Development Code

Contacts

Walter Ragsdale

Ph: (936) 291-5731

Fax: (936) 294-5701

Email

 

A guide to the development of land

City of Huntsville, Texas
Adopted June 10, 1986
Amended as of November 25, 1997
*Includes Ordinance 98-17, Amended September 1, 1998
*Includes Ordinance 99-17, Amended June 29, 1999
*Includes Ordinance 2000-27, Amended October 10, 2000

 

Legislative History
Chapter 1 - General Administration; The Planning and Zoning Commission; and The Zoning Board
Section 100 Title; Authority 1-1
Section 101 Legislative Intent 1-1
Section 102 The Planning and Zoning Commission 1-2
Section 103 The Zoning Board of Adjustment 1-4
Section 104 Appeals and Hardship Relief; Procedures for the Planning and Zoning Commission; and Procedures for the Zoning Board 1-5
Section 105 Additional Public Notice Procedures; Decisions Regarding Zoning Regulations 1-9
Section 106 Comprehensive Plan 1-11
Section 107 Conflict of Interest 1-11
Chapter 2 Development, Division, and Use; Permits Required for Development, Division and Use; Certificates of Compliance and Occupancy; Platting Requirements, Penalties and Enforcement
Section 200 Policies for the Development, Division and Use of Land 2-1
Section 201 Types of Development and Division; Subdivisions; Development Permits and Plats Required in City and Its Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ); Certificates of Occupancy 2-1
Section 202 Certificates of Compliance for Utility Service 2-3
Section 203 Application for Development Permit, Conditional Use or Non-Conforming Use; Form of Application 2-3
Section 204 Certificate of Compliance for Zoning Inside City 2-4
Section 205 Drainage Work; Excavation and Reclamation 2-5
Section 206 Sign Placement and Erection 2-6
Section 207 Permit to Construction Public Improvements 2-9
Section 208 Nonconforming Use Permits in the City - Zoning 2-12
Section 209 Other Codes and Standards Affecting Development in the City 2-14
Section 210 Minor Plats: Application and Approval Process 2-15
Section 211 Major Plats: Subdivision Review and Approval Process 2-16
Section 212 Format of Plats 2-21
Section 213 Plat Amendments; Re-plats; and Vacating Plats of Property in the City or Its Extraterritorial Jurisdiction 2-22
Section 214 Plats Not Requiring Recordation in the County Plat Records 2-22
Section 215 Deed Restrictions, Covenants, Maintenance Agreements 2-22
Section 216 Unauthorized Development or Division of Land Prohibited; Penalties and Enforcement 2-22
Example 2.1 Owner(s) Acknowledgment and Dedication 2-25
Example 2.2 Lien-holder Acknowledgment and Subordination Statement 2-25
Example 2.3 Certification by the Engineer 2-26
Example 2.4 Certification by the Surveyor 2-26
Example 2.5 Certification by the City Planning Officer 2-26
Example 2.6 Certification by the City Engineer 2-27
Example 2.7 Approval of the Planning and Zoning Commission 2-27
Example 2.8 Certification by the County Clerk 2-28
Example 2.9 Notary Public Acknowledgment 2-28
Chapter 3 Water and Sewer Extensions
Section 300 Extension of Water and Sewer Lines 3-1
Section 301 Charges for Sewer and Water Service 3-2
Chapter 4 Development Districts
Section 401 Establishment of Districts 4-1
Table 4-1 Allowable Uses 4-5
Section 402 Description of Districts 4-6
Section 403 Overlay Districts 4-7
Chapter 5 Lot Standards
Section 501 Lot Design, Arrangement and Layout 5-1
Section 502 Residential Lot Standards 5-2
Table 5-1 Lot Standards 5-4
Section 503 Nonresidential Lot Standards 5-5
Section 504 Noise Control 5-7
Table 5-2 Table of Noise Standards (In Decibels) 5-8
Section 505 Alternative Development Schemes 5-8
Figure 5-1 Flag Lot 5-9
Figure 5-2 Lot Line Development 5-12
Section 506 Reserve Tracts 5-14
Chapter 6 Street System Standards
Section 601 General Principles of Street System Layout 6-1
Table 6-1 Functional Design Capacity of Streets 6-1
Section 602 Street Access 6-2
Section 603 Location of Public Streets 6-3
Section 604 Intersection of Public Streets 6-3
Figure 6-1 Street Classification System 6-4
Section 605 Reserved 6-5
Section 606 Sidewalks 6-6
Section 607 Half-Streets 6-6
Section 608 Reserve Access Strips 6-6
