Vested Rights Determinations.

Austin City Code tit. 25, ch. 25-1, art. 12, div. 2

in effect

Austin City Code § 25-1-541 VESTED RIGHTS DETERMINATION.

§ 25-1-541 - VESTED RIGHTS DETERMINATION. (A) Not later than 10 working days after acceptance of a complete vested rights petition, the director shall review the petition under Section 25-1-542 (Criteria for Approval) and render a determination consistent with the requirements of this section. (B) In acting on a petition, the director may: (1) approve the petition and require the development applications necessary to initiate, continue, or complete the project to be reviewed in accordance with regulations in effect on the vesting date, except for those regulations exempt from vesting under state law; (2) deny the petition and require the development application associated with the project to be reviewed under current regulations of this title; or (3) approve the petition in part, as authorized by Subsection (C) of this section. (C) The director may approve a petition in part if a project is legally entitled to some, but not all, of the rights asserted in the petition, or if a change in the scale or intensity of development is necessary to maintain conformity with the original project. A vested rights determination may not waive or modify applicable regulations or provide relief not required by Chapter 245 or Section 43.002 of the Local Government Code. (D) The director shall provide a written determination to the applicant, which must state: (1) Whether the petition is approved or denied, in whole or in part, and the basis for the decision; (2) Findings of fact in support of the decision and information sufficient to identify the permit or fair notice application on which the petition is based; and (3) If the petition is approved: (a) a description of the project for which vested rights are recognized; and (b) a vesting date. (E) An applicant may request that the director reconsider a vested rights determination at any time before the application expires under Section 25-1-82 (Application Requirements and Expiration). The director's decision on a reconsideration request is final and not subject to further reconsideration. (F) A vested rights determination under this section does not affect the availability of a variance or other administrative remedy authorized by this title, but requesting a variance is not required to exhaust administrative remedies for purposes of challenging a determination by the director that a project is not entitled to vested rights. (G) The director shall make vested rights petitions submitted under Section 25-1-533 (Vested Rights Petition Required) and vested rights determinations issued under this section available on the City of Austin's website. Source: Ord. 20140612-084, Pt. 2, 6-23-14.

Austin City Code § 25-1-542 CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL.

§ 25-1-542 - CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL. (A) The director shall review a Type 1 (Chapter 245) petition for vested rights under the criteria described in this subsection. (1) General Standard. A permit application is entitled to development rights under Chapter 245 of the Local Government Code if the permit is required to initiate, continue, or complete a project for which a prior application was submitted to the City of Austin. An application is not entitled to development rights if it is unrelated to or inconsistent with the original project or if the original project has been completed, changed, or expired. (2) Review Criteria. In determining whether a petition meets the standard for approval under this subsection, the director shall consider the following factors: (a) The nature and extent of proposed development shown on the prior permit or other application that initiated the project for which vested rights are claimed; (b) Whether the permit application submitted in connection with the vested rights petition is related to and consistent with the original project; (c) The nature and extent of prior development of the property, including any permitting or construction activity that occurred subsequent to the vesting date requested by the applicant; (d) Any prior vested rights determinations made for development of the property; and (e) Whether the project has expired in accordance with Division 3 (Expirations) of this article or other applicable regulations. (B) The director shall review a Type 2 (Continuing Use) petition for vested rights under the criteria described in this subsection. (1) General Standard. A permit application is entitled to use rights under Section 43.002 of the Local Government Code to the extent that current regulations would prohibit: (a) continuing to use the land in the manner in which it was being used on the date the annexation proceedings were instituted, if the land use was legal at that time; or (b) beginning to use land in the manner that was planned before the 90 th day before the effective date of the annexation if: (i) one or more licenses, certificates, permits, approvals, or other forms of authorization by a governmental entity were required by law for the planned land use; and (ii) a completed application for the initial authorization was filed with the governmental entity before the date the annexation proceedings were instituted. (2) Review Criteria. In determining whether a petition meets the standard for approval under this subsection, the director shall consider the nature and extent of development that: (a) occurred on the property prior to initiation of annexation proceedings, including photographs or other evidence substantiating the use; or (b) was proposed in one or more required applications submitted to a governmental entity. (3) Date of Annexation. For purposes of this subsection, annexation proceedings are deemed to have been instituted on the date of the first public hearing before the city council on the annexation ordinance for the property. (C) The criteria in this section are intended to assist the director in reviewing Type 1 (Chapter 245) and Type 2 (Continuing Use) petitions for vested rights, but do not limit the director from considering other factors relevant to the determination of rights for a particular project. The director may consider whether a project is entitled to common law vested rights if the project is not subject to Chapter 245 or Section 43.002 of the Local Government Code. Source: Ord. 20140612-084, Pt. 2, 6-23-14.

