Houston, TX zoning districts
1 district, 1 with a written citation. Each row says what the district permits by primary use.
The City of Houston has NO use zoning — it is the only major U.S. city that has never adopted a zoning ordinance (voters rejected zoning referenda in 1948, 1962 and 1993). No use-district map exists and no GIS layer serves a per-parcel zoning code, because there are no zoning districts to serve. Land use inside the City is instead governed by (a) private deed restrictions recorded against individual subdivisions, which the City is uniquely authorized to enforce by suit for injunction under Texas Local Government Code Ch. 212, Subchapter F (Secs. 212.151–212.158, 'Enforcement of Land Use Restrictions Contained in Plats and Other Instruments'; formerly Ch. 230, renumbered 2001) and City Code Ch. 10, Art. XV, Secs. 10-551–10-555; (b) Code of Ordinances Chapter 42 (Subdivisions, Developments and Platting), which regulates FORM — minimum lot size, building lines/setbacks, off-street parking, and the urban/suburban development-area line — but which, in the City's own words, 'does not address land use'; (c) Chapter 33 Historic Preservation (design review in designated historic districts, not use control); and (d) airport-hazard HEIGHT limits near IAH/Hobby/Ellington under Texas Local Government Code Ch. 241 and City Code Ch. 9, Arts. VI–VII. NONE of these restrict the TYPE of use by district. Therefore, at the use/zoning layer, residential, commercial and industrial uses are all by-right city-wide as a matter of public law — the honest affirmative answer (FEAT-084-class) — subject to the mandatory deed-restriction caveat, because private restrictions may prohibit a use shown here as allowed and, while recorded per-subdivision in county real-property records, are not surfaced in any public zoning/use GIS layer and are not checked by this artifact. SCOPE: this row applies ONLY to parcels inside the City of Houston's corporate limits. The Houston metro contains many incorporated suburbs that DO zone (Bellaire, West University Place, Pasadena, Sugar Land, etc.) and unincorporated county land that Texas counties cannot zone at all; both are OUT OF SCOPE for this table and require place-level routing (see open questions).
How to read the permissions
By right — allowed without discretionary approval. Conditional use — allowed only with a specific approval. Not permitted — not allowed as a primary use. Not resolved — the ordinance does not settle it in a way we would state as fact.
These describe the district. A specific parcel can also be affected by overlays, corridors, flood zones and site conditions.
| District | Residential | Commercial | Industrial |
|---|---|---|---|
|
UNZONED
City of Houston — no use zoning (city-wide)
unzoned
|
By right | By right | By right |
| The City of Houston has no zoning ordinance and no use districts (voters rejected zoning in 1948/1962/1993; the City states 'City codes do not address land use'). At the use/zoning layer no public-law district restricts use anywhere in the City, so residential, commercial and industrial uses are all by-right city-wide as a matter of public law (spec §11.1 Houston anchor). Nuisance_level = high-intensity by the mechanical I8/§3.3 rule (industrial by-right → high ceiling): heavy industrial is not prohibited by zoning anywhere in the City — an honest ceiling, with the practical restraint living in deed restrictions (caveat). Confidence capped at medium by the mandatory 'private-deed-restrictions-not-checked' caveat (spec §8.2; 5-city failure analysis): a recorded private deed restriction — which the City may enforce under TX Local Gov Code Ch. 212 Subch. F, and which is recorded per-subdivision in county real-property records but is not surfaced in any public zoning/use GIS layer and is not checked here — may prohibit a use shown here as by-right. FORM is governed by Ch. 42 (lot size, setbacks, parking) and HEIGHT near airports by Ch. 9 / TX LGC Ch. 241; neither is a use restriction and neither is authored into this use tri-state (numeric envelope intentionally honest-absent, P22 — and the registry loader's map_zoning_code fragment does not surface envelope fields regardless). See research/houston-tx-ldc-catalog.md open questions for the deed-restriction caveat WORDING (OQ-2) and the routing-scope guard (OQ-3). | |||
Sources
- City of Houston has no zoning ordinance; voters rejected zoning in 1948, 1962, 1993 (Houston Landing, 'Houston is the largest US city without zoning. Why?'; FEE / Reason historical accounts). The City Planning & Development Department states development is governed by codes addressing how property is subdivided and that 'City codes do not address land use.'
- Texas Local Government Code Ch. 212, Subchapter F, Secs. 212.151–212.158 (Enforcement of Land Use Restrictions Contained in Plats and Other Instruments; formerly Ch. 230, renumbered 2001), statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.212.htm; City of Houston Code of Ordinances Ch. 10, Art. XV, Secs. 10-551–10-555; City of Houston Legal Department Deed Restriction Enforcement (houstontx.gov/legal/deed.html).
- City of Houston Code of Ordinances Chapter 42 (Subdivisions, Developments and Platting), codified 1982 (roots in 1927 state law); minimum lot size (3,500 sf standard; neighborhood-initiated Special Minimum Lot Size), building lines (10 ft for lots under 10,000 sf, 25 ft for larger; Special Minimum Building Line), parking, and the urban/suburban development-area line. houstontx.gov/planning/DevelopRegs and the Ch. 42 ordinance PDF. Regulates form, NOT use.
- City of Houston Code of Ordinances Chapter 33 (Historic Preservation); Historic Districts + Landmarks are a mapped GIS layer on the COHGIS Data Hub (cohgis-mycity.opendata.arcgis.com, 'COH HISTORIC DISTRICTS'). Design review in designated districts; not use control.
- Texas Local Government Code Ch. 241 (Municipal and County Zoning Authority Around Airports), statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.241.htm; City of Houston Code of Ordinances Ch. 9, Art. VI (Airport Compatible Land Use) and Art. VII (Airport Hazard Area Regulations). Restricts structure HEIGHT near airports, not use by district.
- COHGIS Data Hub (cohgis-mycity.opendata.arcgis.com / mycity.houstontx.gov): Historic Districts, Landmarks, Property Lines/Plat Tracker, City Limits, Super Neighborhoods exist as layers. NO comprehensive city-wide deed-restriction layer was locatable this session (deed restrictions are per-subdivision recorded instruments, not a citywide map) — honest-null; see sources doc and open questions.
Table verified against the sources above on 2026-07-13. Ordinances change, so check the current code before relying on any row for a decision.
Which district applies to your parcel?
This table describes the districts. To find out which one covers a specific address, and what else affects that site, run the address on the home page.