Killeen, TX Building Setbacks & Zoning: Lot Coverage Limits (2026)

Section 31-248(b)(1) of the Killeen Code of Ordinances sets the area regulations for the "R-3" multifamily residential district. Subsection (b) fixes lot size requirements: no building may go up on an R-3 lot smaller than 7,000 square feet, with an exception for lots platted before the chapter took effect, and "in no case shall more than 40% of the total lot area be covered by building(s)." The section ties building size to two controls working together: the 40 percent coverage ceiling and the off-street parking and yard requirements set out elsewhere in the district's regulations. Section 31-249, the district's parking regulation, spells out what the remaining ground is for: it lets a lot's required parking draw on "the 60% of the lot not occupied by buildings" and mandates at least one and one-third off-street parking spaces per dwelling unit. Together, the two sections mean an R-3 developer designs around a fixed 40/60 building-to-open-space split, not just a setback line.

The R-3 designation itself is legacy zoning. Section 31-246(b) states that R-3 "shall be considered inactive as of the date of the ordinance from which this paragraph is derived [February 9, 2010]" and that "no new applications for an R-3 zoning shall be accepted or considered by the city" after that date. Properties already carrying R-3 zoning keep using and building under these rules until the owner or the city initiates a rezoning.

Killeen does not apply an equivalent cap citywide. Section 31-293(c), governing the "B-2" local retail district, states flatly that "there are no lot coverage limitations in the district 'B-2' local retail district," and the "B-5" business, "M-1" manufacturing and "M-2" heavy manufacturing districts each incorporate that same no-limit rule by cross-reference to B-2.