San Marcos, TX

San Marcos requires working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in every short-term rental unit as a condition of the city's short-term rental permit, on top of the smoke-alarm…

San Marcos requires a fire code official permit before any open burning, and folds in state, county, and TCEQ burn bans as grounds to prohibit fires.

San Marcos allows recreational fires and permanent outdoor fire pits, but a fixed pit must sit at least 10 feet from any structure or combustible material.

Texas Occupations Code Chapter 2154 governs fireworks sales and use, while Local Government Code Chapter 352 limits how counties can restrict consumer fireworks during drought. The…

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…

San Marcos limits residences to four adult dogs and seven total animals; keeping more requires a multi-pet permit from animal services.

San Marcos regulates dogs by behavior, not breed: an animal can be declared dangerous only after a municipal court hearing on a specific incident.

San Marcos requires owners to sterilize a dog or cat within 30 days after it is impounded running at large for a second time, under Sec. 6.030(a)(6).

San Marcos allows backyard honey bee hives only under strict setback, count, and water-source conditions, with written notice to the city required.

San Marcos bars keeping livestock in city limits unless pens sit at least 100 feet from neighboring homes, 500 feet from food establishments, and comply with zoning: hens get a…

San Marcos pet shops cannot sell or give away cats or dogs unless the animal came from a shelter, animal control agency, or licensed welfare organization.

San Marcos outlaws keeping dangerous wild animals or exotic pets like big cats, primates, and venomous reptiles within city limits, with only narrow permitted exceptions.

San Marcos dogs must stay confined by a sound fence or enclosure on the owner's property, or be continually restrained on a leash or chain whenever they're off it.

Texas lets hunters bait and feed game animals, including deer, on private property statewide. Baiting is unlawful on most public land, for wild turkey in the East Zone, and for all…

San Marcos requires any residential swimming pool built under a city permit to pass a pool barrier inspection, confirming the fence and self-latching gate meet the adopted Swimming…

San Marcos requires a building permit under the adopted International Swimming Pool and Spa Code before constructing a residential pool, and the pool cannot legally be filled until it…

San Marcos bars construction noise audible from a public street or a neighboring residence between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., with narrow exceptions for government, emergency, and…

San Marcos treats outdoor amplified live or recorded music as excessive noise under City Code Sec. 34.088 whenever it's audible across property lines, with amplification equipment…

San Marcos has no fixed nighttime quiet-hours window; instead it bans "excessive noise" audible across property lines, judged by time of day, size of the gathering, amplification, and…

San Marcos treats excessive or persistent dog barking that disturbs a neighbor's peace as a public nuisance, enforceable by Animal Services through notice, citation, and abatement.

San Marcos bans operating a vehicle radio, stereo, or CD player audible 30 feet away or causing felt vibration at that distance.

San Marcos taxes short-term room rentals at 9% of the price paid, collected under the city's hotel occupancy tax ordinance and remitted monthly to the finance department.

San Marcos caps short-term rental occupancy using the adopted International Fire Code's occupancy calculations, which set the maximum number of people allowed to sleep or congregate in…

San Marcos bars operating a short-term rental, a dwelling with fewer than five bedrooms rented for under 30 days, without a city-issued permit under Sec. 34.804, with a separate…

San Marcos bans leaving large vehicles, travel trailers, boats, or personal watercraft parked on a residential street for more than 24 hours.

San Marcos treats inoperable, unregistered, or wrecked vehicles as nuisances and prohibits them on both public right-of-way and private property, backed by fines and court-ordered…

San Marcos bars parking motor vehicles, RVs, boats, or trailers in front or side yards of single-family lots unless on a permitted paved surface or fully fenced.

San Marcos fines drivers for blocking driveways, parking on the wrong side of the street, and other on-street violations under a tiered civil penalty schedule.

San Marcos bars parking a large motor vehicle, travel trailer, boat, or personal watercraft on a residential street for more than 24 hours, and limits commercial vehicles over one ton…

San Marcos restricts curb loading zones to expeditious loading or unloading of passengers or freight during the posted hours.

