Brownsville, TX

Brownsville's Unified Development Code reserves section 4.6.4 Fencing and Screening as a heading with no adopted text, so the city sets no general fence material standard. Historic…

Brownsville's zoning code regulates fence heights. Front yard fences are typically limited to 4 feet, while side and rear yard fences may be up to 6 feet in residential districts.

Brownsville requires fences to be on the property owner's land. Texas does not have a statutory fence-sharing law, so cost-sharing between neighbors is voluntary.

A residential swimming pool in Brownsville needs a building permit costing $200 under section 18-123. Only prefabricated pools less than 24 inches deep skip the permit. Applications…

Brownsville treats a hot tub as a pool. The city adopted the 2018 International Residential Code including Appendix G, which covers swimming pools, spas, and hot tubs, and applies the…

Brownsville has no ordinance against feeding birds, feral cats, or wild animals. Complaints are handled through the animal nuisance rule in § 10-1062, the rat-harborage prohibition in…

Brownsville sets no limit on the number of hens and bans no roosters. The controlling rule is distance: a pen holding chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese, peafowl, pigeons, rabbits, or…

Brownsville does not impose breed-specific bans. Texas state law does not preempt local breed-specific legislation, but Brownsville focuses on dangerous dog determinations based on…

Brownsville requires all dogs to be on a leash or under direct control when off the owner's property. The city enforces animal control regulations to protect public safety.

Beekeeping is supported in Texas under the state's agriculture-friendly laws. Brownsville's warm climate in the Rio Grande Valley makes it well-suited for year-round beekeeping.

Texas regulates exotic animal ownership under the Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 822 (Dangerous Wild Animals). Many species require registration and secure enclosures.

Texas has no standalone hoarding statute; officers use Health & Safety Code Chapter 821 to seize animals deprived of necessary food, care, or shelter, and a court can divest the owner…

Texas encourages rainwater harvesting rather than restricting it. Brownsville requires no permit for residential rain barrels, state law bars HOAs from banning them and bars cities…

Brownsville writes native and drought-tolerant planting into the Unified Development Code as a stated purpose, publishes Approved Plant Materials tables built around Rio Grande Valley…

Removed trees must be replaced on the same site: one caliper inch for each inch of Protected Tree and three caliper inches for each inch of Heritage Tree. Every replacement tree must…

Brownsville's code never mentions artificial or synthetic turf. The Unified Development Code instead requires builders to sod every uncovered part of a new single-family lot, and…

Brownsville caps grass and weeds at 18 inches under Section 54-62, and applies the rule up to 5,000 feet beyond the city limits. Owners also mow the strip to the center of an abutting…

Brownsville does not regulate leaf blowers by name. The code carries no operating hours, horsepower cap or gas-blower ban. Blowers fall under the general decibel table and the rule…

Brownsville caps sound at 63 dB(A) in residential zones from 8:00 a.m. to midnight and 50 dB(A) from midnight to 8:00 a.m. Amplification devices used on public streets require a city…

Brownsville regulates noise under Chapter 46, Article III of the city code. Sound levels vary by zoning district and time of day. Residential areas have lower limits at night, and the…

Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 437 lets Brownsville residents produce and sell most foods from a home kitchen without a permit or health inspection, up to $150,000 in annual gross…

Brownsville permits a state-licensed child care home for up to six children by right in residential districts. Caring for seven to twelve children requires a special use permit. Signs…

Brownsville's zoning code restricts business signs for home occupations in residential zones. No external evidence of the business should be visible from the street.

Brownsville's Unified Development Code sets explicit electric vehicle charging standards. Level 1 and Level 2 stations are permitted in every zoning district as an accessory use with a…

Brownsville sets no overnight parking ban. A vehicle stays legal on a city street until it hits 72 continuous hours, and posted time limits run only between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. outside…

Brownsville treats a junked vehicle visible from a public place as a public nuisance. A vehicle counts as junked once it sits inoperable 72 hours on public property or 30 days on…

Brownsville regulates on-street parking through its traffic code. Time limits apply in commercial and downtown areas. Vehicles must not park for extended periods on residential streets.

