Background

On June 10, 2023, House Bill 1526 was signed into law. The new state law concerns parkland dedication in cities with more than 800,000 residents and will apply to new site plan and subdivision applications, submitted on or after January 1, 2024.
To ensure that the City complies with the new law, the current parkland dedication ordinance must be repealed and replaced with a new ordinance. The law provides limited discretion for these changes and prescribes formulas for dedication of land and fees-in-lieu of parkland dedication. It applies only to site plan and subdivision applications that include multifamily or hotel/motel uses. Certified affordable units, which are exempt from parkland requirements under existing code, will continue to be exempt. The law does not propose additional requirements for single family applications. It preempts the City from placing any parkland requirements on commercial development. The law also refers to other administrative changes listed on the term sheet. The term sheet will serve as a primary reference for the City’s Legal Department in drafting the new ordinance.
To comply with the law, the new ordinance must be approved no later than December 1, 2023, and must go into effect by January 1, 2024.

Review and Adoption Timeline

• September 25th: Breifing to the Parks and Recreation Board
• October 18th: Recommended for approval by the Codes and Ordinance Joint Committee on a 5-0-1 vote
• October 23rd: Recommended for approval by the Parks and Recreation Board on a 11-0 vote
• November 14th: Unanimously recommended for approval by the Planning Commission 
• November 30th: Approved by City Council on a 9-1-1 vote, with A. Alter against and R. Alter absent

Case Manager Contact

Randy Scott, Parks and Recreation Department, Randy.Scott@austintexas.gov