HB2439 is Detrimental to Texas Cities

This would be a major set back to quality construction

Please veto this legislation, it was passed without an understanding of the unintended consequences it would have.

Governor Abbot, please veto this bill. Texans should be allowed to control their communities through their locally elected officials. Communities spend countless hours working together to determine the vision they have for their community. Aesthetics is a common component. This bill removes a citizen's right to expect its local government to protect them. The expectation that their property will maintain its value will be lost if adjacent property is not required to adhere to the same quality of development. Many unintended consequences will result from this legislation. Please reconsider the direction we are headed. Thank you.

This bill will be detrimental to the development and prosperity of cities. The look and feel of cities is a key component of economic development policies.

We need cities to make reasonable design standards, in collaboration with the community and their vision, through required state public engagement processes and community workshops.

I believe it is time for the State to get out of the way and let cities be governed by the wishes/votes of the citizens. People come to Texas because of the great State that it is, if this keeps up we will become another California.

This bill undermines a community's ability to improve the quality of development within its boundaries. Texans should be able to expect and require quality development to protect neighborhoods and property values. Texas should be recognized for its high quality development that attracts even more investment. Why should Texans be forced to settle for only the bare minimum? Development standards have been adopted by cities in direct response to both residents' requests and developers' choice. This bill will have serious negative consequences for neighborhoods throughout Texas and should be vetoed.

People live in Mount Belvieu Texas, because of the high quality of life. This bill will allow developers to build low quality inferior products .

I strongly oppose the HB2439 Bill. It is negligent, and detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of our communities. It undermines decades of progress in creating more sustainable, socially equitable, and economically resilient places throughout the Lone Star State. Eroding the ability of planners and planning organizations to encourage better development practices is fundamentally opposed to what makes Texas great - strong towns with historic, special places set in beautiful landscapes.

At what point will cities become obsolete to the monolithic state government? Please take a true approach to governance and let local governments legislate in the best interest of their communities--stop waging a war on cities and meddling in their affairs. If the market does not favor a particular regulation, the market will react and cities can adjust their approach. Do not try and anticipate what the market will do. The effects of this bill will be catastrophic to the aesthetics of the urban fabric. Texas will look like one giant trailer park (Florida).

Local citizens should get to decide what is best in their community!

This bill puts restrictions where they are not needed. I don't think the Representatives and Senators understand how much this bill will negatively impact the opportunities for good design and good development in Texas cities--larger, medium and small.

Texas has always stood for being the best. HB2439 will handcuff municipalities who have been striving to meet the historic Texas standard of excellence. This bill lowers the bar so much Alabama will probably surpass us.

In a state that touts freedom to make decisions, this is just another example of that freedom being taken away from cities.

Please veto HB2439 and let local government dictate what is best for each city.

While I am sure the House and Senate had positive intentions with HB 2439, the bill has extensive negative consequences that undermine what has made Texas great. Specifically, the bill: • Does Not Provide for Unique Identity of Cities - Exterior building materials play an important role in establishing the identity of cities and districts within cities. El Paso, Lubbock, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Fredericksburg, New Braunfels, Celina, Pearland, Kerrville—these cities could not be more different in culture and physical appearance. • Usurps Local Discretion - Using minimum building codes to usurp local zoning, design guidelines and local discretion is a misuse of those tools for an unintended purpose. • Eliminates creating places of lasting value. It has been proven that the most successful commercial economic areas of cities, based on property value and sales tax production per acre are unique places people enjoy, with high quality building materials being a critical component. • Implies that Current Practices Slow Down Growth - The 20 fastest growing cities in Texas have adopted architectural guidelines, development regulations, and ordinances that restrict exterior construction materials beyond the minimum building codes. These regulations have done nothing to slow the pace of economic development. In fact, many of these cities will say that quality development attracts additional quality development. • Causes Long Term Maintenance and Blighting Problems- Cities see the struggles of homeowners maintaining a minimum code home exterior with faded and chipping paint on siding leading to blight. They find that the cost to construct with masonry is less with the first repainting of a minimum code siding exterior is performed plus additional cost of maintenance rather than a one-time capital cost. • Does not Recognize Local Conditions - A variety of reasons exist for cities to limit exterior materials beyond the building code. Locations with

My concern with the referenced bill is the different kind of settings and specific needs for cities and counties will be substituted for bare minimum requirements that do not reflect the specific needs of the area. Also the retroactive side will affect already stablished contracts and the bid requirements and quality of the contracted work making contracts useless.

Please Veto HB2439 and let municipalities dictate building materials required in our cities. Local government has the right to require better than code!

The ability for housing stock and development to maintain value, enhance maintain taxable value within the community, is incumbent upon strong development regulations. This has occurred successfully in the past, so why make a change that allows a lower potential standard to enter into communities?

this would allow mobile homes next to million dollar mansions!