Baytown, TX Environmental Rules: Coastal Development (2026)

Baytown occupies a critical location on the Upper Texas Coast at the confluence of the San Jacinto River and Galveston Bay, making coastal development a significant regulatory concern. Properties along the bay shore, Cedar Bayou, Goose Creek, and other tidal waterways are subject to multiple overlapping regulatory frameworks. FEMA designates much of Baytown's coastal fringe as Special Flood Hazard Areas (A zones and V zones). V zones (Coastal High Hazard Areas) require structures to be elevated on pilings or columns with the lowest floor above the base flood elevation plus any applicable freeboard. A zones require elevation to or above the base flood elevation. The city's floodplain management ordinance implements these requirements and may impose additional freeboard above the FEMA minimum. The Texas General Land Office (GLO) manages the Texas Coastal Management Program, which requires federal consistency review for development activities that may affect coastal natural resources. Projects requiring federal permits (such as U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Section 404 or Section 10 permits for work in navigable waters or wetlands) must undergo coastal management review. Baytown's history includes the Brownwood subdivision, which was abandoned due to land subsidence caused by groundwater and oil extraction, now preserved as the Baytown Nature Center. This history makes the city particularly sensitive to development in subsidence-prone and flood-prone areas. The Harris-Galveston Subsidence District regulates groundwater withdrawal to prevent further subsidence. Any development involving fill, dredge, or construction in wetlands requires a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit from the Army Corps. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality also regulates development near coastal waters.