Brownsville restricts large commercial vehicles from parking in residential neighborhoods. Semi-trucks and heavy equipment should not be stored on residential streets or in front yards.

Cameron County sets no on-street loading-zone rules: those are established by cities on their own streets. The county's comparable time-limited loading rule is at its beach boat ramps…

Texas counties can't zone, so no county rule governs RVs or boats parked at your home in unincorporated Cameron County; your city sets that. But Cameron County's coastal RV parks (Isla…

Texas Occupations Code chapter 2308 sets the statewide rules for nonconsent towing and vehicle booting. A vehicle owner has 14 business days to demand a hearing in the justice court…

Brownsville has no wildfire hazard severity zones and no wildland-urban interface code. Texas maps no such zones statewide. What applies instead is the 2018 International Fire Code…

Texas allows consumer fireworks but Brownsville may restrict discharge in certain areas. Fireworks are prohibited within city limits during designated dry conditions or burn bans.

Residential fire pits are generally allowed in unincorporated Cameron County. During a Commissioners Court burn ban, ground fires are prohibited but residential fire pits and BBQ…

Selling, transporting, dispensing, or storing propane (LP-gas) in Texas requires a license from the Railroad Commission of Texas under Natural Resources Code Chapter 113. Only the…

Brownsville's Unified Development Code contains no tiny-home use or building type. A small permanent dwelling is built as a detached house, a cottage-court unit, or an accessory…

A shed or detached garage in unincorporated Cameron County has to meet the same building setback lines as any other structure: at least 25 feet from the road right-of-way, 50 feet from…

An accessory dwelling unit on unincorporated Cameron County land needs its own permit and stays capped at 1,000 square feet or 50% of the main house's footprint, whichever is smaller…

Brownsville's STR ordinance, adopted November 12, 2024, requires every short-term rental (under 30 days) to be permitted by the City. The permit application requires a floor plan and…

Brownsville STR operators must collect and remit the city Hotel Occupancy Tax and the Texas state Hotel Occupancy Tax (6%). The combined rate applies to all stays under 30 consecutive…

Excavation and grading in Brownsville run under a model code adopted by reference in its 1975 edition, enforced by the city engineer and building official. Owners on unpaved streets…

Brownsville runs a TPDES-permitted municipal storm sewer system with a broad illicit discharge article, and requires engineer-signed stormwater management plans, maintenance easements…

Brownsville sits about twenty miles inland of the Gulf and holds no public beach. The Texas Coastal Management Program boundary starts at the city's International Toll Bridge, so…

In unincorporated Cameron County, new construction or substantial improvement in a flood hazard area must raise its lowest finished floor 12 inches above the Base Flood Elevation or 24…

New homes and substantial improvements in a Cameron County flood hazard area must sit at least 12 inches above the base flood elevation, or 24 inches above the highest adjacent natural…

Brownsville regulates solar under Chapter 18, Article XI, Division 3, adopted in 2017. Every system needs a building permit, a design sealed by a Texas licensed professional engineer…

Texas Property Code section 202.010 voids any homeowners association provision that prohibits or restricts a solar energy device. An association retains narrow grounds to condition…

Brownsville municipal parks open at 8:00 a.m. and close at 10:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Being in a park during closed hours is a misdemeanor.

