Plano | Heritage, Overlays and Flood

Plano Heritage Districts, Overlays and Flood Rules for New Homes

Some Plano lots carry rules beyond their base district. An overlay district is a second zoning layer drawn over part of the map; where it conflicts with the base district, Sec. 11.100 says "the regulations of the overlay zoning district govern." This page covers the three overlays that affect housing (heritage districts, neighborhood conservation districts and the Expressway Corridor Overlay), the airport and industry buffers in the 2025 state laws, and the City's flood rules. The Plano overview has the summary.

Heritage Landmarks and Districts

Sec. 11.700 marks heritage property on the zoning map: "H" for an individual heritage landmark and "HD" for a heritage district. Uses stay those of the base district; a tract zoned "Retail-H" allows Retail uses. When the City designates a property, the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council "may reduce, increase, or revise the height, yard, area, coverage, parking, and any other developmental standards" to protect it. Designations continue: Ordinance No. 2026-8-13 granted landmark H-38 on 0.6 acre zoned SF-7 on Westwood Drive in August 2026.

The process lives in Chapter 16, Article VI of the Code of Ordinances. A seven-member Heritage Commission, appointed by the City Council for two-year terms, and a Heritage Preservation Officer review work. Sec. 16-112 requires a certificate of appropriateness, a written approval of the design, for:

• repair other than maintenance, reconstruction, alteration, addition, stabilization, restoration or rehabilitation;
• new construction on the property;
• material changes to doors, roofs, windows, masonry, woodwork, fences, paving and other exterior elements visible from a public street;
• demolition, removal or relocation, including accessory buildings.

The certificate comes before any building permit or site plan approval. The Commission follows district design standards where they exist and the Secretary of the Interior's standards for rehabilitation. Among them: new additions "shall not be discouraged" when they fit the size, scale, color, material and character of the property, and should be built so that removing them later would leave the original form intact. Maintenance and minor in-kind repair need no certificate. Under the fee schedule effective March 23, 2026, a certificate applied for before the work costs $0 and one applied for after the work costs $200.

Time limits protect the applicant. If the Commission or officer "has taken no action within sixty (60) calendar days" of receipt, the Building Inspections Department issues the permit (Sec. 16-114). A denial by the officer may be appealed to the Commission, and a Commission denial to the City Council, each within 30 days.

Demolition in a Heritage District

Sec. 16-118 sets two paths. A building classed as non-contributing, which Sec. 16-103 describes as one "not an integral part of the historic, archaeological and architectural fabric of the district," gets a decision from the Heritage Preservation Officer within 10 calendar days. A landmark, or a contributing or compatible building, goes to a Commission hearing, with written notice to owners within 500 feet at least 10 days ahead.

• The Commission must approve, delay or deny within 60 days of the application; if it does not, the application is approved.
• A delay suspends the application for no more than 90 days from the hearing.
• After a hearing, the City Council may extend the suspension by up to 120 days, "for a total of not more than two hundred forty (240) calendar days from the date of the certificate of appropriateness application."
• During the delay the Commission may offer a salvage plan; if no agreement is reached, permits issue at the end of the delay.

Neighborhood Conservation Districts

A neighborhood conservation district (NCD) protects "established neighborhoods that have a distinct scale, design, character, unique physical features, or importance to the community" (Sec. 11.1000, added by Ordinance No. 2020-8-9). There are two models:

• Planning model. Clear, measurable standards for lots and yards, parking, fences, wall materials, landscaping, additions and accessory buildings, roof shape and driveways. They apply to new construction, additions and exterior changes, checked through the building permit. Rules on architectural style are not permitted.
• Architectural model. The same standards plus rules on style, reviewed through a Certificate of Compliance from the City, with a Heritage Commission hearing before designation.

Owners start the process. The petition needs signatures from owners of "at least sixty (60) percent of either the land area or the total number of lots or tracts of land" in the proposed district, and it goes through the same steps as a rezoning. The area should have at least four contiguous properties, at least 75 percent of the land built with homes 35 years old or older, and a shared character such as building scale, lot layout or street trees.

