Mesquite | Downtown and Special Districts

Downtown Mesquite and the City's Special Districts

Some Mesquite land follows rules that differ from the standard district tables. The largest change is the Downtown Mesquite district, adopted in August 2025, which allows townhomes, homes over shops and live-work units with lower parking. Mesquite also has form-based districts, which set the shape and placement of buildings more than their uses, an overlay for one older neighborhood, two landmarks, airport height zones and a floodplain overlay. This page covers each one and what it means for a housing project. The Mesquite overview gives the short version.

The Downtown Mesquite District

The City Council adopted the Downtown Mesquite Special Purpose Zoning District, called the DM-District, through Ordinance No. 5187 on August 18, 2025. Sec. 4.1601 says it "facilitates pedestrian oriented, mixed-use residential, urban infill redevelopment, providing shopping, employment, housing, and business and personal services." Sec. 4.1603 says it "includes the approximate 268 acres of land within Mesquite's downtown area," split into three subdistricts:

• DM-C, the core: bounded by the Union Pacific Railroad on the north, Florence Street and South Bryan-Belt Line Road on the east, East Davis, West College and West Davis Streets on the south, and Carmack Street on the west. It "shares the same boundaries as the Downtown Mesquite Main Street Program Boundary Area."
• DM-MU, the mixed-use area around the core: areas "directly abutting the DM-C boundary to the west, north, and south."
• DM-E, the edge: "all parcels that front West Scyene Road and Military Parkway bounded by IH-635 on the west and Gross Road on the east," an area the code says "contains several large undeveloped properties."

Adding or removing the DM prefix or changing a subdistrict suffix is a zoning map change, with the same hearings as any rezoning (Sec. 4.1602). The same day, Ordinance No. 5189 took the old Central Business (CB) district out of the district list in Sec. 3.101.

Housing Downtown

Table 4.1605.01 lists four residential uses. P means permitted by right and C means a Conditional Use Permit:

Source: Mesquite Zoning Ordinance on municode, Supplement 71, Secs. 4.1605 and 4.1606, adopted by Ordinance No. 5187.

"Mixed-Use Residential means the use or development, as applicable, of a site consisting of residential and nonresidential uses in which the residential uses are at least 65 percent of the total square footage of the development." That is the same wording as the SB 840 definition in Local Government Code 218.001. A footnote to the table says "multi-family is prohibited on the first floor" in DM-C and DM-MU, so apartments there sit above shops or offices. The ground floor facing a street needs a wall at least 12 feet tall, and each home needs at least 725 square feet of living space.

A live-work unit is "a dwelling unit containing an integrated living and working space in different areas of the unit." At least half of the building footprint must hold the business use, the living area must be at least 400 square feet, and the home must sit upstairs or behind the business. Townhomes need "a separate entrance facing the street frontage" and "direct access to a street or alley." The townhome rules of Sec. 2.502 apply "except for building separation, open space, and parking," so the 26-foot gaps between buildings and the 40 percent open space in Sec. 2.502 do not apply downtown.

Source: Mesquite Zoning Ordinance, Table 4.1610 and Secs. 4.1607 and 4.1611, Supplement 71.

Parking is where downtown differs most from the rest of the city. In DM-C, "There shall be no minimum parking requirement for nonresidential uses," and "Any residential dwelling unit within the subdistrict shall provide one (1) on-site parking space that may be provided on-site in the rear, or with a shared parking agreement." That is half of the two spaces a house needs elsewhere. For DM-MU and DM-E, Sec. 4.1607 sets parking numbers only for nonresidential uses, and parking must sit behind the front of the building. It sets no number for homes there, and townhomes are exempt from the Sec. 2.502 parking guideline, so ask the Planning Division in writing what it will require. Exterior work in DM-C is reviewed by the Director against the DM-C design standards before a permit issues (Sec. 4.1614).

The table has one numbering error. It points to "See 4.1606 . A.22" for single-family homes and "See 4.1606 . A.24" for townhomes, but in the text those rules are items 20 and 22 of Sec. 4.1606(A). The rules themselves are clear; only the item numbers in the table are wrong.

Truman Heights, North Gus Thomasson and K20

Sec. 4.103 sets up three more form-based districts. Each follows its own code, adopted by reference and posted on the City's Zoning Ordinance page.

Truman Heights (THN). Sec. 4.1001 places "The core of the Truman Heights neighborhood" in "the triangle between N. Galloway Avenue on the west, U.S. Highway 80, and Hillcrest Avenue on the south." Land zoned THN follows the Truman Heights Revitalization Code, last amended in 2011. Its Table 3-2 lists as allowed "By Right" a duplex house, row house, sideyard house, cottage, house, accessory unit, live-work unit, apartment building, flex building and mixed use block. Table 3-1 says "The number of dwellings on each Lot is limited by the requirement of 1.5 parking places for each dwelling." So on land zoned THN, a duplex or an accessory unit needs no rezoning and no Conditional Use Permit.

