Building Setbacks & Zoning in Travis County, TX (2026)

2 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Travis County, Texas.

Verified from official government sources

Note: These county rules apply to unincorporated areas of Travis County. If you live within an incorporated city, that city's own rules apply: see the city list below.

Setback Rules

Unincorporated Travis County has no zoning, so there is no yard-setback-by-district table. The real setback minimums instead come from the Subdivision Regulations' critical-environmental-feature and waterway buffers: 150 feet around caves and springs, and 100 to 400 feet along classified waterways depending on drainage size.

Travis County Setbacks Come From Waterway Buffers

Significant Restrictions

Travis County Code § 482.941 (Setbacks from Critical Environmental Features and Waterways)

The following minimum setbacks are established around each critical environmental feature, except as provided by paragraph (4): For a cave, sinkhole, spring, and wetland, the minimum width of the setback is 150 feet from the edge of the critical environmental feature. ... A protected zone is established along each classified waterway as a waterway setback. For a minor waterway, the boundary of ...

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

Lot Coverage Limits

Travis County caps impervious cover at 15% for single-family and duplex lots and 45% for commercial parcels under Code Sec. 482.229, but only inside subdivisions built under the county's optional Conservation Development program outside Austin's ETJ; there is no general county-wide lot-coverage limit outside that program.

Travis County Conservation Development Impervious Cap

Some Restrictions

Travis County Code § 482.229

Impervious cover shall not exceed fifteen percent (15%) of the property's acreage for single family and duplex residential development and forty-five percent (45%) for commercial development in a preferred commercial development area. The following shall not be considered as impervious cover: Trails within a conservation area that meets the requirements of the Conservation Development Design Ma...

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

Building Setbacks & Zoning by City in Travis County

1 cities in Travis County have their own building setbacks & zoning rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.

AustinPop. 978,908

2 verified rules • Lot Coverage Limits, Structure Height Limits

All Travis County ordinances

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