Houston | Parking and Building Lines

Houston Parking and Building Lines: Chapter 26 Spaces and Chapter 42 Setbacks

Two parts of the Houston code decide how much of a lot is left for the building. Chapter 26, Article VIII sets the number of off-street parking spaces, which are spaces on private land outside the public street. Chapter 42, Article III, Division 3 sets building lines, the required distance between a building and the street. This page lists both for homes, with the section for each number. The Houston overview gives the short version.

When the Parking Article Applies

Sec. 26-471 applies the parking article to the construction of a new building, to an alteration that raises the parking count, and to a change of use classification. A use classification is the category of use, such as apartment or office, that the parking table assigns a number to. The article covers tracts "within the city." The parking rules in Chapter 42 apply in a wider area, because that chapter also covers the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), the unincorporated land outside the city limits where the City applies its plat rules.

The check happens at the permit. Sec. 26-473 requires a site plan, which is a scaled drawing of the buildings, parking and driveways, before a building permit or with a development plat. Sec. 26-474 says the building official "shall not issue a building permit" until the director of the Planning and Development Department approves the site plan. Sec. 26-475 requires each applicant to give the director a certified copy of the deed restrictions on the property, or a title report stating there are none, prepared within 30 days.

Sec. 26-489 requires the parking to be "on the same tract" as the use it serves, unless the article provides otherwise. Sec. 26-476 makes a violation a misdemeanor, a lesser criminal offense, with a fine of $100 to $500 for each day.

Parking Spaces for Homes

The numbers come from Class 2, Residential, in the table in Sec. 26-492, as amended by Ordinance No. 2023-802. The City's Livable Places FAQ explains the change of method for second units and small rental buildings: "Instead of requiring a certain number of spaces according to the number of bedrooms, it calculates the spaces according to the size of the unit."

Source: Houston Code of Ordinances, Sec. 26-492, Class 2, Supplement 93 Update 1.

Sec. 26-491 rounds the total: when the count ends in a fraction of 0.5 or more, the applicant provides the next higher whole number. Three one-bedroom apartments at 1.333 each come to 3.999, which rounds to 4.

Chapter 42 adds to the table. Sec. 26-471(d) says parking requirements in Chapter 42 that the table does not mention "shall be considered additional requirements." Two of them matter for small projects. Sec. 42-186(e) requires one more space for every six homes on a plat inside the city that has six or more homes and a shared driveway (a private roadway serving two or more lots), a courtyard access drive, or a type 2 permanent access easement (a private street easement at least 28 feet wide). Sec. 42-237 requires one guest space for every 6 homes on a multi-unit residential site and puts all required parking on the site, at the side or rear. Sec. 42-101 exempts the central business district from the parking requirements in Chapter 42.

Ways the Count Goes Down

Source: Houston Code of Ordinances, Chapter 26, Article VIII and Sec. 42-186.

The market-based parking area is defined in Sec. 26-472 by its boundary. The description starts at the intersection of I.H. 10 and U.S. 59 and follows U.S. 59, I.H. 45, Spur 527, Memorial Drive and a list of streets that includes McGowen, San Jacinto, Holman, Crawford, Almeda, Alabama, Bagby, Heiner and Sabine. The 2023 amendments left market-based parking out. The FAQ says that after the Planning Commission vote, "the Department also decided to remove market-based parking from the package."

Sec. 42-1 says the City designates primary and secondary transit-oriented development streets on its transit-oriented development plan. City Council can also designate a special parking area with its own parking plan under Sec. 26-510. The Planning Department's off-street parking page lists two: the Menil Museum and Campus area and the Texas Medical Center area.

A variance goes to the Planning Commission. Sec. 26-562 requires the director to mail notice to neighboring property owners at least 20 days before the meeting, and the applicant to post a sign of at least four by eight feet on the property for the same period. Sec. 26-472 defines a neighboring property owner as one within 800 feet of the tract. The City Fee Schedule lists the variance request application at $918.83, or $459.42 for single-family, as of January 1, 2026. A variance the Commission grants to a parking rule in Chapter 42 is also a variance to the same rule in Chapter 26 (Sec. 42-186(f)).

