Corpus Christi | Parking, Setbacks and Height
Corpus Christi Parking, Setbacks and Height: The Numbers by District
Once a lot is zoned for the homes you want, three sets of numbers decide how much fits on it: how many parking spaces each home needs, how far buildings must stay from the lot lines (the yards, also called setbacks), and how tall buildings may be. In Corpus Christi all three are in the Unified Development Code (UDC): parking in Section 7.2, yards and height in Section 4.2 and the district tables. This page sets them side by side. The Corpus Christi overview gives the short version.
Parking, setbacks and height in six facts
- Table 7.2.2.B requires 2 parking spaces per unit for houses and duplex units, and 1.5 or 2 per apartment plus 1 visitor space for every 5 units. Source: Corpus Christi UDC, Table 7.2.2.B
- The parking table does not apply in the CBD district, and in the CR resort districts required spaces are cut by 50 percent except for hotels, motels and other overnight stays. Source: Corpus Christi UDC, Sec. 7.2.3
- The street yard is 25 feet in RS-22 to RS-6 and 20 feet in RS-4.5, with 5-foot side and rear yards in RS-15 to RS-4.5. Source: Corpus Christi UDC, Table 4.3.3
- A garage or carport entered from the street must sit at least 20 feet back from that street. Source: Corpus Christi UDC, Sec. 4.2.5.B
- Paving in the required street yard of a one- or two-family lot may not exceed 50 percent of that yard. Source: Corpus Christi UDC, Sec. 4.2.5.E
- Houses may be 35 feet tall in RE and RS-22 to RS-4.5, and two-family houses and townhouses 45 feet. Source: Corpus Christi UDC, Tables 4.3.3 and 4.4.3.A
Parking for Homes
Table 7.2.2.B applies "to all base zoning districts." For homes it has four rows, and other sections add rates for cottages and live-work units.
| Home type | Minimum spaces |
|---|---|
| Single-family house, two-family unit, townhouse ("all other uses") | 2 per unit |
| Apartment, 1 bedroom | 1.5 per unit, plus 1 per 5 units for visitors |
| Apartment, more than 1 bedroom | 2 per unit, plus 1 per 5 units for visitors |
| Caretaker's quarters or upper-story unit, 1 bedroom | 1 per unit |
| Caretaker's quarters or upper-story unit, more than 1 bedroom | 2 per unit |
| Group living | 1 per 2 bedrooms |
| Cottage up to 1,000 sq ft near transit (Sec. 4.7.16) | 1.25 average, plus 0.5 guest |
| Live-work unit (Sec. 6.14.7) | 1 per unit plus 1 unassigned visitor or employee space |
Source: Corpus Christi UDC, Table 7.2.2.B, Section 4.7.16 and Section 6.14.7.
Section 7.2.2.A sets the counting rules. "Where fractional spaces result, the parking spaces required shall be constructed to be the next highest whole number," so 0.8 of a visitor space becomes one. A project with more than one use adds the totals for each use. The visitor spaces for apartments must be "labeled for visitors, located in proximity to each building."
Two places get a lower count. Section 7.2.3 says the table does not apply "in the CBD, Downtown Commercial District and to properties in the CI, Intensive Commercial Zoning district located east of U.S. Highway 181 and Upper Broadway Street." In the CR resort districts, "required parking spaces shall be reduced by 50% except for permitted residential hotel, motel and overnight accommodation uses," and parking for homes may be up to 750 feet away.
Ways to Provide Less Parking
Section 7.2.4 lets the Assistant City Manager of Development Services approve "any alternative to providing off-street parking spaces on the site of a development" that gives "a better situation" than strict compliance. The plan is processed as an administrative adjustment, a staff decision, and must be recorded. The listed options are:
- Applicant data: studies of similar uses or engineering data showing the ratio is too high (7.2.4.B).
- On-street spaces: spaces within 300 feet of a building entrance, by on-street parking permit (7.2.4.C).
- Off-site spaces: within 1,000 feet, but they cannot meet the requirement for homes, except guest parking, outside the resort districts, the CBD and the -H overlay (7.2.4.D).
