Killeen | Plats, Permits and Fees

Killeen Plats, Permits and Fees: Plat Steps, Deadlines, Parkland and Impact Fees

A Killeen project goes through two City reviews before building starts. The first is the plat, the recorded map that divides land into lots, under Chapter 26 of the Code of Ordinances. The second is the building permit, under Chapter 8. Along the way the City charges application fees, parkland fees per home, and water and wastewater impact fees under Chapter 33. This page gives the steps, the deadlines and the amounts, with flood rules at the end. The Killeen overview gives the short version.

When a Plat Is Required

Sec. 26-5 requires a plat when the owner of land inside the city limits "divides the lot or tract in two (2) or more parts" for sale or to lay out a subdivision, however the division is made, and the plat is recorded with the county clerk of Bell County. A division into parts larger than five acres inside the city, where each part has access and no public improvement is dedicated, is left out. Sec. 26-5(b) adds that no plat is needed for "alteration(s) or improvements to an existing single-family residence."

A development plat is a surveyed drawing of the buildings and improvements on a tract. Sec. 26-9 requires one before new development of a tract, but when a subdivision plat is required, "a development plat is not required in addition to the subdivision plat." Sec. 26-10 then bars "a building permit or any other type of permit for development" until a plat is filed and approved. Three cases need no plat for a permit: a sign or fence, and, in the North Killeen Revitalization Area, a single-family or two-family home and its accessory buildings on a lot whose boundaries have not changed, where the City needs no right-of-way. Outside the city limits, Ordinance No. 25-018 of April 15, 2025 transferred plat approval in the extraterritorial jurisdiction to Bell County. Sec. 26-2 defines that area as the unincorporated land next to the city limits, out to the distances set in Local Government Code chapter 42.

The Plat Steps and the 30-Day Clock

Sec. 26-23 sets the process, as amended by Ordinance No. 24-035 in August 2024:

• Before filing. A pre-application meeting with City staff is encouraged. The land must already be "appropriately zoned for the proposed development," and "Plat applications that do not conform with zoning requirements will not be accepted." The applicant may owe no money to the City on an earlier plat.
• Variances first. A subdivision variance, which is permission to depart from a Chapter 26 design rule, is decided by the Planning and Zoning Commission and must be approved before the preliminary plat is filed, or before the final plat when no preliminary plat is needed (Sec. 26-25). It cannot change "process or procedures," and the Commission must make eight findings, among them that the hardship is not "solely of an economic nature."
• Staff review. Development Services reviews only complete applications. The city engineer may recommend approval or disapproval.
• The decision. "Within thirty (30) days of the date a plat application is filed, the plat shall be approved, approved with conditions, or disapproved by the executive director, or designee," with written conditions or reasons.
• The answer. The applicant may submit a written response that meets each condition, and the director decides again "not later than the 15th day after the date the response was submitted."

The state rules match. Local Government Code 212.009 requires a city to act on a plat "within 30 days after the date the plat is filed," and "A plat is approved by the municipal authority unless it is disapproved within that period." Section 212.0091 requires a written statement of each condition or reason with a citation to the law behind it, Section 212.0093 says a city "may not establish a deadline for an applicant to submit the response," and Section 212.0095 gives the city 15 days to act on it. Under Sec. 26-23(e), a plat that needs a variance is disapproved at the 30-day mark unless the applicant asked in writing for a 30-day extension. The Planning and Zoning Commission adopts the next year's filing and meeting dates at its first meeting each December (Sec. 26-22).

Replats, Vacations and Recording

A replat is a new plat that changes an earlier recorded one. Under Sec. 26-73, a replat needs a public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission when it requires a variance or exception and, in the last five years, any of the land was limited by zoning "to residential use for not more than two (2) residential units per lot," or any lot was limited that way by deed restrictions. Notice goes out "before the 15th day before the date of the hearing" by newspaper and by mail to owners of lots in the original subdivision within 200 feet. When the replat needs no variance, the planning department mails notice of the approval to those owners within 15 days after it.

A protest can raise the vote needed. Sec. 26-73(c) says a protested replat that needs a variance must receive "three-fourths (¾) of the members present," and counts a protest as one "signed by at least twenty (20) percent of the owners of the lots or land immediately adjoining." Local Government Code 212.015(c) counts it as one signed by "the owners of at least 20 percent of the area of the lots or land immediately adjoining," within the original subdivision. The statute, which measures land area, controls.

Final plats are recorded with the county clerk once the director approves them and the applicant pays the recording fee (Sec. 26-26). An applicant may record before the City accepts the streets and utilities by posting a completion bond of 110 percent of the cost of the unfinished work (Sec. 26-84), but "Under no circumstances shall a building permit be issued until all required infrastructure has been accepted by the city." If the work is not done within two years of release for construction, the final plat approval expires unless the director extends it. A recorded plat may be vacated by the owners before any lot is sold; after a sale, the Planning and Zoning Commission must approve (Sec. 26-71).

Source: City of Killeen, FY 2027 Fee Schedule, Planning and Development and Engineering Services, "Effective October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027." The City Council approved it on June 16, 2026, except three fee groups unrelated to building.