How a Parking Space Must Be Built

• Sec. 26-581 requires asphalt, concrete or another permanent all-weather surface, and says "Materials may be pervious," which means water may pass through them.
• Sec. 26-582(c) allows tandem parking, one car behind another, only when both spaces are reserved for the same home.
• Sec. 26-585 bars compact-car spaces in any building or tract designed for residential use.
• Sec. 26-586 bars parking lifts except inside a special parking area or a multi-story garage.
• Sec. 26-587 requires accessible spaces under state and federal standards, and requires them in addition when only one space is required.

Sec. 26-490 limits required spaces to parking and bars storage, sales and repair in them. Spaces above the required number may be used for any lawful purpose.

Building Lines in Chapter 42

Sec. 42-1 defines the building line requirement as "the minimum required distance from an easement or a property line adjacent to a street or private street in which no improvements requiring a building permit can be constructed." The City's user guide notes that a building line is "also known as a setback." Sec. 42-150 requires every subdivision plat and development plat to show the building lines that apply. Division 3 sets lines along streets, private streets, shared driveways and certain pipelines.

Source: Houston Code of Ordinances, Chapter 42, Article III, Division 3, Sec. 42-194 and Sec. 42-237, Supplement 93 Update 1.

The street type sets the starting number. A major thoroughfare is a street the City lists as a principal thoroughfare or thoroughfare on its major thoroughfare and freeway plan. A collector street moves traffic between major thoroughfares and other streets. A local street is any other public street. The central business district is the area inside U.S. 59, I.H. 45 and I.H. 10, as Sec. 42-1 describes it.

The summary chart printed in Sec. 42-150 differs from the text in one row. The chart shows zero feet for a shared driveway under Sec. 42-159(b), while the text of that subsection sets four feet for a garage or carport. Sec. 42-150(d) decides which one applies: "In case of any conflict between the chart and the text of this chapter, the text shall control."

The Reduced Lines Inside the City

Sec. 42-157 gives single-family lots inside the city three options below the standard line. Occupiable space, used below, is a term the City Construction Code defines, and a flag staff is the strip that connects a rear lot to the street. Its stated aim is to "assure that pedestrian use of sidewalks is not impeded by vehicles blocking the sidewalks."

• 10 feet. The main structure sits at 10 feet and a street-facing garage or carport at 19 feet. Occupiable space above the garage may overhang the garage line by up to nine feet. At least one third of the structure along the street must be occupiable space with the front door facing the street.
• 5 feet. Vehicles reach the lot only from the rear or side through an alley, flag staff, permanent access easement or courtyard access drive, and each home next to a public street has a front door with an entry feature. A lot on a shared driveway also qualifies when the street-side homes have entry features and the electrical service is installed underground.
• 0 feet. The plat is only a replat of one corner lot at two public streets, every home shares a shared driveway with at least one other home, each street-side home has an entry feature, the electrical service is underground, and the right-of-way has room for sidewalks and utilities.

Sec. 42-165 defines the entry feature. Each structure on the street must have at least one entrance that gives access on foot to occupiable space on the first story, with a porch, a stoop or a recessed entry, and a walkway at least 3 feet wide to the nearest public sidewalk or street. A porch or stoop may extend up to 4 feet into the building line and may have no occupiable space above the first floor.

What May Cross the Line, and What Overrides It

Sec. 42-151 allows limited encroachments, which are parts of a building that extend past the line. For a building line of ten feet or more, eaves, bay windows, balconies, fireplace chimneys, decorative features and habitable area may extend up to 30 inches when they are cantilevered, meaning held up from the building with no post below, and when their lowest point is at least nine feet above the highest point of the foundation. Open stairways and wheelchair ramps may extend up to five feet. Along a shared driveway, an encroachment must be cantilevered and at least 12 feet above the paving.

Corners have one more limit. Sec. 42-161 keeps buildings out of the visibility triangle, the area formed by measuring 15 feet along each street from the corner and joining the two points, up to a height of 20 feet.

Three things override the numbers in the table. Deed restrictions with a greater building line or setback control (Sec. 42-150(b)). A special minimum building line set by City Council for a block controls over all other building line rules in the chapter (Sec. 42-150(c)); the deed restrictions and minimum lot size areas page covers those blocks. On a transit-oriented development street or walkable places street, Sec. 42-164 sets a line of zero feet on a primary street. The Planning Commission may grant no special exception to a building line requirement (Sec. 42-82(e)).

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Houston overview, how Texas zoning works, and other 2025 housing laws.

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Official sources (checked October 2026)