- Shared parking: for uses with different peak hours, within 500 feet, with a recorded agreement (7.2.4.E).
- Bicycle facilities: a reduction set by the City's Bicycle Parking Manual (7.2.4.F).
Section 7.2.4.G adds: "Tandem parking shall be allowed for single-family lots." Tandem parking means one car parked behind another in a driveway or garage. In the overlay housing of Section 6.14.9, a tandem space needs a 35-foot driveway, or 18 feet in front of a garage, and no home may have more than 2 spaces.
State law caps parking in two cases. On a small lot under SB 15, a city may not require "more than one parking space per unit," covered parking or off-site parking. On a multifamily site covered by SB 840, Local Government Code 218.102 bars "more than one parking space per dwelling unit." On those sites the statute controls over Table 7.2.2.B.
Driveways and Paving in the Front Yard
Section 4.2.5.E sets three rules for one- and two-family lots: cars may park in a required street yard only "on a paved surface"; "the cumulative area of any impermeable surface area located in the required street yard, shall not exceed 50% of the area of the required street yard"; and driveways must be "an all-weather dust-proof surface, such as asphalt, concrete or brick." Lots of 5 acres or more with a 50-foot paved driveway apron are exempt.
By VanPlex arithmetic, a 50-foot-wide RS-6 lot has a 25-foot street yard of 1,250 square feet, so driveways and walks there may cover no more than 625 square feet. Section 4.2.5.B adds that a garage or carport entered from the street "shall maintain a minimum setback of 20 feet in front of the garage or carport." A garage facing an alley needs 3 feet under Section 5.3.2.D.
Yards and Height by District
A yard, or setback, is the open strip a building must leave along a lot line. The UDC names four: street, street corner, side and rear (Section 4.2.5.B). Side yards show a single minimum and a total for both sides.
| District and type | Street yard (ft) | Side yard (ft) | Rear yard (ft) | Height (ft) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR | 50 | 25 (50 total) | 25 | 45 |
| RE | 25 | 15 (30 total) | 15 | 35 |
| RS-22 | 25 | 10 (20 total) | 10 | 35 |
| RS-15, RS-10, RS-6 | 25 | 5 (10 total) | 5 | 35 |
| RS-4.5 | 20 | 5 (10 total) | 5 | 35 |
| RS-TF two-family house | 20 (corner 10) | 5 | 5 | 45 |
| Townhouse (RS-TH standards) | 10 (corner 10) | 0 | 5 | 45 |
| RM-1 to RM-3, 3+ homes | 20 (corner 15) | 10, raised by the 2 to 1 rule | 10, raised by the 2 to 1 rule | 45 in RM-1; 60 in RM-2 and RM-3 |
Source: Corpus Christi UDC, Table 4.3.3 and Tables 4.4.3.A and 4.4.3.B. In RE the side yard drops to 5 ft for detached non-habitable structures. Street corner yards in RS-22 to RS-4.5 follow Section 4.2.10.
Section 4.2.8 measures height as "the vertical distance above finished grade to the highest point between the plate line and the ridge of a gable or hip roof." Belfries, chimneys, flagpoles, spires and water towers are not counted. Two overlay housing types measure from a higher base in a flood zone: a cottage may rise 28 feet above the point one foot above base flood elevation, to a total of 35 feet from grade (Section 4.7.9.C), and Section 6.14.5 allows the same 28-foot measure for a vertical duplex.
The 2 to 1 Rule and Other Yard Adjustments
Section 4.2.8 holds the rule that most limits apartments: "No multifamily or nonresidential structure shall be located nearer any property line adjacent to a single-family use or two-family use than a horizontal distance of twice the vertical height of the structure." It is measured to the plate and "shall not apply to the first 12 feet in height of the building." The three or more homes page explains how it works with the RM yards.
Several rules change a yard on one lot:
- Setback averaging (4.2.5.F): where buildings within 200 feet on the block sit closer to the street than required, the street yard may be reduced, but not past the average of the two buildings on either side.