San Marcos prohibits parking any motor vehicle, large vehicle, farm equipment, boat, or trailer on the unpaved front or side yard of a single-family lot; every wheel must sit on a…

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…

San Marcos requires property owners to trim tree limbs overhanging the street to at least 8 feet above curb level, or the city will do it and can prosecute.

San Marcos caps weeds and uncultivated grass at 12 inches on any lot; taller growth is a nuisance the city can order removed, with lien-backed cost recovery for noncompliance.

San Marcos enforces four escalating drought stages under Chapter 86, Article 2, Division 2 of the city code, cutting sprinkler irrigation to one day every other week in Stage 3 and…

Texas Property Code 202.007 prohibits HOAs from banning rainwater harvesting systems, and Health & Safety Code 341.042 sets statewide standards for harvested rainwater used as a…

San Marcos strikes the standard height exemption for fences, so a building permit is required to build a fence in the city: there is no low-fence carve-out.

San Marcos bans fences on corner lots that block sightlines within a 20-foot triangle at the street intersection, protecting drivers' view of cross traffic near the corner.

Under Texas Agriculture Code Chapter 143, Subchapter F, you cannot tear out a fence you jointly own with a neighbor, or one attached to a neighbor's fence, without mutual consent. To…

San Marcos deleted the standard small-shed exemption from its Residential Code, so a detached accessory structure like a shed needs a building permit no matter how small it is.

Texas has no tiny-home-specific statute. Any transportable, chassis-mounted dwelling that reaches 320 square feet is manufactured housing under Occupations Code Chapter 1201, built to…

Texas does not license cottage food at all. Health and Safety Code Section 437.0191(a) declares that a cottage food production operation is not a food service establishment, and…

Texas Human Resources Code Chapter 42 governs licensing and registration of home-based child care statewide through HHSC. Registered family homes serve up to 6 children under 14, must…

San Marcos requires a building permit before any work covered by the adopted building code begins, and issuance is conditioned on state-law compliance plus an approved final plat…

San Marcos requires a building (plumbing) permit before any plumbing work, issued only to a state-licensed master plumber or an exempt homeowner doing their own work.

San Marcos requires a licensed electrical contractor (or exempt homeowner) to obtain a building electrical permit before wiring work, under the locally amended 2020 NEC.

San Marcos requires smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in every permitted short-term rental as a condition of the life-safety standards in its rental ordinance.

Wrecker services must register with the City Marshal to join San Marcos's police-tow rotation system, meeting equipment, insurance, and availability rules.

San Marcos requires a $1,000 annual license for adult oriented businesses and bans them within 1,500 feet of churches, schools, homes, parks, bars, and other adult businesses.

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…

San Marcos bans illicit discharges into its storm sewer system and funds drainage work through a monthly stormwater utility fee on every property.

San Marcos requires new construction and substantial improvements in AE, AH, and AO flood zones to elevate the lowest floor two feet above base flood elevation.

San Marcos bans idling a motor vehicle's primary propulsion engine for more than five consecutive minutes when the vehicle isn't moving, citywide and into the ETJ.

San Marcos requires every construction site to use best management practices controlling sediment, silt, and soil discharges to the municipal storm sewer system under the city's MS4…

San Marcos requires a floodplain development permit for any construction or development in a mapped special flood hazard area before work can begin.

Texas prohibits damaging, destroying, or removing a sand dune or its vegetation seaward of a dune protection line or within a critical dune area unless a permit authorizes the work…

San Marcos police are barred from citing or arresting for Class A or B misdemeanor marijuana possession under Sec. 54.101, except in felony narcotics or violent-felony investigations.

San Marcos bans open alcohol containers and public drinking in the Central Business Area from 10:00 p.m. to 2:15 a.m., with exceptions for vehicles, private buildings, and licensed…

San Marcos hosts must keep parties from turning into unruly gatherings, and can be fined up to $500 for excessive noise, blocked streets, or unchecked disorder.

San Marcos makes it unlawful for an abutting property owner to let the sidewalk in front of their property become blocked, dangerous, or overgrown with weeds.

San Marcos requires a revocable special use license, not a property right, before anyone builds encroachments, gateway features, or sidewalk cafes in city right-of-way.

Property owners in San Marcos must keep the sidewalk fronting their property free of hazards, clear of tall weeds, and safely passable under City Code.

