Entitlement guide
Jurisdiction and the ETJ.
Before any rule applies, you need to know whose rules they are. In Texas that can be a city, a county, a special district and a utility at the same time.
The short answer
Every approval depends on jurisdiction. Inside city limits, the city usually controls zoning, platting, site plans and building permits. In a city's extraterritorial jurisdiction, the ETJ, the city typically regulates subdivision but not zoning. Outside both, the county regulates with narrower powers.
Layered on top are special districts and utility service areas. A parcel can sit in a city ETJ, a county, a groundwater district and a water utility's service area all at once. Each one approves something different.
Since 2023, Texas law has let many landowners ask to be released from a city's ETJ. That has made the map less reliable. A release can change which code applies, so we confirm it from recorded documents, not from a map layer alone.
- City limits and ETJ, from current city and county GIS
- Recorded ETJ releases, annexations and their dates
- County and the office that reviews each permit
- Special districts, groundwater districts and utility service areas
- Recorded development agreements that bind the land
Why it can stop a deal
Where projects get caught.
The map says one thing, the record says another
Appraisal district records list a city for taxes or mail. That field does not tell you who regulates the land. GIS layers can also lag a recent release or annexation.
A release changes the rulebook
Leaving an ETJ can remove city subdivision rules and city-level water quality rules, and put the county in charge. It can also leave a development agreement in place.
Two offices, two timelines
Some areas have a shared city and county review office. Others split review between agencies. Knowing which office reviews what sets the order of everything after it.
How it works
How it usually works in Central Texas.
Rules differ by city, county and utility, and they change. Treat this as orientation and confirm with the approving authority.
Cities
A Texas city regulates land inside its limits through its development code: zoning, subdivision, site plan, building and fire. In its ETJ, a city can generally apply its subdivision rules and some related standards, but not zoning. ETJ distances depend on city size, so a larger city reaches further.
Counties
Counties regulate unincorporated land under narrower authority. They review subdivision plats, floodplain development, on-site sewage, driveways on county roads and fire code in many cases. Counties in Texas generally do not have zoning powers.
ETJ release
Under a 2023 state law, landowners in many counties can petition a city to release land from its ETJ, and in some cases residents can vote on it. If the city does not act within the deadline, the release can take effect without a city vote. Later amendments adjusted how this works. Some areas and some kinds of land are excluded, and the details have been tested in court. When a parcel may have been released, we look for the recorded release and its date, because the date can matter for which rules apply.
Special districts and utilities
Municipal utility districts, water control districts, groundwater conservation districts and drainage districts can each add rules, fees or approvals. Water and sewer service often depend on a certificate of convenience and necessity, a CCN, held by a specific provider. Those maps decide who you ask for service.
Development agreements
Some land in an ETJ carries a recorded development agreement with the city. These agreements can set standards, delay annexation and bind later owners for their term. They are easy to miss and important to read.
Who decides
The people and offices involved.
| Who | What they decide |
|---|---|
| City planning department | Zoning, subdivision and site plans inside city limits; subdivision in the ETJ |
| County development services | Plats, floodplain, septic and county roads on unincorporated land |
| City council or county court | ETJ releases, annexations and development agreements |
| Utility providers and districts | Service area, connection rules and district fees |
- Is the parcel inside city limits, in an ETJ, or in the county only?
- Has any part of it been released or annexed, and is there a recorded document?
- Is there a development agreement on record?
- Which water and wastewater providers hold the service area?
- Which office reviews the plat, the site plan and the building permit?
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