San Antonio, TX Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Downtown Design Guide (2026)

San Antonio's 'D' Downtown Zoning District, defined in UDC Sec. 11(a), covers the historic core bounded roughly by Salado and El Paso Streets, north to Frio Street, northeast to IH-10 and Cadwallader, south on IH-10 to IH-35, northeast to Cherry Street, south to Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard, west to the San Antonio River, south along the river to Arsenal Street, and west back to Salado. Sec. 11(b) states that properties zoned 'D' Downtown District 'shall be governed in accordance with the Downtown Design Guide in Appendix G of this chapter (35-G101),' and Sec.

35-425 separately confirms that the review procedures for new infill development and redevelopment on 'D' Downtown property follow the same Appendix G guide. Sec. 35-650 then requires a Certificate of Appropriateness for those infill and redevelopment applications, reviewed under both Sec. 35-608 (the citywide certificate rules covering construction, alteration, demolition, relocation, signage, landscaping and parking lots) and Sec. 35-G101 (the Downtown Design Guide itself). Where the guide and Sec. 35-608 disagree, Sec. 35-650(a) expressly makes Sec. 35-608 control. The Historic and Design Review Commission administers the review, and the Department of Development Services will not issue a construction or demolition permit in the 'D' district until the certificate is granted. Reflecting the district's already-built-out character, 'D' Downtown applications are also exempted from the city's traffic impact analysis requirements described elsewhere in the same chapter.