FAQ Topic: Planning & Zoning FAQs

A licensed professional engineer will be required to prepare a plat. You can locate a professional engineer or surveyor by contacting the Texas Society of Professional Engineers or the Texas Surveyor’s Association or by looking in your local phone directory.

According to the Texas Local Government Code, the platting process is required unless all of the following conditions are met: The division results in parcels of land that each contain an area greater than five (5) acres, each parcel has access to a public street, and no public improvement is being dedicated.

A plat is the official map of an addition or subdivision, showing the number and dimensions of lots, public rights-of-way, and easements. The plat must be filed with the County Clerk after the City has approved it.

An application for a rezoning request is submitted to the Planning Department. Once the Planning Department has adequately reviewed the case, it goes before the Planning and Zoning Commission for consideration. It is then forwarded to City Council for consideration and action. The City Council is the final approval authority for rezoning requests.

A Zoning District defines the types of primary and accessory uses that can be developed and what types of development standards will govern that use. Development standards include but are not limited to lot size, lot width, setbacks, heights of structures and buildings, lot coverage and screening.

Zoning is the practice of dividing an area into districts within which regulations and requirements uniformly govern the use, placement, spacing and size of land and buildings. Zoning is most often utilized to protect properties from incompatible adjacent land uses and to preserve the “character” of a community.

The Zoning Board of Adjustment and Appeals act on such requests. The request requires a public hearing.