Three limits matter to a builder. An NCD "may not regulate demolition of structures within the district," it may not regulate routine maintenance or minor in-kind repair, and uses remain those of the base district. Sec. 11.1000.7 says these districts are not local historic districts under Local Government Code 211.0165. A duplex permitted by the base district stays permitted, but its design must meet the NCD plan.

The Expressway Corridor Overlay

Sec. 11.1100, adopted by Ordinance No. 2025-1-6 and amended by Ordinance No. 2025-8-13, aims "to encourage preservation and redevelopment of land within the expressway corridors for economic development and employment opportunities supported by housing in healthy living environments." Its areas come from the City's 2019 Expressway Corridor Environmental Health Study and appear on the zoning map in two kinds, C-ECA and R-ECA. The rules apply to construction after September 1, 2025; buildings that existed before then, or were vested under Local Government Code chapter 245, are conforming and may be rebuilt.

• All uses. A landscape edge (a planted strip) of at least 15 feet along the property line nearest any Type A thoroughfare, a road class on the City's Thoroughfare Plan Map, or rail line, with one 3-inch shade tree (3 inches is the trunk width) and one 3-inch ornamental tree per 50 feet of frontage.
• Homes in either area. On a property fronting an expressway, no balconies on the sides of the building facing it.
• Houses, duplexes and similar homes in C-ECA. MERV 13 air filters, sealed plans holding indoor noise to 45 dBA Ldn (a day and night sound average), and, within 500 feet of a Type A thoroughfare, either a landscape edge 100 feet wide with a 6-foot berm (a raised mound of earth), or a nonresidential building or parking structure of similar size between the homes and the road. Apartments are covered by the same filter and noise rules through Sec. 15.2400.
• R-ECA. Residential and institutional dwelling uses are "prohibited within R-ECA," except multifamily residences, independent living facilities built as apartments, institutional dwellings, and single-family homes built as small lots under Sec. 15.1900.1E.

"A variance cannot be granted to alter or remove requirements of this section." The Planning and Zoning Commission may waive only the balcony rule, during site plan review, if the project has equal or better noise and air quality measures. Note 52 in the use tables sends several housing uses to the overlay, so check the zoning map for C-ECA or R-ECA before buying land near an expressway.

Airport and Heavy Industry Buffers

Plano's 2025 amendments copy the state law buffers into the Zoning Ordinance. Under Sec. 15.2400.1A, apartments in nonresidential districts are "prohibited on or within 1,000 feet of properties with a Heavy Industrial Use and prohibited in areas within 3,000 feet of an airport," which matches the exclusions in Local Government Code 218.101(c). Small lot subdivisions under Sec. 15.1900.1E must be at least 3,000 feet from an airport, and the RCD housing options for UMU, BG, CB-1, R, O-1 and O-2 land in Sec. 15.1900.1A and B carry both buffers. Measure from the site to the nearest airport and heavy industrial property before relying on either state law.

Flood Rules

Plano's flood code is Chapter 16, Article VIII. It applies to "all areas of special flood hazard" in the city, which is land with a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any year on the federal flood insurance rate maps. Sec. 16-165 adopts the Collin County study and maps dated November 21, 2024 and the Denton County study and maps dated April 18, 2011. The base flood elevation is the water height the maps show for that flood.

Source: Plano Code of Ordinances, Chapter 16, Article VIII, Supplement 153.

For a subdivision, Sec. 16-177(d) requires a detailed engineering study to set flood elevations "for all zone A areas, within one hundred (100) feet of the contour lines of zone A areas, and other streams not mapped by FEMA." A flood study costs $3,500 under the fee schedule effective March 23, 2026. The Subdivision Ordinance defines the base flood for platting with "a fully developed watershed and the city's Storm Drainage Design Manual criteria for a 100-year storm," so ask the Engineering Department which flood line applies to a plat. The insurance and flood page covers flood insurance.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Plano overview, insurance and flood and SB 840 explained.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)