Corpus Christi | Zoning Districts

Corpus Christi Zoning Districts: What Each District Allows and How Rezoning Works

Corpus Christi zones every lot inside the city limits. One document holds the rules: the Unified Development Code (UDC), which joins the City's zoning and plat rules. Its Article 4 puts each lot in a district, and a use table for each group of districts says which kinds of homes are allowed. This page lists the 14 residential districts, what each one allows, where apartments are allowed on commercial land, and how an owner asks the City to change a lot's district. The Corpus Christi overview gives the short version.

Where the Zoning Rules Are

The adoption page of the UDC says the City Council adopted it on May 10, 2011, by Ordinance No. 029048, and that it replaced the zoning ordinance of March 29, 1961 and the platting ordinance of March 23, 1955. Section 1.6 says it took effect on July 1, 2011. The City's Code of Ordinances, which is a separate book, keeps only a pointer: its Section 59-1 says the zoning ordinance is "continued in full force and effect," and Section 42-1 does the same for platting.

The City's UDC page links the code on enCodePlus, a website that publishes city codes. That copy's adoption page is dated December 2022 and lists amendments through Ordinance No. 032829 of August 16, 2022, but its text also carries Ordinance No. 033317, approved March 19, 2024. The City's legislative records show one later UDC amendment, Ordinance No. 033894 on water and wastewater trust funds, passed March 24, 2026. The plats, permits and fees page covers it.

Section 1.4 sets the reach of the code. All of it applies inside the city limits. In the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), the unincorporated land outside the limits where state law lets the City review plats, only the subdivision and sign rules apply, so land there has no City zoning district.

The 14 Residential Districts

Table 4.1.1 lists the districts with their former names from the 1961 ordinance. A district name tells you its smallest lot: RS-6 means 6,000 square feet, and RS-4.5 means 4,500. The table below joins Table 4.1.1 with the use tables and the lot sizes in Sections 4.3 and 4.4.

Source: Corpus Christi UDC, Table 4.1.1, Tables 4.3.2 and 4.3.3, Tables 4.4.2, 4.4.3.A and 4.4.3.B, and Table 6.1.1.C for R-MH. Semi-attached houses are marked "L" (limited) in RS-10 and RS-6.

Section 4.2.2 sets the base rule for house districts: "There shall be one single-family dwelling per lot or as otherwise stated in this Code." The exceptions the code states are an accessory dwelling unit, covered on the ADUs and duplexes page, and the overlay housing types in Section 6.14.

How to Read the Use Tables

Section 4.1.6 explains the letters. A "P" means a use is permitted by right. An "L" means it is permitted only if it meets the extra standards named in the table's last column. "SUE" means a special use exception from the Board of Adjustment, and "SP" means a special permit from the City Council. An empty cell means the use is not allowed, and a use listed in another district's table but missing from this one is prohibited here.

The single-family table, Table 4.3.2, covers FR, RE and RS-22 to RS-4.5. It permits a single-family detached house in all seven, a traditional house in RS-22 to RS-4.5, and a semi-attached house in RS-10 and RS-6. A traditional house is a house close to the street with all car access from a rear alley (Section 4.3.6). A semi-attached house is a house that "shares one common wall with the next house" (Section 1.11). The table has no two-family house row.

The code has one gap here. Table 4.3.2 points semi-attached and traditional houses to Section 4.3.5 for their standards, and Section 4.3.5 reads "Reserved." Ask the Development Services Department which standards it applies before you design either type.

Two-Family, Townhouse and Multifamily Districts

Table 4.4.2 covers RS-TF, RS-TH and the four RM districts. The purpose statements in Section 4.4.1 set the tone of each. RS-TF keeps "a generally spacious residential environment" with land for two-family houses. RS-TH "allows smaller dwelling units" and suits infill and the edge between homes and businesses. The RM districts suit land with "convenient access to collector and arterial streets."

• RS-TF Two-Family: detached, traditional and semi-attached houses, two-family houses, townhouses and cottage housing developments, all by right. Apartments are not listed.
• RS-TH Townhouse: townhouses and cottage housing only. A detached house is not listed.
• RM-1, RM-2, RM-3: every house type, two-family houses, townhouses and apartments, at 22, 30 and 36 units per acre.
• RM-AT: the same homes, at 60 units per acre for buildings of three or more homes, plus hotels, motels and extended-stay uses.

Section 4.4.4 defines the types. A two-family house is "two attached dwelling units under single ownership, in a single structure and on a single lot (often called a duplex)." A townhouse is two or more attached single-family units in a row, which may sit on separate lots. An apartment is "three or more units in a single structure on a single lot." So a triplex or fourplex counts as an apartment, and the RS-TF district does not allow one. The three or more homes page covers the density and lot rules.

Homes on Commercial Land and SB 840

Corpus Christi already allows apartments in most commercial districts. Table 4.5.2 lists "Multi family dwelling" as P in nine of the eleven commercial districts, and Table 4.5.3 sets the density and yards for them.