Texas HB 1819 (88th Legislature, 2023), codified at Local Government Code 370.008 (originally 370.007), prohibits all Texas municipalities and counties from adopting or enforcing…

Brownsville sets no recreational drone rules and cannot, because Texas Government Code section 423.009 preempts municipal drone regulation. Hobby pilots follow the FAA recreational…

Brownsville has no drone ordinance, and Texas Government Code section 423.009 bars the city from adopting one. Commercial operators answer to FAA Part 107 and to Texas Government Code…

Brownsville has no dark-sky ordinance. The Unified Development Code reserves section 4.6.7 for lighting standards and defines the technical vocabulary in Article 6, but publishes no…

Brownsville defines light trespass and glare in its Unified Development Code and requires site plans to minimize glare on abutting properties. No numeric footcandle limit at the…

Brownsville caps lot coverage by zoning district under its Unified Development Code. Single-family R-1 lots allow 50 percent coverage, and the cap counts every accessory building on…

Brownsville caps primary building height at 35 feet in its single-family and estate districts, 45 feet in R-3 and in commercial and industrial districts, and 60 feet in the two…

Brownsville sets minimum building setbacks district by district in its Unified Development Code. The R-1 single-family district requires 25 feet in front, 20 feet on a corner side…

Brownsville has no just-cause eviction ordinance. Texas Property Code Chapter 24 controls: after a lease ends or rent goes unpaid, the landlord serves a written notice to vacate, three…

Brownsville sets no limit on rent or rent increases. Texas Local Government Code § 214.902 lets a city adopt rent control only after it finds a housing emergency caused by a declared…

Brownsville does not register, license, or routinely inspect long-term rental housing. The only rental registry in the code covers short-term rentals under Chapter 94, Article IV-A…

Under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005, a Texas landlord must give a defaulting or holdover tenant at least three days' written notice to vacate before filing a forcible detainer (eviction)…

Under Tex. Prop. Code § 92.052 a landlord must make a diligent effort to repair conditions that materially affect an ordinary tenant's health or safety after proper notice. Section…

Under Tex. Prop. Code § 92.019 a residential late fee must be reasonable and may be charged only if written in the lease and the rent stays unpaid two full days after due. A fee is…

Under Tex. Prop. Code § 91.001, either party may end a month-to-month tenancy by giving notice, and the tenancy ends on the later of the date in the notice or one month after notice is…

Texas places no statutory limit on how much a landlord can charge for a security deposit. However, the landlord must refund the deposit within 30 days after the tenant surrenders the…

In Texas a squatter can claim title only through adverse possession, with periods that shorten as the claim strengthens: 3 years under title or color of title (§ 16.024), 5 years with…

Brownsville's sign code states it does not impose restrictions on seasonal or religious decorations or symbols, and the legacy sign chapter exempts holiday decorations from permits…

Texas Election Code § 259.003 bars Brownsville from banning, permitting, charging for, or size-limiting a political sign on private property placed with the owner's consent…

Cameron County treats any electrified sign, including an LED or digital 'CEVMS' display, as outside the permit exemptions its sign order grants to non-electrified signs, so a digital…

Window signs in unincorporated Cameron County need no sign permit at all, as long as the sign is not electrified, under the county's sign order. The exemption sits alongside real…

Since July 1, 2026, every mobile food vendor in Texas must hold a state DSHS license under HB 2844. A Brownsville or Cameron County health permit alone no longer covers a food truck.

Sec. 22-126 bans selling food along roughly 46 named Brownsville streets and corridors, and within 500 feet of any church, hospital, or school. The ban explicitly reaches pushcarts…

Brownsville runs blighted structures through a seven-member Building and Standards Commission that holds an evidentiary hearing, then orders repair, vacation or demolition, imposes…

Brownsville sits at the southern tip of Texas and has no snow-removal ordinance. Sidewalk duty here covers litter and vegetation: keep the walk in front of your property clear of…

Brownsville has no dispensary zoning because Texas has no dispensaries to zone. The only lawful cannabis retail in Texas runs through the Compassionate Use Program's low-THC dispensing…

Growing marijuana at home is illegal in Brownsville, and the prohibition is entirely state law. Texas prosecutes cultivation as possession by aggregate weight under Health and Safety…

