2012-231s:llegallour documentslordinances\12\3d amendment to gas well moratorium ordinance final version 2.doc
ORDINANCE NO. 2012-231
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 2012-024, AS AMENDED BY
ORDINANCE NO. 2012-126, ESTABLISHING A MORATORIUM ON CERTAIN GAS
WELL PERMITS FOR GAS WELL DRILLiNG AND PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES WITHIN
THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS BY REDEFINING
EXEMPTIONS, PROVIDING DEFINITIONS AND REPLACING TERMS; ESTABLISHING
EXCLUSIONS AND REVISING VARIANCE PROCEDURES; PROVIDING FOR
EXTENSION OF THE MORATORIUM; PROVIDING A CUMULATIVE CLAUSE;
PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the City of Denton, Texas, is a home rule municipality located in Denton
County; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Denton is aware of an increased interest in
gas exploration and production in the North Central Texas area; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has received from the public various environmental and
land use compatibility concerns regarding the inadequacy of the City's ordinances and
regulations now applicable to the Gas well drilling and production activities (as hereinafter
defined), including, but not limited to, health, water quality, air quality, noise, lighting and
nuisances; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has conducted such investigations as it deemed necessary
to determine the state of regulations now applicable to the Gas well drilling and production
activities under the current ordinances and regulations of the City of Denton; and
WHEREAS, the City Council, after due and careful consideration, finds that there are
significant and compelling environmental and land use compatibility concerns associated with
the Gas well drilling and production activities that the current regulations may not be adequate to
address; and
WHEREAS, the City Council believes that it is reasonable and necessary to update
municipal ordinances and regulations to provide for a fair and equitable system of regulations
relating to the Gas well drilling and production activities so as to protect the property interests of
mineral estate owners while protecting the rights, opportunities and property interests of surface
estate owners and citizens of the City of Denton, Texas; and
WHEREAS, it is important and necessary to preserve the status quo while a review and
update of these regulations are being developed and implemented to ensure compatible land uses
that do not negatively impact property values or neighborhood character; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Denton, Texas adopted Ordinance 2012-024
(the "Moratorium Ordinance") on February 7, 2012, which Moratorium Ordinance imposed a
120-day moratorium on the receipt, processing and approval of certain applications for permits to
authorize oil and gas exploration and production activities, as prescribed therein, within the
corporate limits of the City of Denton, Texas; and
s:llegallour documentslordinances\1213d amendment to gas well moratorium ordinance final version 2.doc
WHEREAS, the City Council extended the Moratorium Ordinance for an additional
period of 120 days by Ordinance No. 2012-126, which ordinance expires on October 4, 2012;
and
WHEREAS, the City Staff, worlcing with the Gas Well Drilling Task Force, has
conducted research, has received and reviewed public input from 12 public hearings conducted
by the Gas Well Drilling Task Force, has reviewed the studies and report by the Denton
Stalceholder Drilling Advisory Group, and has presented to City Council a preliminary report of
said research, findings and activities; and
WHEREAS, the City anticipates that a draft of the ordinance enacting additional oil and
gas well standards and procedures will be forthcoming in the irnmediate future; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds and has determined that additional time is required
for public review of the draft regulations before the Gas Well Drilling Task Force, the Planning
and Zoning Commission and the City Council; and
WHEREAS, the City Council further finds that it is in the best interest of the City and the
public to extend the moratorium to a date certain in order to allow for the completion of
regulatory changes to the City's ordinances governing Gas well drilling and production activities
and the procedures related thereto; and
WHEREAS, the Moratorium Ordinance established exemptions from the moratorium for
certain categories of gas well permits; and
WHEREAS, it appears that confusion has arisen concerning the applicability of the
exemptions as stated in the Moratorium Ordinance; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds and has determined that it in the best interests of the
City to clarify the exemption provisions and to resolve any ambiguities presented in the
Moratorium Ordinance regarding such exemptions by amending the same; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Denton recognizes that there may be
individuals or businesses who may suffer an undue hardship created by the moratorium and may
have a legitimate reason to seelc a variance from the requirements of this moratorium;
NOW, THEREFORE, THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON HEREBY
ORDAINS:
SECTION 1. Ordinance No. 2012-024, Section 1, as extended by Ordinance No. 2012-
126, hereby is amended to read:
SECTION 1. A moratorium is hereby imposed on the receipt, processing and
approval of applications for gas well permits within the corporate limits of the City of
Denton, and any applications for specific use permits, site plans, development plans and
plats of any nature or type, pursuant to the Denton Development Code as they relate to
Gas well drilling and production activities, or any part thereof, in the City of Denton,
subject to the exemptions stated in Section 2 of this ordinance.