North Gus Thomasson Corridor (NGTC). A commercial corridor along Gus Thomasson Road north of Interstate 30, next to the Casa View Heights neighborhood. Sec. 4.1021 says it aims to "integrate residential and neighborhood-scaled commercial functions in a form that increases buildable densities."

Kaufman-Interstate 20 (K20). Sec. 4.1101 says "On August 21, 2006, the city annexed 2.2 square miles of sparsely inhabited greenfield territory situated in Kaufman County." The K20 district applies SmartCode transect zones, a system that sets building form from rural to urban, and "Similar to the PD-Planned Development district floating zone, the K20 zoning shall require the submission and approval of a regulating plan." K20 land is in Kaufman County, so the Kaufman County flood maps apply there, and park land fees use values from the applicable central appraisal district.

Sherwood Forest and the Landmarks

The Sherwood Forest Overlay District covers "Census Tract 176.03 Block Group 2," bounded by Scyene Road, Peachtree Road, West Bruton Road and South Sam Houston. It keeps the underlying zoning and adds rules. For homes, Sec. 4.954(B) sets infill lots at 7,200 square feet, 60 feet wide and 110 feet deep, with at least 1,700 square feet of living area. New front setbacks, facades, foundation heights, porches and roof pitches "shall fall within the range" of the street. Additions go "to the rear or side of the house only." Front fences may be painted wood or wrought iron up to three and one-half feet, at least half see-through. North of South Sam Houston Road, "cementious-fiberboard may be considered as masonry." The Board of Adjustment "is not authorized to grant relief" from these rules.

Mesquite can designate landmarks (ML) and historic preservation overlay districts (H-POD) under Sec. 4.400. The landmark register in Part 8 lists two landmarks: Florence Ranch Homestead at 1424 Barnes Bridge Road, designated January 3, 2022, and Lawrence Farmstead at 701 East Kearney Street, designated April 4, 2022. Its list of H-PODs is reserved, with none named. For a landmark or an H-POD property, "A Certificate of Appropriateness shall be obtained prior to the Building Official or other City official issuing a building permit" for work that changes the outside. An owner-started H-POD needs the written support of 60 percent of the owners in the area, and a Council vote that Sec. 4.404 spells out as "4 favorable votes" with owner consent or "6 favorable votes" without it.

Floodplain Land

Mesquite marks flood land two ways. The zoning map adds an FP prefix to land "which has a history of inundation or is determined to be subject to flood hazard" (Sec. 4.301). In FP land, Sec. 4.302 allows farming, utilities, parks, open space tied to a development and parking, and says "No building or structure shall be erected" for any other use. To build, an owner asks the Council to remove the prefix, with fill plans and "hydraulic calculations concerning maximum high water and flow rates." The Council may approve it on a preliminary basis, the City issues a "floodplain modification permit," and the prefix comes off after the fill work is done. Sec. 4.303(C) warns that being outside FP land "shall not constitute assurance that such land or property is not subject to local flooding."

Chapter 11, Article V adds the flood permit rules for the whole city and its extraterritorial jurisdiction, the area beyond the city limits where the City's flood and subdivision rules also reach. Sec. 11-125 adopts FEMA's Flood Insurance Study for Kaufman County, dated January 12, 2023, and the one for Dallas County, dated March 21, 2019, so the map that applies depends on the county of the lot. A development permit is needed for new building, fill or larger additions in the floodplain, and the owner pays for the City's or a consultant's review of any flood study (Sec. 11-148). Builders next to the floodplain or other creeks and ditches must complete an elevation certificate before the City issues a certificate of occupancy. Sec. 11-162 adds the "ultimate floodplain," the area flooded by the 100-year design flood "based on fully developed watershed conditions," which takes in all FEMA floodplain. For apartments, flood land also lowers density: the 25 homes per acre cap counts only land outside the 100-year floodplain (Sec. 2.501(F)).

Mesquite Metro Airport

Chapter 3, Article IV is the "Mesquite Metro Airport Hazard Area Zoning Ordinance." Its zones follow a map prepared by the Texas Department of Transportation, "dated September 9, 1991, and revised October 14, 1992." They lie under the approach, transition, horizontal and conical surfaces of Runway 17-35. The horizontal zone caps height at "one hundred fifty (150) feet above the airport elevation, or a height five hundred ninety-four (594) feet above mean sea level," and approach zones rise one foot for each 50 feet out from the runway for the first 10,000 feet. Sec. 3-144(5) says nothing in the division prohibits a tree or structure "up to fifty (50) feet above the surface of the land," so a house within the 35-foot residential limit falls under that exception.

The airport also matters for the 2025 state laws. SB 15 small lots and SB 840 apartments on commercial land both leave out land within 3,000 feet of an airport. Neither statute nor the City code says where that distance is measured from, so get a written measurement from the City before planning around either law near the airport.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Mesquite overview, insurance and flood and SB 840 commercial to residential.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)