Corpus Christi | Lot Size and Small Lots

Corpus Christi Lot Size and Small Lots: District Minimums, Older Lots and SB 15

In Corpus Christi the lot comes first: a house, a duplex or a row of townhouses needs a lot that meets its district's minimum area and width. The Unified Development Code (UDC) sets those minimums in Tables 4.3.3 and 4.4.3.A, measures them in Section 4.2, and allows smaller older lots in Section 9.5. This page sets out each number, the plat needed to make a new lot, and how the 2025 state small-lot law, SB 15, fits beside the City's code. The Corpus Christi overview gives the short version.

Lot Size by District

Each residential district has a smallest lot area, a smallest lot width, and, in most districts, a share of the lot that must stay open space. Open space here means land "unoccupied or predominately unoccupied by buildings or other impervious surfaces" (Section 1.11), where an impervious surface is one water cannot soak into, such as a roof or paving.

Source: Corpus Christi UDC, Table 4.3.3 and Table 4.4.3.A. Apartment lots in the RM districts are on the three or more homes page.

The purpose statements explain the range. Section 4.3.1 says RE lots "are a minimum of 1 acre in area and are not intended to be served by City water, wastewater or storm water services." RS-4.5 "provides for residential development and redevelopment at a higher density than the other residential zoning districts." FR, the largest lot at 5 acres, is the starting district for newly annexed land.

How the Code Measures a Lot

Section 4.2.2 measures lot area inside the property lines but leaves out any street, easement for street purposes, street right-of-way, and "all lands seaward of the state-owned water boundary." On a bay or canal lot, that last part can matter: land under state-owned water does not count toward the minimum.

Width is measured under Section 4.2.3 "between the side lot lines measured at the required setback line, parallel or concentric to the front property line." On a pie-shaped lot at the end of a curved street, the front edge can be narrower than the minimum as long as the width at the setback line meets it.

Three more rules in Section 4.2 shape a plan. A lot "may consist of one or more portions of adjacent lots under single ownership," so an owner can combine pieces of two lots into one buildable lot. "Except for townhouses," no building may sit on a lot line. And the site area of an attached house includes "the combined area and width of the two lots" it sits on (Section 4.2.4).

The 10 Percent Averaging Rule

Section 4.2.2 allows some flexibility in larger plats: "Individual lots in new developments or a replat with more than five lots may deviate up to 10% from the minimum lot area, provided that the average lot area in the project shall equal or exceed the minimum lot area for the zoning district." The same sentence adds that the district's maximum density may not be exceeded.

By VanPlex arithmetic, 10 percent below the RS-6 minimum is a 5,400 square foot lot, and 10 percent below RS-4.5 is 4,050 square feet. Width gets no such allowance. A replat is a new plat that redraws lots already on a recorded plat. A replat of two to five lots gets no averaging, so each lot must meet the full minimum.

Older Small Lots: Section 9.5

A nonconforming lot of record is a lot that was legally created but is smaller or narrower than its district now allows. Section 9.5.1 forbids creating new ones, except by government acquisition, or by combining two or more nonconforming lots into one that comes closer to the rules.

Section 9.5.2 lets one single-family detached house be built on an older lot in any district that permits such houses, if the lot meets all three conditions:

• it has at least 2,000 and less than 5,000 square feet, and at least 25 feet of width;
• a recorded plat or deed shows it was a separately owned lot when a lot of that size was allowed there; and
• it "has remained in separate and individual ownership from adjoining tracts of land continuously as of January 10, 2006."

Section 9.5.3 then sets the house rules: a 15-foot street yard, a yard on each side, side yards that together equal the smaller of 25 percent of the lot width or the district total on lots under 45 feet wide, no side yard under 3 feet, and a height of "no more than two stories or 26 feet." The lot "may be used solely for single-family dwellings and permitted accessory uses."

Section 6.14.5 adds one more use for these lots. Under a development concept overlay, a duplex in RS-6 or RS-4.5 is allowed where "the development of a duplex unit is an infill project on a nonconforming lot." The ADUs and duplexes page explains that route.