Selling merchandise or food from a pushcart, wagon, or table on San Marcos public streets, alleys, or sidewalks is unlawful under the peddlers ordinance.

Operating a food truck in San Marcos requires a health authority permit tied to an approved central preparation facility before any sales begin.

San Marcos requires written authorization to vend on city property like parks and bans overnight parking of mobile food units in one- and two-family residential zones under Chapter 18…

San Marcos enforces rental habitability through the citywide 2021 International Property Maintenance Code, adopted by ordinance and applied to every structure, rented or…

San Marcos requires owners to register any long-term rental unit with the city before renting it out for 30 or more continuous days.

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 § 92.019 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 law forbids cities from adopting rent control. A municipality may not establish rent control unless its governing body finds a housing emergency caused by a disaster and the…

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…

San Marcos requires garbage bags and carts set out between 9 p.m. the night before collection and 7 a.m. on collection day, placed close to the roadway, with empty containers returned…

San Marcos bars commercial haulers from placing or storing dumpsters, roll-offs, and bins on public streets, alleys, or rights-of-way: containers must sit on the customer's private…

San Marcos residents must request special collection before setting out bulky waste, construction debris, or yard waste: it can't just go in a bag or cart.

San Marcos requires yard waste to be bundled or bagged and set out only after residents notify the city for special collection.

San Marcos provides residential solid waste collection through a city contractor to every residential unit, billed via the city utility account; multifamily complexes qualify only with…

San Marcos provides single-stream curbside recycling to every residential and multifamily unit through its contract solid waste service, billed alongside garbage collection.

San Marcos fines illegal dumping of refuse up to $2,000 per offense, four times the city's standard $500 code-violation cap.

San Marcos requires peddlers and solicitors to get a police-issued ID card before knocking on doors, valid 90 days for a $10 fee.

San Marcos bans door-to-door peddling and soliciting between 9:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., and a posted "no solicitors" sign makes further approaches unlawful.

San Marcos requires a city-manager-issued permit before any private party may close a public street, covering block parties, neighborhood gatherings, and similar activities.

San Marcos requires a special event permit from the fire code official for street fairs, festivals, and craft fairs before vendors or organizers can operate.

San Marcos sets fees for reserving park pavilions and recreation facilities by city council resolution, and requires a department-issued permit that must be displayed on request during…

San Marcos requires a revocable special use license from the city manager before a restaurant can put tables and chairs on a public sidewalk.

San Marcos requires a fire-code-official permit for parades and other special events drawing over 500 people, or 250 if alcohol is sold or a road closes.

San Marcos makes it unlawful to camp anywhere in a public area, streets, parks, rights-of-way, parking lots, except in spots the city has signed for camping, with police authorized to…

San Marcos makes it unlawful to camp in any public area, streets, sidewalks, parks, and pedestrian ways, unless the spot is officially signed for camping.

San Marcos's Fire Code bans operating or storing charcoal, propane, or other outdoor cooking appliances on balconies or within 15 feet of a structure, except at one- and two-family…

San Marcos can order dilapidated, substandard buildings vacated, secured, repaired, or demolished under its Unsafe Building Abatement ordinance.

San Marcos closes all city parks overnight, making it unlawful to enter or remain in a park between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

San Marcos keeps a codified juvenile curfew: minors under 17 commit an offense if found in a public place during set curfew hours, and parents can be cited too.

Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 487 limits cannabis dispensing to state-licensed Compassionate Use Program providers: expanded to as many as 15 organizations by HB 46 (2025). There…

Texas Health & Safety Code 481.121 makes it a crime to possess or grow marijuana anywhere in the state. Home cultivation is illegal in every Texas city and county regardless of plant…

Texas Government Code Chapter 423 occupies the field of unmanned aircraft regulation. Cities and counties cannot adopt their own recreational drone ordinances, though limited municipal…

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…

Texas Election Code 259.003 and Election Code Section 259.002 protect political signs on private residential property. Cities cannot regulate compliant signs at any time, and HOAs…

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…

Section 202.010 of the Texas Property Code voids any homeowners association rule that bans or restricts installing a solar energy device, a term that under Tax Code Section 171.107…

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…