Pasadena, Texas | Townhomes, Patio Homes and Apartments

Pasadena, Texas Townhomes, Patio Homes and Apartments: Appendices B and C and Sec. 9-2

Pasadena, Texas has three written routes to more than two homes on a piece of land. A townhouse subdivision (Appendix B) puts each attached home on its own narrow lot. A patio home subdivision (Appendix C) puts detached homes on 5,000 square foot lots. A multifamily development (Secs. 9-2, 9-2.1 and 9-4) puts several homes on one site under one set of rules for density, open space, height, parking and fences. This page gives each set of numbers with its section. The Pasadena overview gives the short version.

Townhouse Subdivisions: Appendix B

Appendix B is Ordinance No. 71-291 of October 5, 1971. It defines a townhouse, or row house, as "one of a series of living units designed for single-family occupancy, which living units are structurally connected or immediately adjacent to each other without side yards." A townhouse subdivision is one "in which it is proposed to partition land into individual lots and construct townhouses which may be individually owned and where the minimum lot sizes are to be less than those required under the subdivision ordinance." The site "shall generally not be less than three (3) acres of contiguous land, unless the planning and zoning commission finds a property of less than three (3) acres is suitable by virtue of its unique character."

Sec. 2 sets the numbers:

• Lots. At least 16 feet wide for homes of more than one story and 24 feet for one story, each with at least 900 square feet of interior living area. Homes are built to the side lot lines with no side yards, and every lot has a private patio, an area of at least 200 square feet and 10 feet across, screened from public view.
• Density and rows. No more than 16 homes per gross acre. Rows of five to eight homes are the "optimum," and no row may hold more than 12. Rows stand at least 12 feet apart, and 20 feet where one row faces the side of another.
• Building lines. 10 feet on lots that side onto an access street, private drive or plat boundary; 6 feet on lots that front an access street. No townhouse may front a private drive or back onto a public street. A row may front a common courtyard at least 40 feet wide.
• Streets and drives. Public access streets need 60 feet of right-of-way and 40 feet of paving. Private drives need 26 feet of paving (24 feet with homes on one side only) and may run no more than 500 feet. Alleys are prohibited. Every home must be within 300 feet of a public street.
• Open space and parking. At least 20 percent of the gross site is common open space, with location and use approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission. Each lot needs two off-street parking places, on the lot or in a common area within 200 feet.
• Utilities and lights. All utilities are underground, there are no public water or sewer easements inside the plat, and streets, drives and walkways are lit to at least 0.2 foot candles.

By VanPlex arithmetic from these numbers, a 3-acre site can hold up to 48 townhomes, and 20 percent of it, 26,136 square feet, stays as common open space. Before approval, Sec. 4 requires "A declaration of protective covenants and restrictions" and the articles and bylaws of an incorporated, nonprofit homes association that every lot owner joins automatically and that charges each lot a yearly assessment. The developer also submits drawings of lot and unit orientation and typical elevations and floor plans (Sec. 3). Townhouse subdivisions are being platted: the City Council agenda of April 1, 2025 listed "Bella Heights Residence Townhome Subdivision 42 Lots 10 Reserves 2 Blocks" among board and commission reports.

Patio Home Subdivisions: Appendix C

Appendix C, Ordinance No. 91-36 of February 26, 1991, allows detached homes on lots "of a size smaller than required elsewhere in the subdivision ordinance." A patio home subdivision "shall include a minimum of eight (8) contiguous lots." Each home sits on one side of its lot, either on the side line (a "zero lot line" home) or within 24 inches of it (a "nonzero lot line" home), so the rest of the lot forms a private patio on the other side.

• Lot and home. At least 5,000 square feet and 50 feet wide at the building line; at least 800 square feet of living space; lot coverage, which counts buildings, carports, garages and the parking driveway, of no more than 50 percent.
• Height. "No patio home shall exceed thirty-six (36) feet in height."
• Building lines. 20 feet to living space or a side-loaded garage from a public street; 25 feet to a front-loaded garage or carport; 15 feet on the street side of a corner lot; 8 feet from the rear line along a shared utility easement, or 16 feet on a lot at the edge of the subdivision; 10 feet between the walls of neighboring homes.
• Walls. A zero lot line wall or privacy wall must be brick or masonry with no openings for access or light, and nothing may project over a property line. A 5-foot easement onto the neighbor's patio allows maintenance and drainage.
• Patio and fences. The private patio area is at least 1,000 square feet, enclosed by opaque fences or walls at least 7 feet high.
• Garage and driveway. Every home has a garage or carport, and a concrete driveway that holds two cars outside the garage, no more than 25 feet wide.

A patio home subdivision of 25 acres or more provides a park reserve of 8 percent of the site. Before approval the developer files a declaration of covenants, and a homeowners association where common open space is provided. The plat carries a certificate that the subdivision "shall be restricted to patio homes only."

Multifamily Developments: Secs. 9-2, 9-2.1 and 9-4

Sec. 9-2 says "Every multifamily dwelling shall comply" with its list of "living environment requirements," and Sec. 9-2.1 adds a second list for every "multifamily apartment house." Sec. 9-60 builds them to the 2024 International Building Code. The setback rule in Sec. 9-2.1 starts at a "3-49 unit complex," and the City's 2026 guide applies the review to "ALL PROPOSED MULTI-FAMILY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CITY LIMITS." The main numbers are in the table.

Source: Pasadena Code of Ordinances on municode, Supplement 33 Update 1 (Sec. 9-2, Sec. 9-2.1, Sec. 9-4), as amended by Ordinance No. 25-198 of October 21, 2025.