Section 609 Alleys 6-6
Section 610 Cud-De-Sac and Dead-End Streets 6-6
Section 611 Private Streets 6-7
Section 612 Street Names 6-9
Section 613 Geometric Criteria 6-10
Section 614 Construction Standards and Specifications 6-10
Section 615 Street Structural Thickness Design 6-11
Table 6-2 Street Rights-of-Way 6-12
Table 6-3 Geometric Design Criteria for Public Streets 6-13
Figure 6-2 Sight Triangle 6-14
Figure 6-3 Arterial Streets 6-15
Figure 6-4 Collector Street/Local Commercial Street 6-16
Figure 6-5 Residential Streets 6-17
Figure 6-6 Local Residential Street/Low Density Rural Residential 6-18
Figure 6-7 Standard No. 2 Low Density Rural Residential Streets 6-19
Table 6-4 Street Design by Equivalent Axle Loads 6-20
Section 616 Street Lighting Standards 6-22
Table 6-5 Street Lighting Intensity 6-25
Chapter 7 Public Easement Standards
Section 701 Utility Easements 7-1
Section 702 Drainage/Floodway Easements 7-2
Section 703 Flood Plain Restriction 7-2
Section 704 Emergency Access Easements 7-3
Figure 7-1 Utility Placement in R.O.W. with Adjacent Easements 7-5
Figure 7-2 Utility Placement in R.O.W. with Adjacent Easements Overhead 7-6
Figure 7-3 Utility Placement in Back-lot Easement 7-7
Chapter 8 Water Facilities
Section 801 General Provisions 8-1
Section 802 Design Criteria 8-1
Section 803 Individual Water Service Connections 8-2
Section 804 Alternative Potable Water Facilities 8-3
Chapter 9 Sanitary Sewerage Facilities
Section 901 General Provisions 9-1
Section 902 Design Criteria 9-1
Section 903 Individual Sewer Service Connections 9-3
Section 904 Alternative Sewage Treatment Facilities 9-3
Chapter 10 Storm Drainage Facilities
Section 1001 General Provisions 10-1
Section 1002 Design Criteria 10-4
Table 10-1 Average Velocities of Runoff 10-5
Table 10-2 The Rational Formula 10-6
Table 10-3 Design Storm Frequency 10-7
Table 10-4 Time of Concentration 10-8
Table 10-5 Coefficient of Roughness 10-8
Section 1003 Minimum Design Standards 10-9
Table 10-6 Culvert Discharge - Velocity Limitations 10-9
Chapter 11 Sign Standards
Section 1100 General 11-1
Section 1101 Classifications 11-2
Section 1102 Sign Maintenance and Removal 11-3
Figure 11-1 Sign Types 11-5
Figure 11-2 Sign Face Area Calculation 11-6
Section 1103 Miscellaneous Sign Provisions 11-7
Section 1104 Structural Requirements 11-9
Section 1105 On-Premise Sign Provisions 11-17
Section 1106 Off-Premise Sign Provisions 11-17
Section 1107 Location of Property 11-18
Section 1108 Visibility Triangle 11-19
Section 1109 Downtown District Signs 11-19
Chapter 12 Landscaping, Buffer-yard, Park and Open Space Standards
Section 1201 Landscaping Standards 12-1
Section 1202 Buffer Standards 12-5
Table 12-1 Land Use Intensity Standards 12-6
Table 12-2 Buffer-yard Requirements 12-6
Figure 12-1 Buffer-yard Standards 12-7
Section 1203 Parks, Playgrounds, and Open Space Areas 12-10
Chapter 13 Off-Street Parking and Driveway Standards
Section 1301 Off-Street Parking 13-1
Table 13-1 Off-Street Parking Standards 13-3
Section 1302 Driveway Design Standards 13-4
Table 13-2 Maximum Driveways Per Lot 13-6
Table 13-3 Minimum Driveways Curb Return Radii 13-6
Section 1303 Refuse Container Pads 13-9
Figure 13-1 Parking Lot Dimensions 13-10
Figure 13-2 Residential (Low Volume) Driveway Criteria 13-11
Figure 13-3 Entrance and Exit Dimensions for High-Volume Driveways 13-12
Figure 13-4 High-Volume Driveway Spacing Criteria 13-13
Figure 13-5 Design Criteria for Limited Movement Driveway 13-14
Figure 13-6 Sight Distances for Driveway Design 13-15
Figure 13-7 Driveway Locations at Expressway Ramps 13-16
Figure 13-8 Refuse Container Pads 13-17
Chapter 14 Monumentation and Drafting Standards
Section 1401 Monumentation 14-1
Section 1402 Drafting Standards 14-1
Section 1403 Monumentation Requirements 14-1
Figure 14-1.1 Drafting Standards 14-3
Figure 14-1.2 Drafting Standards 14-4
Figure 14-1.3 Drafting Standards 14-5
Chapter 15 Definitions
Chapter 16 Miscellaneous Provisions
Section 1601 Preserving Rights in Pending Litigation and Violations Under Other Existing Ordinances 16-1
Section 1602 Penalty for Violations 16-1
Section 1603 Validity or Savings Clause 16-1