Source: Corpus Christi UDC, Tables 4.5.2 and 4.5.3. CN-2's 15 units per acre carries a footnote: "36 if on an arterial street or higher."

SB 840 reaches Corpus Christi, which had 317,863 people in the 2020 Census in Nueces County, which had 353,178. Local Government Code 218.101 says a covered city "shall allow" multifamily housing "in a zoning classification that allows office, commercial, retail, warehouse, or mixed-use use or development." It does not reach a classification that allows heavy industrial use, land within 1,000 feet of a heavy industrial use, land within 3,000 feet of an airport or military base, or a clear zone or accident potential zone. Section 218.102 bars a density limit below the greater of 36 units per acre or the city's highest residential density, a height limit below 45 feet, and more than one parking space per unit.

Three parts of the UDC do not match. CG-1 and BP allow commercial uses but list no multifamily dwelling. CN-1's multifamily height limit is 35 feet in Table 4.5.3. And the apartment parking rate in Section 7.2 is 1.5 or 2 spaces per unit plus visitor spaces. For a site the law covers, the statute controls. The UDC has no section written for SB 840, so ask the City how it reviews such a site.

Overlays on Top of the Districts

An overlay is a second zoning layer that adds rules to the base district. Table 4.1.1 lists five: -PUD Planned Unit Development, -H Historic, -SP Special Permit, -IO Island Overlay on Padre Island, and -CH Cottage Housing. The map shows each as a suffix, such as "CR-2-IO." Section 6.5 adds the Military Compatibility Area Overlay Districts near Navy airfields, also shown as a suffix, such as "CG-2/APZ-2." The flood, coast and military zones page covers the island and military overlays.

In an -H Historic Overlay, Section 6.3.4 requires a certificate of appropriateness, a City approval of the design, "prior to any development or demolition." Where the base district and the historic rules conflict, "the more restrictive regulations shall control."

How a Rezoning Works

A rezoning is a change to the zoning map. The City's zoning page says it "requires two public hearings, one before the Planning Commission and one before the City Council." Section 3.3 sets the steps:

• A pre-application conference is mandatory for a zoning map amendment (Section 3.1.5).
• Staff decide within five business days whether the application is complete (Section 3.1.6.E).
• The Planning Commission holds its hearing within 45 days after the application is deemed complete and recommends within six months of that first hearing.
• The City Council acts within six months of the recommendation; if it does not, the request is "deemed in all things denied."
• After a denial, the same district cannot be requested for the property for 12 months unless a waiver is granted, and a waived refiling costs 150 percent of the standard fee.

Section 3.1.7 sets notice: a newspaper notice before the 15th day before the hearing, a sign of at least 3 square feet posted before the 14th day, and letters to owners within 200 feet before the 10th day. Under Section 3.3.2, once notice is given the applicant cannot enlarge the area or ask for a more intense district.

Fees come from Section 14-1361 of the Code of Ordinances, and the FY 2026 schedule prints the same amounts: $1,996.50 for 0.00 to 0.99 acre, $2,994.75 for 1.00 to 9.99 acres, plus the $250 public notice surcharge and a 4.5 percent administration surcharge. The code raises these amounts each October 1 by the Engineering News-Record construction index, and the schedule the City posted covers October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026.

Protests: the Code, the City Page and HB 24

A protest is a petition by nearby owners that raises the Council vote a rezoning needs. Section 3.3.4 of the UDC says a protest signed by 20 percent of the land owners makes the change need "a favorable vote of three-fourths of all the City Council." The City's zoning page says the same.

State law changed on September 1, 2025. HB 24 added Local Government Code 211.0061: when a change "has the effect of allowing more residential development" and adds no commercial or industrial use beyond a limited ground floor, a protest by owners of the land within 200 feet needs at least 60 percent of that land, and the change then needs "a majority of all members of the governing body." The same section keeps the older rule for the land being rezoned itself: a protest by owners of 20 percent of that land still means "three-fourths of all members." The Planning Commission briefing of August 20, 2025 described the 60 percent rule but said both kinds of protest need a three-fourths vote. For the 60 percent protest the statute says a majority, and the statute controls over the UDC, the zoning page and the briefing.

Special Permits, PUDs and Deed Restrictions

A special permit (Section 3.6) lets the Council approve a use on a detailed site plan, and Section 3.6.1 lets it grant one "in lieu of" rezoning to a broader district. A planned unit development (PUD) is an overlay with its own standards for "new or innovative concepts," approved by ordinance (Section 3.5). Both follow the rezoning notice and hearings. The FY 2026 surcharges are $621.64 for a special permit and $1,300.43 for a PUD.

Private deed restrictions are a separate layer. Section 1.5.2 says: "The City is responsible for enforcing this Unified Development Code. The City does not enforce private easements, covenants, agreements or restrictions." A restriction stricter than the code still binds the lot, so read it before you plan a second home.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Corpus Christi overview, how Texas zoning works and HB 24 zoning protests.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)