The floor area ratio is the total floor area of all stories divided by the land area. More rules in the two sections shape the site: parking and drives bounded by concrete curbs and kept 10 feet from any residential building; all utilities underground; trash bins 200 feet from any residential property and screened from the street; outdoor lighting aimed away from homes, with at least 0.2 foot candles on drives, parking, open spaces and walkways; 5-foot concrete sidewalks; a 10-foot landscaped greenbelt along every property line; a washer and dryer hookup in every unit; and a children's playground when any unit has three bedrooms. Next to a residential lot, "no windows, patios, or balconies shall directly overlook the residential property."

Sec. 9-4 encloses every multifamily dwelling "on all sides, except those abutting upon or facing a public dedicated street," with an opaque fence or wall at least 7 feet high, or 8 feet next to a residential lot, with one pedestrian opening of up to 4 feet per side. The street side gets a perimeter fence and "A controlled access gate." Chapter 9, Article X applies to "All new multifamily apartment houses": a 5-foot landscaped strip along the front and sides, one tree for each 40 feet of that strip, and a planter for every 10 stalls in a lot of 20 stalls or more. Over 100 units, Sec. 9-11 requires a $1,000,000 bond or letter of credit and $2,000,000 of liability insurance, and Sec. 9-2.1 requires a traffic and utility impact study.

A Fourplex Under Sec. 9-2, Worked Through

By VanPlex arithmetic from the rules above, four units at 18 units per acre need at least 9,680 square feet of land (43,560 times 4, divided by 18). On a site of that size, a floor area ratio of 0.40 allows 3,872 square feet of floor area in all buildings together, or 968 square feet per unit. Parking comes to eight resident spaces plus one guest space, since the parking table says "any fractional spaces shall require additional space," and the complex needs one enclosed garage. If the land next door is residential property shown on a recorded plat, a two-story fourplex must stand 50 feet from that shared line, and a fence of at least 8 feet must run along it.

Sec. 9-2(7) adds a spacing rule: a complex "larger than three (3) units but fifty (50) units or less shall be at least one thousand (1,000) feet from any other multifamily residential project or complex of twenty (20) or more units." A triplex falls inside the Sec. 9-2.1 setback table, which starts at a 3-unit complex, and outside that spacing rule, which starts above three units.

Planning Commission Review of Multifamily Projects

The City's 2026 Multi-Family Project Submittal Guide says every multifamily development in the city limits needs "A SITE PLAN REVIEW BY THE CITY OF PASADENA PLANNING COMMISSION SEPARATE FROM THE BUILDING PERMIT SUBMITTAL," and "THE MULTI-FAMILY REVIEW IS A PREREQUISITE TO BUILDING PERMIT APPROVAL." A site plan "may not be approved unless the tract or property on which the development is proposed has been legally platted." The Commission reviews a preliminary site plan and then a final one. Variances must be approved by City Council before the final site plan is submitted.

A submittal includes a detailed site plan and landscape plan, a title report or City Planning Letter dated within 60 days, a letter of intent, a Letter of Available Utilities, and, over 100 units, a traffic and utility impact study. The site plan must show gross acreage, building coverage, open space percentage, floor area ratio, units per acre, bedrooms and parking. The fee is $500 plus $5 per unit under Sec. 28-46, and the Planning Commission meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month.

Condominiums

Chapter 9, Article VIII sorts condominiums by how the units touch. A condominium of single-family detached units follows the subdivision ordinance, with buildings shown on the plat in place of lot lines. Townhouse-type units, with "no more than two (2) points or areas of attachment" to other units, follow the townhouse ordinance (Appendix B). Apartment-type units, with "more than two (2) points or areas of attachment," follow the multifamily ordinance, now Secs. 9-2 and 9-2.1.

SB 840 and Pasadena's Multifamily Rules

SB 840 added chapter 218 to the Local Government Code in 2025. Section 218.001 defines multifamily residential as "a site for three or more dwelling units within one or more buildings." Section 218.101 requires a city to allow it "in a zoning classification that allows office, commercial, retail, warehouse, or mixed-use use or development." Section 218.102 bars, for those developments, a density limit tighter than the greater of the city's highest density or 36 units per acre, a height limit under 45 feet, a setback over 25 feet, more than one parking space per unit, a required multilevel parking structure, and any limit on floor area ratio.

Pasadena's Sec. 9-2 sets 18 units per acre, a floor area ratio of 0.40, three stories, two spaces per unit and setbacks of up to 100 feet. Pasadena has no zoning classifications, and the City has adopted no ordinance on SB 840. Where and how the state limits reach a Pasadena site is a question for the Planning Department and your lawyer, in writing, before you design.

Where the City's Documents Disagree

The Multi-Family Ordinance checklist the Planning Department posts as a PDF says "50+ units must be at least 2,500 feet from other multi-family projects with 20+ units" and "Projects with fewer than 50 units must be at least 1,000 feet" away. Sec. 9-2(7) puts the line at "larger than fifty (50) units," so a complex of exactly 50 units needs 1,000 feet under the code and 2,500 feet under the checklist, and the code's lower limit of "larger than three (3) units" does not appear in the checklist. The checklist says it "should not be considered a complete list" and to use the full codes, so the code controls. The same checklist quotes an older Sec. 9-2 that refers to the BOCA Basic Building Code; Sec. 9-60 now applies the 2024 International Building Code.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Pasadena overview, building codes from duplex to fourplex, and the SB 840 page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)