Brownsville splits the city into four brush and bulk sectors, each served one week per month. Set items out before your week starts: the truck makes a single pass and does not return…

Brownsville rebuilt residential collection on January 1, 2026. Republic Services now hauls garbage and Redfish Recycling collects the red cart every other week. Set carts out by 7:00…

Every Brownsville residence provides enough containers for its waste and puts them where crews can reach them: at the property line for alley collection, just behind the curb where no…

Brownsville's citywide curbside recycling started January 1, 2026 and is running. Redfish Recycling empties a red 96-gallon cart every other week for $0.86 a month. Participation is…

Brownsville treats garage-sale cleanup as a property-maintenance duty. Leftover merchandise, boxes and bagged trash left at the curb count as litter, and sale signs planted in the…

A tree of 24 caliper inches or greater is a Heritage Tree. UDC 5.1.2.A applies tree preservation to new development and redevelopment, not everyday yard work. Where it applies, removal…

Brownsville flips the usual default: a peddler may not enter a private residence's premises at all unless the owner or occupant requested or invited them. Uninvited door-to-door sales…

Every peddler in Brownsville must hold a permit from the chief of police before soliciting orders or selling. The process demands a written application, fingerprints and a photograph…

BBQ grills, including propane grills, are permitted in unincorporated Cameron County and stay allowed even during a county burn ban. Propane cylinders follow Railroad Commission LP-gas…

In unincorporated subdivisions of five acres or less, a subdivider who proposes to reuse treated wastewater (greywater) must design the system to the state's own reclaimed-water rules…

Unincorporated Cameron County requires a building permit for any development, per the county's Flood Damage Prevention and Building Regulations. Applications go through the Planning…

Cameron County requires a permit for new electrical service, upgrades, repairs or reconnects under its Flood Damage Prevention and Building Regulations, and ties all such work to the…

Plumbing is one of the construction permits Cameron County requires under its Flood Damage Prevention and Building Regulations, and every plumber on a permitted job must carry a Texas…

Junkyards, auto salvage yards, recycling businesses and flea markets in unincorporated Cameron County cannot sit within 50 feet of a public street or state highway, inside an…

Anyone selling e-cigarettes to Texas consumers must hold an e-cigarette retailer permit issued by the Comptroller, obtained for each place of business under Health and Safety Code…

Cameron County's housing code requires every window, exterior door and other structure opening to be substantially weathertight, watertight and rodent proof, and kept in sound repair…

Texas Labor Code Section 62.0515 expressly preempts municipal and county minimum wage ordinances. The state minimum wage equals the federal floor of $7.25 per hour, and political…

Texas appellate courts have struck down municipal paid sick leave ordinances in Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio as preempted under the Texas Minimum Wage Act. HB 2127 (2023) further…

Texas authorizes License to Carry (LTC) holders to carry concealed handguns statewide under Government Code Chapter 411. Since 2021, permitless constitutional carry under HB 1927 also…

Texas Local Government Code Section 229.001 broadly preempts municipal regulation of firearms, ammunition, knives, and related accessories. Cities cannot adopt or enforce ordinances…

Texas authorizes open carry of holstered handguns statewide for adults 21 and older under Penal Code 46.02 and HB 910 (2015). Long guns may be openly carried subject to disorderly…

Texas Penal Code 46.02(a-1) lets any non-prohibited adult carry a handgun inside a personally-owned or leased motor vehicle or watercraft without a License to Carry. Since HB 1927…

Texas nonprofits can conduct bingo only under a license from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which absorbed the Texas Lottery Commission's charitable bingo program on…

Texas Local Government Code Chapter 234, Subchapter E lets any county's commissioners court license, zone, and inspect "game rooms": for-profit businesses with six or more skill or…

Texas Penal Code § 47.02(a) makes betting at cards, dice, or any game of chance a Class C misdemeanor. Section 47.02(b) supplies a defense: gambling that happens in a private place…

