Brownsville | Parking, Setbacks and Height

Brownsville Parking, Setbacks and Height: The June 2026 Tables

On June 16, 2026 the Brownsville City Commission passed Ordinance No. 2026-235.127, which rewrote the dimension tables for every zoning district, cut the parking rate for houses, duplexes and townhouses, and changed how building height is measured. The Supplement 26 text on municode predates it, so the older numbers still appear there. This page gives the June 2026 numbers and notes what they replaced. The Brownsville overview has the short version.

Parking Rates

Brownsville keeps its parking rates in the last column of the Permitted Use Chart in Section 4.4.3. Section 4.6.2.B.1.a says "The rate at which a minimum number of spaces shall be provided for each use is indicated in Section 4.4.3," and the total for a mixed building is the sum of each use. Exhibit H of Ordinance No. 2026-235.127 rewrote the column for the residential rows and marked the district columns "unchanged."

Source: Brownsville Ordinance No. 2026-235.127, Exhibit H, and the Permitted Use Chart in Supplement 26. The accessory dwelling row was not part of Exhibit H and keeps "1 : Dwelling unit."

Location changes the count. Properties in the TN districts "are subject to fifty percent (50 percent) of the minimum parking rate," and properties in the "DT" (downtown) districts "are not subject to minimum parking rate requirements." A shared parking agreement, approved by the Planning Director, may cut the total by up to twenty percent when uses need parking at different hours. These rules sit within SB 840 and SB 15, which bar a covered city from requiring more than one space per home on qualifying land; the June 2026 rate of one space per home meets both.

Every space must be "at least nine (9) feet wide by eighteen (18) feet deep measured from the wheel stop." Residential parking areas and driveways "shall be concrete, and be maintained free of grass, weeds, and other vegetation." Parking must be on the lot, on a lot next to it, or under a shared parking agreement. Multi-family development and any development with shared parking fall under the circulation rules in Section 4.6.2.E: a curb at least 3 inches tall or wheel stops in front of each space, no more than half of the parking between the front of the building and the street unless outlots sit between them, and large lots split into sub-lots of no more than fifty spaces.

Setbacks and Height by District

A setback is the smallest distance a building may sit from a lot line. Article 6 measures the front setback from the front property line, and on a corner lot each street side meets the front setback of the district. The table shows the main building in each district after June 16, 2026.

Source: Brownsville Ordinance No. 2026-235.127, Exhibit G (Sections 4.3.1 to 4.3.3). The alley setback is 5 feet in AG to R-3. TN-C and TN-MU follow the DE and TN pattern with their own numbers in the same exhibit.

The front setback fell in June 2026. Supplement 26 printed 25 feet at the front of an R-1 lot and 20 feet on the street side of a corner lot, and 35 or 25 feet in RE. The new tables set 10 feet in R-1, R-2 and R-3 and 15 feet in RE, and add a separate line: "FRONT (PARKING/GARAGE) 25' to entrance of garage/carport," with "25' of driveway required between property line and structure for parking accessed from front." So a house may come forward to 10 feet while a garage door that faces the street stays 25 feet back, which leaves room to park a car on the driveway.

Alleys get their own rule in R-1, R-2 and R-3: the rear or side alley setback is 5 feet, and "minimum parking must be accommodated within the lot without obstructing the alley," with a pad 10 feet deep by 25 feet long for parallel parking or 25 feet deep by 10 feet long for head-in parking. Accessory buildings keep 10 feet from the main building and 5 feet from other lot lines.

Carports need their own check. The use chart allows a carport as an accessory use in AG, RE, R-1, R-2, R-3, TN and DE, and use standard 23 in Section 4.4.4 says "Any carport that occupies all or a portion of the street setback or street yard area must be approved in accordance with the special exception procedures of 4.2.11 Zoning Relief." A special exception is decided by the Board of Adjustment after a public hearing, and the FY 2027 fee schedule lists the Board of Adjustment fee at $750.

