Texas Government Code 442.016 – Liability for Adversely Affecting Historic Structure or Property
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(a) In this section, “historic structure or property” means a historic structure or a structure or property that is designated as historic by a political subdivision of the state, the state, or the federal government.
(b) A person is liable to the commission for damages if the person:
(1) demolishes, causes to be demolished, or otherwise adversely affects the structural, physical, or visual integrity of a historic structure or property that is not located in a municipality that has a demolition permit and a building permit procedure; and
(2) does not obtain written permission from the commission before beginning to demolish, cause the demolition of, or otherwise adversely affect the structural, physical, or visual integrity of the structure or property.
Terms Used In Texas Government Code 442.016
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(c) If the structural, physical, or visual integrity of the structure or property is adversely affected to the extent that it is not feasible to restore the structural, physical, or visual integrity substantially to its former level, the damages are equal to the cost of constructing, using as many of the original materials as possible, a new structure or property that is a reasonable facsimile of the historic structure or property and the cost of attorney’s, architect’s, and appraiser’s fees and other costs related to the enforcement of this section. If it is feasible to restore the structural, physical, or visual integrity of the structure or property substantially to its former level, the damages are equal to the cost of the restoration, using as many of the original materials as possible, and the cost of attorney’s, architect’s, and appraiser’s fees and other costs related to the enforcement of this section.
(d) Instead of accepting monetary damages, the commission may permit the liable person to construct, using as many of the original materials as possible, a structure or property that is a reasonable facsimile of the demolished historic structure or property or to restore, using as many of the original materials as possible, the historic structure or property and to pay the cost of attorney’s, architect’s, and appraiser’s fees and other costs related to the enforcement of this section.
(e) Damages recovered under this section shall be deposited in the Texas preservation trust fund account.
(f) The construction of a facsimile structure or property under Subsection (d) must be undertaken at the location designated by the commission, which may be the same location as that of the demolished historic structure or property.
(g) The commission may make contracts and adopt rules as necessary to carry out this section.
(h) The commission shall file in the real property records of the county clerk’s office in each county in which a historic structure or property that is included on the National Register of Historic Places or that is designated as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark is located a verified written instrument listing each structure or property located in that county by:
(1) the street address, if available in the commission files;
(2) the legal description of the real property on which the structure or property is located; and
(3) the name of the owner of the real property, if available in the commission files.
(i) Subsections (a) through (g) of this section apply only to a historic structure or property on or after the date the instrument has been filed under Subsection (h) and indexed.