Texas counties do not zone: what you can build outside city limits
Texas counties cannot zone land. Only cities zone, and some cities, like Houston, have no zoning at all. The first question for any lot is whether it is inside city limits: type the address and ParcelSheet names the town.
Free, no account. ParcelSheet shows the town the lot sits in, its mapped size, parcel lines and FEMA flood zone.
The rules that still apply outside city limits
- Who zones. Zoning power in Texas belongs to cities, under Local Government Code chapter 211 (Municipal Zoning Authority). A county has no zoning district to put on a lot outside city limits. Source: Local Government Code chapter 211.
- Splitting land. Outside city limits the county still reviews a plat when land is divided, under Local Government Code chapter 232. Source: Local Government Code chapter 232.
- Septic. A new or changed septic system needs a permit from the county or local authorized agent of the TCEQ on-site sewage facility program, or from TCEQ where there is none. Source: TCEQ on-site sewage facilities.
- Flood. Building in a FEMA high risk flood area needs a floodplain permit from the county or city where it takes part in the National Flood Insurance Program. ParcelSheet shows the FEMA zone at the lot. Source: FEMA's Map Service Center.
Deed restrictions and HOA rules still bind a lot outside city limits; they are in the county clerk's property records, not on a zoning map.
Texas laws that apply inside cities
Once a lot is inside city limits, the city zones it and these state laws limit what the city may require.
- SB 15 small lots (2025). In a city of more than 150,000 people in a county of more than 300,000, a new subdivision on an unplatted single family tract of 5 acres or more may not be held to a lot larger than 3,000 square feet, wider than 30 feet or deeper than 75 feet (Local Gov. Code 211.054). On lots of 4,000 square feet or less the city may not require a front setback over 15 feet, back over 10 or side over 5, covered or off site parking, more than one parking space a home, more than 30 percent open ground, or fewer than three stories (211.055). In effect September 1, 2025. Deed restrictions and HOA rules still apply. Source: SB 15 small lots (2025); what it allows on a lot.
- SB 840 homes in commercial zones (2025). In the same large cities, land zoned for office, commercial, retail, warehouse or mixed use may take apartments or mixed use buildings without a zoning change: the city may not hold them below 36 homes an acre or its highest residential density, below 45 feet or the height the commercial use gets, to a setback over 25 feet, or to more than one parking space a home (Local Gov. Code ch. 218). Heavy industrial land and land near airports and bases are out. In effect September 1, 2025. Source: SB 840 homes in commercial zones (2025); what it allows on a lot.
- HB 24 rezoning protests (2025). A protest by nearby owners now needs 60 percent of the land within 200 feet to force a supermajority vote on a rezoning, and a protest no longer blocks a change that allows more homes. In effect September 1, 2025. Source: HB 24 rezoning protests (2025); what it allows on a lot.
Mapped areas are approximate. This is a plain reading of public law with its sources, not legal advice; the city, county and state offices decide.