From Our Friends at Texas Neighborhood Coalition
Victory!
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Victory!
YOU DID IT!
Despite a slew of anti-neighborhood bills introduced this legislative session, TNC, with the support of our Plano Chapter and others, was able to defeat a number of bills that would have been detrimental to our neighborhoods.
Your calls and emails made it happen!
Your support was instrumental in the defeat of these bills, and as a result, neighborhoods throughout Texas are safe from what can only be seen as an attempted power grab of local control by some in the legislature.
You made a difference, and your voice was heard in Austin!
I've included below a communication from the Texas Neighborhood Coalition (TNC) providing a detailed recap of the 2025 Texas Legislative Session.
Thank You!
Lastly, allow me to provide a heartfelt thank you to Dave Schwarte, Jessica Black, Andrew Muras, Stephanie Ashworth and Catherine Q. Parker for their work in defeating these bad bills.
Their time and effort traveling to Austin, testifying before the legislature on our behalf, and the countless hours spent researching these bills and communicating with members cannot be understated and is greatly appreciated.
Great to have neighbors like you!
Thank you!
Bill France
Plano TNC
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MEMORANDUM
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From: Texas Neighborhood Coalition
Subject: Congratulations to All Chapter Leaders and Members
Dear All,
On June 2, at the stroke of midnight, the Texas Legislature adjourned for two more years. This session has been one where anti- neighborhood bills came from many directions. However, because you stood up and spoke up to legislators, collectively we were able to defeat multiple bills that would have wrecked neighborhoods across the state.
The one, partial exception to our success is a now vastly narrowed Frat House bill. In the final days, that bill was carved back to apply only to home rule cities with a population of less than 250,000 and with public institutions of higher learning with enrollments of more than 20,000. In practical terms, that means that while all the large cities in Texas were spared this carnage, this bill, unfortunately, if signed by Governor Abbott will affect several cities in Texas, most notably college towns such as College Station/Bryan and Denton. We continue to support College Station in its effort to persuade the Governor to veto the Frat House Bill.
Nonetheless, on balance, this session was a resounding success for neighborhoods. It demonstrates the power of ordinary citizens -- when they are informed, active, and engaged -- to beat deep-pocketed companies that employ armies of professional lobbyists.
We should all appreciate, and be proud of, the enormity of our accomplishments this session.
As promised in our communique of May 31, we recap below the bills that, because of your dedicated efforts, we were able to defeat outright in most cases, or in one case to pare back substantially. We will also be publishing separately in a few days for future reference the names of the legislators who sponsored the most anti-neighborhood bills this session.
Thank you.
Jessica Black
Stephanie Ashworth
Andrew Muras
Dave Schwarte
Major Wins
✅ ADUs on Every Lot (SB673/HB1779) – Would have killed single-family zoning in large cities across the state by forcing those cities to accept two dwellings on every lot. Truly the worst of the worst - Dead
✅ Airbnb Immunity (HB2767/SB1648) – Would have allowed STR platforms to profit from the sale of STRs operating illegally - Dead
✅ YIGBY (SB854/HB3172) Would have allowed ill-defined “religious organizations” to build multi-family housing on property they owned or leased despite zoning ordinances – Dead
✅ Mini-lots and ADUs (HB878) – Dead
❌ One Partial, But Significant Loss
“Frat House” Bill (SB1567/HB2797) – Becomes Law Unless Governor Abbott Vetoes It
This bill removes city authority to regulate how many unrelated people can live together in a single-family home—opening the door to private dorms, flop houses, and investor-owned group rentals in small cities (<250,000) with large universities (>20,000). This includes College Station, Bryan, Denton, Richardson, San Marcos, Huntsville, and others. We fought hard, but it passed both chambers and is at the Governor’s desk.
⚖️ Neutral Outcomes (We Mitigated the Harm in Bills Passed)
· Home-Based Businesses (HB2464) – Passed, but amended to protect city STR ordinances at the specific request of Texas Neighborhood Coalition.
· Mini-Lots in New Neighborhoods (SB15) – We did not actively oppose as the bill does not affect existing neighborhoods. We did successfully work with legislators to have the minimum lots size increased from 1,400 square feet to 3,000 square feet and setbacks from the street increased from five feet to 15 feet.
OTHER BILLS OF INTEREST THAT PASSED, BUT AS TO WHICH WE WERE NOT ENGAGED
· Commercial Conversion by Right to Residential Uses (SB840) – Passed, but we did not engage due to bandwidth and its hands-off approach to existing residential neighborhoods; this bill may lead to tax increases for residents.
· Anti-Protest Bill (HB24) – Expected to become law, and scales back the rights of neighbors to protest rezoning by their cities, but we focused on higher-priority threats given the number of bills.
💪 What Comes Next
The 2025 session was a test—and we passed. Our coalition grew stronger, our message clearer, and our voices louder.
We will stay vigilant as implementation begins, and we’re already preparing for the next session. But today, we celebrate. You stood up. You spoke out. You helped protect Texas neighborhoods.
Thank you.
Jessica Black
Stephanie Ashworth
Andrew Muras
Dave Schwarte
Catherine Q. Parker
Contact Bill France at
for more information.
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