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Austin and Travis County.
Austin has one of the most detailed development codes in Texas, and much of its western half sits in protected drinking-water watersheds. Outside the city, Travis County has its own subdivision, water quality and floodplain rules.
Who governs what
Several offices hold part of the rulebook.
Which ones apply depends on exactly where the parcel sits. We confirm that first, from the source.
| Who | What they decide |
|---|---|
| City of Austin Development Services | Zoning, site plans, subdivision, building permits and most environmental review inside the city. |
| City of Austin and Travis County single office | The city and county share one subdivision review office for land in Austin’s ETJ, under a joint code. |
| Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources | Subdivision, floodplain, water quality and county roads on unincorporated land outside the shared office’s reach. |
| Austin Water and other providers | Austin Water inside its service area; districts, water supply corporations and utilities elsewhere. A service extension request can be its own approval. |
| Austin Energy, or a co-op or utility outside it | Electric service and the lead time for new equipment. |
| Fire marshals | The Austin Fire Department inside the city; the county fire marshal outside it. Each adopts its own fire code edition. |
| TCEQ and LCRA | Edwards Aquifer plans over the recharge and contributing zones; LCRA rules in parts of the Lake Travis watershed. |
| TxDOT | Access and permits on state highways. |
The usual path
Approvals a typical project meets here.
A common order for a commercial or small multifamily project. Your parcel and plan can add or remove steps.
- 1
Confirm jurisdiction
Full purpose, limited purpose, ETJ, released land or county only. Each one changes the rulebook.
- 2
Watershed class and aquifer zone
Sets impervious cover limits, creek buffers and water quality rules before any layout.
- 3
Zoning and conditional overlays, inside the city
Use, height, setbacks and any conditional overlay that limits the site further.
- 4
Subdivision or platting
A legal lot is a prerequisite. In the ETJ, the shared office reviews it.
- 5
Utility service
Service extension request or will-serve, and a fire flow answer.
- 6
Site plan
Drainage, water quality, environmental features, trees, access and parking, reviewed together.
- 7
Building and fire permits
Plans reviewed to the code editions the city or county has adopted.
What most often matters
The local constraints we check first.
Watershed rules
Austin sorts land into watershed classes. In the drinking-water watersheds, impervious cover limits are much lower.
Impervious cover guideBarton Springs Zone
The Save Our Springs rules are among the strictest in the state, with few variance paths.
Edwards Aquifer guideAtlas 14 floodplain
Austin regulates a wider interim floodplain than FEMA maps show, with more freeboard. Several lines can apply to one parcel.
Floodplain guideETJ releases
Many tracts have been released from Austin’s ETJ. Released land drops to county and state rules, which can change the answer.
Jurisdiction guideCreek buffers and features
Critical water quality zones, springs, wetlands and bluffs carry setbacks that shrink the buildable area.
Setbacks guideRedevelopment
Existing buildings in the floodplain or buffers face substantial improvement rules. Spending limits can decide the plan.
Vesting guideGood to know
Things that catch people here.
General orientation, not advice for a specific site. Rules and maps change; confirm with the approving authority.
Zoning and watershed both apply. The stricter one governs. Outside the urban core, watershed limits are usually the tighter of the two.
Counties have no zoning, but Travis County has caps. County subdivisions over sensitive aquifers can carry impervious cover limits even with no zoning.
Read every conditional overlay. Many Austin zoning cases carry conditions that cut height, uses or impervious cover below the district default.
City copies of FEMA maps can lag. We read FEMA’s national flood data directly and show the city’s regulatory floodplain alongside it.
Building here, or nearby?
Tell us the parcel and what you want to build. Requests from members decide where we go deeper next.
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