Entitlement terms, in plain English.

Approving authority

The public body or office that decides a given approval: a city department, a county, a utility, a district, a state agency or an elected board. One property often has several.

Availability letter

A letter from a water, wastewater or power provider saying whether it can serve a site, and on what conditions. Some providers call it a will-serve letter.

Base flood elevation (BFE)

The height floodwater is expected to reach in the flood that has a 1 percent chance of happening in any year, as shown on FEMA flood maps. Finished floors are usually required to sit above it, often with extra margin set locally.

Buildable envelope

The part of a lot left for building once setbacks, easements, buffers, floodplain and other limits are taken out.

Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CCN)

A right and duty, granted by the Public Utility Commission of Texas, to provide retail water or sewer service in a defined area. It tells you who serves a site, or who has to agree before someone else can.

CLOMR

Conditional Letter of Map Revision. FEMA’s comment on whether a proposed project, if built as designed, would change the official flood map. It is not the change itself.

Commissioners court

The governing body of a Texas county: the county judge and four commissioners. It approves plats and some other permits outside city limits.

Conditional use

A use allowed in a zoning district only with a separate, discretionary approval and conditions. Cities name it differently, for example a specific use permit.

Contributing zone

Land upstream of the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone that drains toward it. State rules can require a plan for certain development there.

Critical water quality zone

A City of Austin term for the buffer along creeks and waterways where development is mostly prohibited. Other places use their own stream or riparian buffers.

Deed restriction

A private limit on how land can be used, written into recorded documents. Cities usually do not enforce them, but owners and associations can. They show up in the title work.

Development permit

A permit some counties and cities require before site work begins. What it covers varies by jurisdiction.

Driveway permit

Permission to connect a driveway to a public road. TxDOT issues them on state highways; counties and cities issue them on their roads. Spacing and sight-distance rules often decide where access can go.

Easement

A right for someone else to use part of your land for a purpose, such as utilities, drainage or access. You usually cannot build on it.

Edwards Aquifer recharge zone

Land where the Edwards Aquifer’s rock formations reach the surface and water soaks in. Regulated development there generally needs a state-approved water pollution abatement plan.

Entitlement

The set of public approvals a property needs before it can be developed for a specific use. A property is entitled when those approvals are in hand.

Extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ)

Unincorporated land next to a Texas city where the city can apply its subdivision rules, but generally not zoning. A 2023 state law lets many landowners ask to be released from an ETJ.

Fire flow

The rate of water, in gallons per minute at a set pressure, that must be available to fight a fire. The fire code sets it by building size and construction type, and sprinklers can reduce it. If the water line cannot deliver it, a pump or on-site storage may be needed.

Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM)

FEMA’s official map of flood hazard areas, base flood elevations and floodways for a community.

Floodplain

Land expected to flood in the 1 percent annual chance flood, often called the 100-year floodplain. Building in it usually needs a floodplain permit and elevated floors.

Floodway

The channel and nearby land that must stay open to carry floodwater. Building in a floodway is tightly limited and usually requires an engineer to show the project will not raise flood levels.

Impervious cover

Surfaces water cannot soak through, such as roofs, paving and compacted gravel. Many jurisdictions cap it as a share of the lot, often by watershed.

Legal lot

A lot created in line with the subdivision rules that applied when it was created, either by a recorded plat or under an exception. Many permits require one.

LOMR

Letter of Map Revision. FEMA’s official change to a flood map, often after a project has been built or new study is done.

Municipal utility district (MUD)

A local government that provides water, sewer or drainage in a defined area, paid for with bonds and property taxes.

On-site sewage facility (OSSF)

A septic system. Where sewer is not available, the county or its authorized agent permits one under state rules, based on soils, lot size and expected flow.

Plat

A map that divides land into lots, blocks and streets. It is approved by the city or county and recorded in the county records.

Platting exception

A situation where dividing land does not require a plat, under state law or local rules. Exceptions are narrow and vary by county and city.

Professional gate

A VALITER term for a decision that belongs to a licensed engineer, surveyor or attorney. We mark it and hand it off.

Replat

A new plat of land that was already platted, for example to combine or reshape lots. Some replats need public notice or a hearing.

Right-of-way dedication

Land along a road that a property owner gives to the public, often as a condition of platting, so the road can reach its planned width. It can shrink the usable site.

Setback

The minimum distance a building must sit from a property line, road, easement or waterway.

Site plan

A drawing of the proposed buildings, parking, access, drainage and utilities, reviewed by a city before building permits. Many counties use a development permit instead.

Subdivision

Dividing land into two or more parts for sale or development. In Texas this usually triggers platting rules, unless an exception applies.

Title commitment

A title company’s offer to insure a property. It lists what must happen before closing and the exceptions, such as easements and deed restrictions, found in the record.

Traffic impact analysis (TIA)

A study of the trips a project will generate and their effect on nearby roads. It is required above local thresholds and can lead to road improvements.

Variance

Permission to depart from a specific standard because of a hardship particular to the property. It is discretionary, and often decided by a board of adjustment.

Vesting

In Texas, the right to have a project reviewed under the rules in effect when its first permit application was filed, under Chapter 245 of the Local Government Code. There are exceptions, and the details matter.

Water pollution abatement plan

A plan the state requires for regulated development over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone, showing how runoff will be treated.

Watershed

The area that drains to a given creek or river. Many rules, such as impervious cover limits, change from one watershed to the next.

Zoning

City rules on use, density, height and setbacks, by district. Texas counties generally have no zoning power, so land outside city limits is often unzoned.

General definitions for Central Texas. Rules vary by city, county and district; confirm with the approving authority.