How Height Is Measured Now

Exhibit J of the June 2026 ordinance rewrote the definition. Building height is "The vertical distance of a building measured from the average established natural grade at the edge of the foundation" to the top of a flat roof, the deck line of a mansard roof, or "The mean height level between eaves and ridge for hip and gable roofs." Chimneys, cooling towers, elevators, tanks, spires and "parapet walls not exceeding ten feet in height" are left out. Supplement 26 measured from "the average established grade at the street line or from the average natural front yard ground level, whichever is higher."

The residential tables now state height two ways, such as "35'; 3 stories" in R-1, and the definition says "a story shall mean 10 feet in height measured from the interior floor to the ceiling." When the two limits conflict, "the greater of the two shall prevail." Ask the Building Official how the City applies the two limits to your design before you fix floor heights.

Lot coverage is the share of the lot under buildings. The June 2026 tables allow 70 percent in RE, R-1, R-2 and R-3 (Supplement 26: 40, 50, 60 and 70), 30 percent in AG, and 75 percent in CC, RC, LI and HI. Each residential table adds "Must comply with Section 5.6 Stormwater Management," the drainage rules on the flood and drainage page.

A Worked Example: A Duplex on an R-2 Lot

Take an R-2 lot 40 feet wide and 100 feet deep, 4,000 square feet in all, with a side-by-side duplex. The figures below are VanPlex arithmetic on the June 2026 R-2 table and the parking rules on this page:

• Buildings may cover up to 2,800 square feet, 70 percent of the lot.
• With a 10-foot front setback, a 5-foot rear setback and 0-foot sides where fire separation rules are met, the area left for the building is 40 feet wide by 85 feet deep before the coverage cap applies.
• The duplex needs two parking spaces, one per home, each at least 9 by 18 feet on concrete.
• If those spaces are in garages that face the street, each garage entrance sits at least 25 feet behind the front line, with 25 feet of driveway in front of it.
• The building may be 35 feet and 3 stories tall.

With an alley at the rear, the garages can face the alley instead. The table then sets a 5-foot alley setback and asks for a parking pad inside the lot, so the front of the building can sit at the 10-foot line along the whole street face.

Parking on Small Lots and on Commercial Land

Two 2025 state laws cap parking on some land, and the June 2026 rates sit inside both caps. On an SB 15 small lot of 4,000 square feet or less, Local Government Code 211.055 bars a city from requiring covered parking, "more than one parking space per unit," or off-site parking. On land where SB 840 applies, Section 218.102 bars more than one space per home or a parking garage. Brownsville's rate for a house, a duplex unit, a townhouse and an apartment is now one space per home, and the district tables require no garage. The 25-foot front garage line is a setback rule, and the lot size page explains how it sits against the 15-foot front setback cap for small lots.

Ways to Build Closer, Taller or Wider

• Design score. Under Section 4.6.1.B, a house or duplex that scores 60 points gains "an additional ten (10) feet of maximum height" and ten percent more coverage; at 80 points, twenty feet and twenty percent. Points come from materials, roofs, porches, permeable paving and rainwater systems.
• Urban form modification. Section 4.2.11.A.4 lets multi-family dwellings, townhouses and some civic and office buildings in residential districts "locate in the required front or side corner setback" if the building fills more than half of the block face, does not face the front or side yard of a conforming house, keeps parking "at least twenty (20) feet from the street frontage" or behind a 3-foot screen, and adds two urban design elements such as street trees or bike parking.
• Alley-loaded lots. District lot widths drop to 35 feet when parking comes from an alley.
• Zero lot line. Patio homes and townhouses on separate lots may build on one side line under Section 4.2.11.A.3.

One limit applies at every corner. Section 5.4 keeps a sight visibility triangle "open and completely unobstructed at a height between thirty (30) inches and eight (8) feet above the top of the adjacent curb," with legs of 25 feet at a street intersection and 15 feet at an alley or a driveway. Fences, signs and plants must stay out of that space.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Brownsville overview, SB 15 and small lots and building codes from duplex to fourplex.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)