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SECTION 2. Ordinance No. 2012-024, Section 2, as extended by Ordinance No. 2012-
126, hereby is amended to read:
SECTION 2. The following applications are exempt from the moratorium:
a. Applications for gas well permits that are in sequence with an
approved specific use permit, site plan, development plan or gas well plat
approval, under the terms of the City's existing ordinances relating to gas well
drilling and production activities; and
b. Applications for specific use permits, site plans, development plans
or plat applications that authorize gas well drilling and production activities, or
gas well permits, which were filed before the effective date of this moratorium;
and
c. Applications for permits relating to the drilling of wells, which do
not require hydraulic fracturing, in conjunction with the injection or storage of
natural gas as personal property beneath the surface of the earth.
SECTION 3. Section 5 of Ord. No. 2012-024, as amended by Ord. No. 2012-126, is
further amended to add the following provisions at the end of Section 5 to read:
The City Council shall apply the following criteria in determining whether or not
to grant the variance:
(1) Application of the moratorium will create an undue
hardship.
(2) The situation creating the undue hardship is neither self-
imposed nor generally affecting all or most properties
subject to the same regulations;
(3) The relief sought will not be harmful to the permitted use
of adj acent lawful uses; and
(4) The granting of the variance sha11 be in harmony with the
purpose of the moratorium.
In granting the variance, the City Council may impose conditions that are
consistent with the purpose of this ordinance,
SECTION 4. The moratorium established by Ord. No. 2012-024, and as extended by
Ord. No. 2012-126, hereby is further extended until and including December 18, 2012 under the
terms as herein amended, unless sooner terminated on the effective date of an ordinance adopted
by the City Council implementing amendments to the gas well permit regulations contained in
chapters 35-16 and 35-22 of the Denton Development Code, pursuant to the recommended
changes to the regulations by City staff, as charged in Section 3 of the Moratorium Ordinance.
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SECTION 5. The following definitions apply to the Moratorium Ordinance, as amended
by this Ordinance:
a. The term "Mineral Activities" as defined in the Moratorium
Ordinance, shall be replaced in its entirety by the term "gas well drilling and
production activities," which shall have the meaning ascribed to the term in DDC,
chapters 35.16 and 35.22, and the Moratorium Ordinance hereby is amended to
effect the same.
b. The term "oil and gas well permit," as set forth in the Moratorium
Ordinance, shall be replaced in its entirety by the term "gas well permit," which
shall have the meaning ascribed to the term in Ord. No. 2010-181, amending
DDC, Chapters 35.16 and 35.22, and the Moratorium Ordinance hereby is
amended to effect the same.
SECTION 6. T`his Ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of the ordinances of
the City of Denton, Texas, as amended, except where ,the provisions of this Ordinance are in
direct conflict with the provisions of such ordinances, in which event the terms of this
Ordinance, during its effectiveness, shall prevail over any other conflicting ordinances or
provisions thereof.
SECTION 7. It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the
sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of this Ordinance are severable, and if any
phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this Ordinance shall be declared void,
ineffective or unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent
jurisdiction, such voidness, ineffectiveness or unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the
remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs or sections of this Ordinance, since the same
would have been enacted by the City Council without the incorporation herein of any such void,
ineffective or unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section.
SECTION 8. This Ordinance shall talce effect upon its passage.
PASSED AND APPROVED this the l lth day of September, 2012.
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ATTEST:
JENNIFER WALTERS, CITY SECRETARY
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BY:
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APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM:
ANITA BURGESS, CITY ATTORNEY
BY: ����v� ,�.�
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