TCAA, in conjunction with the Texas Municipal League, files amicus briefs and comments in support of cities on many issues. To keep up to date on the status of these issues, go to http://www.tml.org/p/AMICUS%20BRIEF%20UPDATE%20121613.pdf.
Civil Ordinance Enforcement: City of Dallas v. TCI West End, Inc., No. 13-0795, in the Supreme Court of Texas. TML and TCAA filed an amicus brief in support of the City of Dallas’s Petition for Review. This case involves the authority of a city to seek damages through legislatively-created civil penalties against those who illegally demolish historic buildings. The majority for the court of appeals undermined this fundamental authority by interpreting Subchapter B of Local Government Code Chapter 54 as being inapplicable to zoning ordinances, thereby severely diminishing the ability of cities to enforce historic and non-historic zoning ordinances alike. The majority opinion’s interpretation of Subchapter B is plainly wrong. Subchapter B expressly lists zoning ordinances as a category of ordinances to which it applies. The brief was filed on November 13, 2013.