Parkland for Each New Home

Article IV, Division 5, adopted by Ordinance No. 23-003 in January 2023, makes a residential subdivision contribute to parks. Land is figured at "not less than five (5) acres of parkland per one thousand (1,000) ultimate residents," using persons per home from 2019 Census Bureau data. Where the dedication would be under three acres, or the City prefers, it may take a fee in lieu of land at $50,000 per acre (Sec. 26-152). A park development fee is due as well (Sec. 26-146). Nonresidential subdivisions are exempt, and so are amending plats, development plats and replats of existing lots "provided that the new development does not increase in residential intensity" (Sec. 26-129).

Source: Killeen Code of Ordinances, Secs. 26-136, 26-146 and 26-152, Supplement 38 Update 1.

By VanPlex arithmetic, a new subdivision of 20 duplex lots, 40 homes, owes $18,000 in park development fees and, if it pays cash instead of land, $30,000 in fees in lieu. The North Killeen Revitalization Program can waive "Parkland dedication and development fees" for an approved project there.

Water and Wastewater Impact Fees

An impact fee is a one-time charge on new development that pays for the added water and sewer plants and lines it needs. Killeen's are in Chapter 33, Article II, adopted by Ordinance No. 21-015 on April 13, 2021, and apply "within the corporate boundaries of the city and within its extraterritorial jurisdiction" as one service area. The fee rises with the size of the water meter, counted in service units, where a 3/4-inch meter is one unit.

Source: Killeen Code of Ordinances, Secs. 33-24 and 33-25, Supplement 38 Update 1. The code lists larger meters up to 8 inches.

For land platted on or after April 14, 2021, the fee is assessed when the final plat is recorded; for land built on without a plat, when the building permit is applied for (Sec. 33-25). It is collected with the building permit (Sec. 33-26). Water fees count both domestic and irrigation meters, and wastewater fees count domestic meters only. Once assessed, the fee per unit for that development cannot rise unless the owner files a new plat or a larger meter. The City must spend each fee within ten years (Sec. 33-41).

An update is under way. The staff presentation for Council item RS-26-155 says the City hired Kimley-Horn on July 15, 2025 to update the fees after adopting a 2025 water and wastewater master plan, and asks the Council to set a public hearing on November 17, 2026 on new land use assumptions, a capital improvements plan and fees. Until the Council adopts new fees, the Chapter 33 amounts apply. For a building converted to homes under SB 840, Local Government Code 218.204 bars an impact fee unless the land "was already subject to an impact fee" before the conversion permit was filed.

Building Permits

Chapter 8, Article II sets the permit rules. Permits are issued only "to a registered contractor or to a homeowner" doing the work with their own hands (Sec. 8-23). Applications go through the City's online permitting software and "shall be reviewed and either approved or disapproved within forty-five (45) calendar days from the date submitted," with written reasons when the City cannot grant one (Sec. 8-26). That matches Local Government Code 214.904, which gives a city 45 days to grant or deny a permit, give written reasons, or agree on a deadline, and bars it from collecting the permit fees when it misses the final deadline that section sets. Each building in a multi-building project needs its own application.

An approved application expires if its fees stay unpaid for 45 calendar days (Sec. 8-27). A permit becomes invalid if work does not start within 180 days, or stops for 180 days, and the building official may grant extensions of up to 180 days each (Sec. 8-28). Where work starts before a permit, "the permit fees shall be doubled" (Sec. 8-11(b)). Commercial and multifamily projects other than houses and duplexes also need a site development permit first, under Article VIII of Chapter 31.

Source: City of Killeen, FY 2027 Fee Schedule, Building and Inspection, Planning and Development, and Water and Sewer sections. The schedule says the residential fee "includes permits for structure, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and required inspections."

Flood Rules

Chapter 12 adopts the flood areas in "The Flood Insurance Study, Bell County, Texas," dated September 26, 2008, with its flood maps and later revisions (Sec. 12-7). "No development shall occur without first obtaining a floodplain development permit" (Sec. 12-38). In areas with a base flood elevation, which Sec. 12-1 defines as the water surface from "the flood that has a one (1) percent chance of equaling or exceeding that level in any given year," new construction and "substantial improvement of any residential structure" must have "the lowest floor (including basement), elevated at least two (2) feet above the base flood elevation" (Sec. 12-62). An enclosed area below that floor, used only for parking, access or storage, needs at least two openings with one square inch of opening for every square foot of enclosed area. In a floodway, the channel and nearby land "that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood," fill and new building are barred unless a Texas engineer shows no rise in flood levels (Sec. 12-65).

Ordinance No. 26-029, adopted August 4, 2026, made the City Engineer the floodplain administrator. The municode text of Sec. 12-36 still names the building official, because Supplement 38 Update 1 is codified only through January 6, 2026. The ordinance is the later rule.

Where the Code Disagrees With Itself or State Law

• Sec. 26-23 gives every plat decision to the Executive Director, while Sec. 26-72 says a replat without vacating the earlier plat is "approved by the planning and zoning commission." Local Government Code 212.014 asks for approval by "the municipal authority responsible for approving plats." Ask which body will act on your replat.
• Sec. 26-73(c) counts a replat protest by 20 percent "of the owners," and Local Government Code 212.015(c) counts 20 percent of the land area. The statute controls.
• Sec. 26-73(d) says to compute the percentage "under subsection (b)," while the protest is in subsection (c).
• Sec. 12-36 on municode names the building official as floodplain administrator; Ordinance No. 26-029 of August 4, 2026 names the City Engineer.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Killeen overview, how Texas zoning works, and insurance and flood in Texas.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)