Austin City Code § 25-1-543 EFFECT OF VESTED RIGHTS DETERMINATION.

§ 25-1-543 - EFFECT OF VESTED RIGHTS DETERMINATION. If the director approves a vested rights petition, any permit required to initiate, continue, or complete the project shall be entitled to the development or continuing use rights recognized by the vested rights determination, unless the project expires under Division 3 (Expirations) of this article or other applicable regulations. Source: Ord. 20140612-084, Pt. 2, 6-23-14.

Austin City Code § 25-1-544 PROJECT CONSENT AGREEMENTS.

§ 25-1-544 - PROJECT CONSENT AGREEMENTS. (A) This section provides a voluntary mechanism for determining applicable regulations where the extent of a project's vested rights are unclear and for incentivizing projects with clearly established vested rights to achieve greater compliance with current regulations. (B) An applicant may submit a request for a project consent agreement to the director, in writing, after the director issues a vested rights determination under Section 25-1-541 (Vested Rights Determination) and before the application expires under Section 25-1-82 (Application Requirements and Expiration). The request must identify: (1) current regulations for which compliance would be required, other than regulations exempt from vested rights protections under state law; (2) additional restrictions on the nature and intensity of the proposed development; and (3) any modifications or waivers requested as a condition to the agreement, including but not limited to provisions for the transfer or averaging of impervious cover to include additional property or changes to the original project that increase compatibility with adjacent land uses. (C) The director may recommend a project consent agreement for approval to the city council if the director finds that the agreement achieves a greater degree of environmental protection and compatibility with adjacent land uses than would occur if a project developed to the full extent of vested rights that have been verified or are reasonably likely to exist for the project. (D) In making a determination under Subsection (C) of this section, the director shall consider: (1) the degree to which vested rights for the project have been established; (2) the importance of particular regulations to achieving adopted planning goals or policies for the area in which the project is located; and (3) a recommendation from the environmental officer regarding the environmental benefits of the proposed agreement, if vested rights from the regulations of Chapter 25-8 (Environment) are asserted for the project. (E) The city council may consider approval of a project consent agreement under this section only if the agreement is recommended by the director or initiated by the city council. Before the council acts on a consent agreement, the director shall seek a recommendation from the Environmental Board and the Land Use Commission, and the council shall hold a public hearing. The director shall provide notice of the hearing under Section 25-1-132(B) (Notice of Public Hearing). (F) In acting on a project consent agreement, the city council may approve, deny, or modify the agreement based on the standard applicable to the director's review under Subsections (C) and (D) of this section. A project consent agreement may waive or modify site development regulations applicable to a project as deemed appropriate by the city council. (G) A project consent agreement for a project located in the extraterritorial jurisdiction may include a development agreement as authorized under Section 212.172 of the Local Government Code. The director shall review a proposed development agreement concurrent with an application for a project consent agreement, but council may consider the agreements separately or as a single agreement. (H) A project consent agreement is subject to the expiration requirements specified in this subsection. (1) A project consent agreement approved by the city council expires on the 90 th day after approval, unless the applicant has submitted a complete site plan application for review by the director under the terms of the agreement. (2) Following submittal of a site plan application, a project consent agreement expires if: (a) the site plan application expires under Section 25-1-82 (Application Requirements and Expiration); or (b) the site plan expires under Section 25-5-81 (Site Plan Expiration). (3) In approving a project consent agreement, the city council may extend the expiration periods established under this subsection. Source: Ord. 20140612-084, Pt. 2, 6-23-14.

Austin City Code § 25-1-545 ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDELINES.

§ 25-1-545 - ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDELINES. (A) The director may adopt guidelines to assist in reviewing applications under Section 25-1-533 (Vested Rights Petition Required), Section 25-1-544 (Project Consent Agreements), and Section 25-1-553 (Managed Growth Agreements). (B) Guidelines adopted under this section for review of vested rights petitions may be used to help address common questions that arise in determining vested rights, including but not limited to: (a) whether a permit application is required to continue, complete, or initiate the project for which vested rights are claimed; (b) whether the project for which vested rights are claimed has been completed, changed, or expired; and (c) whether progress towards completion of a project has been made under Section 25-1-554 (Dormant Projects). (C) Guidelines adopted under this section shall be posted on the department's website and made available to the public, but need not be adopted by administrative rule under Section 1-2 (Adoption of Rules). Source: Ord. 20140612-084, Pt. 2, 6-23-14.

Source: City of Austin, City Code and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/tx/austin/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT25LADE_CH25-1GEREPR_ART12VERI_DIV2VERIDEFetched: 10/27/2026