnation? *- ‘,3. Do tliose artioles mean that the govcmlng body of an incorporated city may own end hold more ihan o40 acre4 outelde of ihe city llcaics, LO be used for the purpoee of parks and play grounds, but that they can never 38 Hen. Wm. Yeldeman - Page 2 acquire more than 640 acre@ at any 01x4 time, by purchase or oondemuati on? “4. Do Articles 6081-B and 6081-D llmlt the riqh;s conferred upan Uonc !?ule ol-vies by Art:ele 1175, Bection 15, uith reference to aoqtirLng property ouisldo of the c:ry ltnits fop parks end playgrounds?” The ahsver is your flrsi question is that ANi- ale 608lb, Verna~~n Annotated Civil Statutes, is a bracket lav applicable only to cftiea of a certain populetloh by the 1923 census. Austin doeo not come vithlh the ola~sslfleatlon bewwe It bed 144s than 43,000 Inhabitants by the 1920 oeneus. Therefore, the ansveP to your question Is no. Artiole 60816, Vernon’9 Annotated Civil Btatutss, which you lnqulm about in your seeond question. oohtaina pro- vlsionn vhiah are similar to thoee aontainod In Artlele 6081b, except that it la not a bracket lav. Section 1 0r that article prov%des: “SOC. 1. That Ma govemlng body of any incorporated alty In ‘thfs state ney mcelve end hold through @it or mador ded%oatian, and 1s hereby lnpover4d to oondemu or to pumhase land& vlthout its terrltorUtl 1iast.s and vlthLn the county in vhioh such city is situated for the pux’posa of establlsbixrg and sbaiata~ t&r+ on pubI& rocreatlonal parks end playgrounds, either or both, no one of such parka or playgrounds vhlch may be acquired by purchaee or thxough oon- domnatlon to exaeed 320 acres in aPoa and the total acroage outslde of the lidts of the city vb%ah may bs acqulreo by purch484 and through oondmnatfon procecdlngs, either or both, shall not 4xo4cct 640 acroe.” Section 6 of ~riicls 6C@ld 1imUs the sp?lPcation of Section 1 co those titles that do not h6vs contrary pmvi- don5 ln tholr ohertare. SoOtioR 6 pPOVid84s ‘Nothing here- contained rhall be cone~rued 86 repoallng My provisions oi My special charter or any inaorporated oity, but Hon. Urn. Yalderman - Page 3 the powers, teram end provisions hereof shall exS8t an altematlve powers, terms aad provlslons af any such special charter and any alty which shall hereafter adopt oc eaend ito own oharter under the terms of the Rams Rule provision8 of the ConatituLion may provide In any suoh charter or amendment8 thereto provlslcum on the subject aovsred hereby other than eml differing froa those herein provlded.” Section 1 of Artiole X%VI of the oharter of the City of Austin (19%) authoriaer the City Couuoil to acquire land outaide the altg litits for parka end playgrouuds, an follows, “The City Uouncll shall have pciwer to aequlre land inside OP outride of the cor- porate boundaribrr~ or the City or Austin, by puramas or aondeanation, r0l the purpose of establlahing or enlar@ng any park, parkway or pla;ygzvund, and to improve, equip, prllltaln mad regulate the use or @ma, aad the applloa- ble provisions or the laws 0r the state or Texas relating to emlneat domain are adopted snd made a part or thl8 Artlole and rhall apply in uon- demmtlon proceeding8 hereunder, but the City of Austin shall not be required to exeaute the bon& referred to fn raid law8.’ Article 60816, therefore,- does not limit the amount of land which the City of Austin may 6oqulre by con- deauation end purohase outside the city llalte for park8 and playgrounda under Artlcls XXVI or the City Charter. Thiis is a speolal oharttr opd it is not repealed by Article 6081d. Also, Austin 1s a Hose Rule City and it; la exprersly authorized by Section 6 of Article 6Oiosld to “provide ln any ruah charter or amendments thereto provS.slons on the subject covered’hereby other thau aud diiiering Prom those herein provided.” We, thesefore, answer your second question no. In view 0r our answera to your first two qusrtions, it becomee unnsaesaery to answer your third qusrti3R. your Question Ro. 3 is an abstract queetlon aa far ae the City of Au8ti.n is conaerued. Article 608lb, in 40 Zion. Wm. Yeldarmn - Pqa 4 Section 6 and Article 60816, lu Seotion 6 (OOpied above) each provide that *nothing oontalned In this act ah811 be ion- swued as repealing anx pmvlalona of any special charter of any inoorporated oity. The City of Austin baa in Arclcle XXVI a apeolal provlalon on parka and playgrouuda which gives it greater powers than Artlole 6081d. It la true thOt Section 15 of Artlale 1175, Revised Civil Statutes, 1925, confers the sane8 powers cm the City of Auatln as to acquiring parka and playgrounds outside the city limlta as doen Arti- cle XXVI of the City Wrter. It is not necessary, however, to pass on whether Artlole 60816 ll&ta the powers aonfarred on Home Rule Cities by Seation 15 of Artiole 1175 because Article 60&J, by its OYLIDrOViSiMS, is not applltable to cliLaa llka Austin which have l apeclal charter provision on the subject of parka and playgrounds whleh is other titan and differs rr0a Axtiole 6081d. No, accordiqgly, find no neceea- ity r0P anawedng your rowth question. Trusting that the foregoing gives you the lnfomatlon desired, we are Yours very truly ATTORURY CamRAL OF TEXAS BY Fe&an Dlckaon Assistant FDIBT