Making a New Lot Needs a Plat

A plat is the recorded map that divides land into lots. Section 3.8.1 requires one whenever an owner divides a tract "in two or more parts," whether by deed, contract or "any other method." It adds that "the division of any lot or any parcel of land by the use of metes and bounds description for the purpose of the development is prohibited," and no building permit may be issued until the land has final plat approval and the plat is recorded. A metes and bounds description is a written boundary made of distances and directions, used in a deed in place of a lot number.

Section 3.8.2 exempts a division "into parts greater than 5 acres" where each part has public street access and no public improvement is dedicated, and a division into parts greater than 10 acres in the City's plat jurisdiction in Nueces, San Patricio, Aransas and Kleberg counties. The plats, permits and fees page covers the plat types and fees.

Plats must also meet Article 8. Section 8.2.4 caps a block at 1,600 feet long. Section 8.2.7 requires every lot to reach an approved wastewater system; where public sewer is not reasonably accessible and individual aerobic septic systems are used, "the minimum lot area shall be one-half acre per single-family dwelling."

Smaller Lots Inside Special Developments

Two parts of the UDC allow lots below the district minimums when a whole site is planned together:

• Cottage Housing Development (Section 4.7). A site of at least one-half acre and no more than 5 acres, with 50 feet of street frontage, holds clusters of 5 to 12 cottages. An interior cottage lot needs "a minimum front lot width of 25 feet," and density runs from 5 to 12 cottages per acre.
• Clustered Development Overlay (Section 6.7). On a site of 1 acre or more in RS-6, RS-4.5, RS-TF, the RM districts, ON, CN-1, CR-2, CR-3 and CG-2, "no minimum width or depth of a lot shall apply." The project may not exceed 9.68 homes per acre or the base district density, and at least 35 percent of the site must be common open space.

Both require platted lots, a homeowners association and recorded restrictions that the lots will not be divided again. The three or more homes page covers their design and parking rules.

Waterfront plats get one adjustment. Section 4.2.11 lets lots in a "water oriented subdivision," a marina-type subdivision with canals next to at least 20 percent of its lots, use a front yard as small as 10 feet if the plat shows it, while a garage that opens on the street keeps a 20-foot yard.

How SB 15 Reaches Corpus Christi

SB 15, in force since September 1, 2025, added Sections 211.051 to 211.058 to the Local Government Code. Section 211.052 applies it to a city of more than 150,000 people in a county of more than 300,000. Corpus Christi had 317,863 people in the 2020 Census and Nueces County had 353,178, so the city is covered, by VanPlex count from 2020 Census figures. The law reaches only a tract that "will be platted," is "located in an area zoned for single-family homes," is "five acres or more," and "has no recorded plat."

Corpus Christi has not added an SB 15 section to its UDC. The only numbered UDC ordinances in the City's records since 2024 deal with plat applications (No. 033317) and trust funds (No. 033894). So on a qualifying tract, the statute sits beside the district tables, and where they differ the statute controls:

Sources: Local Government Code 211.054 and 211.055; Corpus Christi UDC Table 4.3.3 and Table 7.2.2.B. A small lot under the statute is 4,000 sq ft or less.

Location matters on the coast. Section 211.052(b) leaves out land within "3,000 feet of an airport or military base," and land within 15,000 feet of a military base where the city has designated a military airport overlay zone with a clear zone and accident potential zone. Section 6.5 of the UDC sets clear zones and accident potential zones around Navy airfields. Measure the tract's distance from the nearest airfield before you plan an SB 15 plat.

The Planning Commission heard a staff briefing on SB 15 on August 20, 2025. Its slide says a tract "must be 5 acres in size and unplatted and zoned for single-family residences," that it "Cannot be located in AICUZ/MCAOD," and that "Lots are 3,000 square feet, wider than 30 feet, and deeper than 75 feet." The statute sets 3,000 square feet, 30 feet and 75 feet as the most a city may require, so a narrower or shallower lot also qualifies under the statute.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Corpus Christi overview, SB 15 small lots and the more Texas cities page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)