- Corner lots (4.2.10): the street side yard is at least 10 feet when the lot backs onto another corner lot, and otherwise at least the average of the two adjoining street yards.
- Water oriented subdivisions (4.2.11): a front yard as small as 10 feet when the recorded plat shows it.
- Older small lots (9.5.3): a 15-foot street yard, side yards of at least 3 feet, and a height of two stories or 26 feet.
- Island Overlay (6.4.4): townhouses and multifamily buildings on Padre Island keep a street yard of at least 10 feet.
What May Sit Inside a Yard
Section 4.2.5.A says "every part of every required yard shall be open and unobstructed to the sky" unless the code allows otherwise. Section 4.2.5.D then lists what may stand in a yard: landscaping, sidewalks, fences, minor utilities, open porches or decks "that do not extend above the level of the first floor" and reach no more than 6 feet into the front or side yard, air conditioners and pool pumps "set back a minimum of 3 feet from a street or, side or rear yard," and eaves, chimneys and similar features no more than 24 inches into the yard.
Accessory buildings have their own rules. Table 4.3.3's notes let "accessory pools, sheds, and other permitted accessory buildings" reach "within the required rear yard up to 5 feet from any property line, but not in any easement." Section 5.3.1 keeps detached accessory buildings behind the front face of the house, caps their total area at 50 percent of the house, and on waterfront property sets them at least 20 feet back from the mean high water line, with exceptions for docks, boat houses, pools and outdoor kitchens.
Corner lots also need a clear view. Section 4.2.9 sets a visibility triangle reaching 20 feet from the corner along each street, where nothing may block the view "between the heights of 30 inches and 7 feet as measured from the crowns of the adjacent streets." At each driveway the triangle runs 20 feet along the driveway and 30 feet along the street.
Open Space and Building Coverage
The house district table sets a minimum open space of 30 percent in RS-22 to RS-4.5 and prints no building coverage cap. Section 4.2.7 defines building coverage as "the maximum area of the lot that is permitted to be covered by buildings, including both principal and accessory structures," leaving out driveways, uncovered porches, decks, pools and roof overhangs under 3 feet. The RS-TF two-family house needs 40 percent open space, townhouses 30 percent, and RM-1 35 percent.
In the overlay housing of Section 6.14.8, impervious driveways count toward "the 70% maximum allowable impervious coverage requirement of the site (80% on non- conforming lots)." On an SB 15 small lot, Local Government Code 211.055 bars a city from requiring "more than 30 percent open space or permeable surface," which matches the 30 percent the house districts already set.
Best For
- ✓ A two-family house on a 50-foot RS-TF lot, with four spaces and 5-foot side yards.
- ✓ A site in the CR resort districts, where required parking is cut in half.
- ✓ A downtown CBD site, where the parking table does not apply.
Usually Fails When
- ✕ The front yard plan paves more than half of the required street yard.
- ✕ A garage door sits less than 20 feet from the street.
- ✕ An apartment building sits close to a house next door, against the 2 to 1 rule.
What To Verify Before Spending Money
- → Which parking row the City applies to an ADU or overlay housing type.
- → The use on each neighboring lot before setting apartment yards.
- → Any reduced building line shown on the recorded plat.
Where to Go Next
Related on VanPlex: the Corpus Christi overview, SB 840 on commercial land and SB 15 small lots.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many parking spaces does a duplex need in Corpus Christi?
How many parking spaces does an apartment need in Corpus Christi?
Can I reduce required parking in Corpus Christi?
How far must a house be from the street in Corpus Christi?
How close to the street can a garage be in Corpus Christi?
How tall can a house be in Corpus Christi?
How much of my front yard can I pave in Corpus Christi?
What is the visibility triangle on a corner lot in Corpus Christi?
What side yard does a corner lot need in Corpus Christi?
Can a porch or air conditioner sit in a required yard in Corpus Christi?
Where can a shed or pool go on a Corpus Christi lot?
Official sources (checked October 2026)
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