Texas licenses no retail sportsbook and no betting app. Placing a wager on the outcome of a game, contest, or a player's performance is a criminal offense under Penal Code §…

Under the Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act, unpaid assessments become a lien (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.0094), but a Texas HOA may not foreclose that lien without first…

Texas Property Code Chapter 209 governs residential subdivision homeowners associations, not condominium associations and not associations that are themselves subject to the Public…

A Texas HOA enforces its recorded restrictive covenants (Tex. Prop. Code Ch. 202), but Chapter 209 controls the procedure: § 209.006 requires certified-mail notice and a cure…

Property Code Section 202.007 voids any homeowners association rule that bans drought-resistant landscaping or water-conserving natural turf, and Section 202.008 bars fines for a brown…

Texas Property Code section 202.012 stops homeowners associations from banning display of the U.S. flag, the Texas flag, or an official U.S. armed forces flag. An association can…

Texas Property Code Chapter 209 governs HOA fines, but only for mandatory-membership subdivisions; condos fall under Chapter 82 instead. State law sets no dollar cap on a fine, only a…

A Texas property owners' association cannot sell your home at a trustee's sale the way a mortgage lender can. Tex. Prop. Code Section 209.0092 requires the association to obtain a…

Texas Property Code Section 209.016 sets no cap on how much of a subdivision an association can rent out, no minimum lease term, and no grandfather clause: a declaration can still ban…

The Texas Legislature has authorized exactly one vehicle checkpoint program, and it has nothing to do with alcohol. Government Code Section 411.0095 lets the Department of Public…

Texas has never enacted an express statutory right to film police, so the legal boundary for a bystander with a phone is set by the offense of Interference with Public Duties, Texas…

Texas Penal Code Section 38.02 makes it a crime to refuse your name, residence address, or date of birth only after a peace officer has already lawfully arrested you. Being detained on…

No Texas statute obliges a driver to consent to a vehicle search, and none requires an officer to warn you that you may refuse. What Texas law does require is a paper trail: Article…

Texas lets golf carts onto public roads in four defined situations rather than by general permission: inside a platted master planned community, on a beach open to vehicular traffic…

Texas Local Government Code Chapter 212 and Agriculture Code Chapter 251 limit municipal authority to zone or regulate land qualified for agricultural use appraisal. Counties have no…

The Texas Right to Farm Act, Agriculture Code Chapter 251, protects established agricultural operations from nuisance lawsuits and local regulations after one year of operation. HB…

The Texas Supreme Court in City of Laredo v. Laredo Merchants Association (2018) held that Health and Safety Code Section 361.0961 preempts municipal plastic bag bans. Cities and…

Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 161 sets the minimum age for purchasing or possessing tobacco and e-cigarette products at 21 statewide, aligned with federal Tobacco 21. Active…

Texas regulates extra lighting by color, count, height and aim rather than by naming underglow. Transportation Code Section 547.305 bars any lamp showing red from directly in front of…

Texas grants no square inches of windshield to a camera. Transportation Code Section 547.613(a)(1) makes it a misdemeanor to operate a vehicle with an object or material placed on or…

Texas banned motorcycle lane splitting in plain words on September 1, 2023. Transportation Code Section 545.0605(a)(3)(B), added by House Bill 4122 of the 88th Legislature, says the…

Texas outlaws license plate covers in Transportation Code Section 504.945(a)(7), which makes it an offense to display a plate carrying a coating, covering, protective substance or…

Texas does not prohibit owning, mounting or using a radar detector in a private passenger vehicle. The one radar offense in the vehicle equipment chapter, Transportation Code Section…

Texas is one of the states that never wrote a studded tire calendar. Transportation Code Section 547.612(c) is the whole of the law: a tire on a moving vehicle may not carry a block…

Texas allows film down to 25 percent light transmission on both front side windows and on the windshield strip, with a matching ceiling of 25 percent luminous reflectance, and it sets…