Zoning Overlays & Bonuses in Texas (2026)

Austin's Land Development Code in City Code Title 25 still uses 1980s-vintage Euclidean zoning categories paired with…

Dallas guides neighborhood growth through the forwardDallas Comprehensive Plan and over 1,100 Planned Development (PD)…

Fort Worth land use is governed by the Zoning Ordinance in Appendix A of the City Code, paired with the annually…

San Antonio's Unified Development Code (UDC), codified at SAMC Chapter 35, governs zoning, subdivision, and land use…

El Paso adopted Plan El Paso in 2012 and overlays a SmartCode-based form-based code in select districts, encouraging…

Bexar County has only narrow zoning power under Texas Local Government Code 240. Most land-use control in…

Texas counties cannot generally zone land. Dallas County regulates only subdivision plats, floodplains, and on-site…

Texas counties have very limited zoning authority under Local Government Code chapters 232 and 233, primarily over…

Houston is the only major US city without traditional zoning. Land use is governed by Chapter 42 subdivision…

Travis County has limited zoning authority compared to municipalities. Texas Local Government Code Chapter 240 grants…

In Plano's SF-A, Single-Family Residence Attached district, Zoning Ordinance § 9.1000.3 caps multi-unit platted lots at…

Austin's Land Development Code lets a property opt into a Density Bonus (DB) combining district under Sec. 25-2-181…

Corpus Christi lets a Clustered Development Overlay project exceed its base density cap of 9.68 dwelling units per acre…

Dallas lets developers build above the density permitted by right in SAH (Sustainable Affordable Housing) districts…

Denton lets residential projects that set aside affordable units trade into density-boosting relief: smaller lots…

Frisco's Director of Development Services can approve up to a 20 percent density bonus above the base zoning district's…

San Antonio's Unified Development Code lets developers build more units as of right under Sec. 35-360 by trading extra…

Dallas does not use Q Conditions to attach site-specific zoning terms. Instead the city grants a Specific Use Permit…

Any new construction or exterior remodel inside Amarillo's Downtown Urban Design District needs a certificate of…

Carrollton's Downtown Transit Center (DTC) District, Article 20 of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, imposes…

Denton requires a Certificate of Design Consistency for new construction, exterior changes, or demolition anywhere in…

Fort Worth requires a certificate of appropriateness before any new construction, expansion, or exterior renovation…

New construction and facade changes in Frisco's Original Town Residential and Original Town Commercial districts need…

Before any site or building permit issues in Garland's Downtown District, a Downtown Development Plan must win Planning…

New Braunfels regulates redevelopment at the northeast corner of Main Plaza through the Main Plaza Overlay District…

Any infill or redevelopment project on property zoned 'D' Downtown must follow the Downtown Design Guide in UDC…

A downtown Austin project that wants extra height or floor area under the Downtown Density Bonus Program must first…

Baytown's Unified Land Development Code imposes special form-district design standards on the Downtown Arts (DTA) and…

Cedar Park regulates its Town Center district under a dedicated Town Center Code and Regulating Plan, setting mixed-use…

Corpus Christi has no separate "design guide" pamphlet for downtown; the binding design rules sit in UDC § 6.11, the…

Grand Prairie's Unified Development Code sets binding downtown design standards in Appendix R for the four Central…

Irving's Downtown Development District requires new buildings and major renovations in the Downtown Pedestrian…

Pearland's Unified Development Code sets architectural and site standards for its historic downtown in the Old Townsite…

Plano regulates downtown redevelopment through the BG, Downtown Business/Government zoning district, which sets a…

Taylor's Main Street Advisory Board, created by city ordinance, reviews and recommends city building-inspection action…

Waco's Downtown District overlay sets hard numbers for new and substantially renovated buildings: a minimum 22-foot…