Plano | Plats, Permits and Fees

Plano Plats, Permits and Fees: Plat Types, Deadlines and What the City Charges

A Plano project passes through up to three City reviews. The plat is the recorded map that divides land into lots, governed by the Subdivision Ordinance. Site plan review, under Article 3 of the Zoning Ordinance, applies to apartments, townhomes, patio homes and small lot subdivisions. The building permit comes last. This page gives the steps, the deadlines in City code and state law, and the fees, from the ordinances that set them. The Plano overview has the summary.

When a Plat Is Needed

Sec. 16-131 of the Code of Ordinances adopts the Subdivision Ordinance "the same as if copied verbatim herein" and says all land in the City's limits or legal jurisdiction "shall be developed in accordance with the subdivision ordinance." It is unlawful to subdivide or plat land, or to sell lots, that "has not been platted or subdivided in accordance with the subdivision ordinance." The current Subdivision Ordinance PDF is dated September 1, 2025, and its latest changes came from Ordinance No. 2025-8-14, which followed the 2025 state laws.

Sec. 3.1A sorts plats into two classes:

• Minor subdivisions "create no more than four lots and do not require the creation of a new street or the extension of municipal facilities." The Director of Planning may approve them or refer them to the Planning and Zoning Commission. They need a final plat or a conveyance plat.
• Major subdivisions "involve the creation of new streets, the extension of municipal facilities, or the creation of more than four lots." They usually take two steps, a preliminary plat and a final plat.

A preliminary plat must be approved before public improvements, such as streets and water lines, are built. The step may be skipped if the owner signs a subdivision improvement agreement with enough surety, a bond or deposit that pays for the work if the owner does not finish it. "Lots may be sold and building permits obtained after approval of the plat by the Approval Authority, and filing of the signed plat."

Studies Before the Preliminary Plat

Sec. 3.1B, added by Ordinance No. 2025-8-14, requires site review and engineering studies before a preliminary plat "to evaluate the impacts of the proposed development on the public infrastructure system": drainage plans, flood studies, water and sewer plans, traffic studies, and a water and sewer capacity study. In the capacity study, the City checks whether the project needs larger or offsite pipes. If the applicant will not provide the mitigation the study calls for, the plan "will be denied," and that result may not be appealed or varied. An approved study reserves the project's water and sewer demand for as long as the project is vested under Local Government Code chapter 245, which has a city judge a permit by the rules "in effect at the time" the original application, plan or plat was filed.

A pre-application meeting with planning and engineering staff is offered before a preliminary plat (Subdivision Ordinance Sec. 3.2) and required before a site plan application (Zoning Ordinance Sec. 3.100.5). The City's Plan and Plat Checklists page links the request form and the checklists each application must include.

The 30-Day Clock

Sec. 3.1A.b requires the Planning Department to publish, at least 30 days before each year, a calendar of official submittal dates, generally two a month and at least one. An application is submitted on the first submittal date after the fee is paid, the other legal requirements are met, and the plat is delivered or mailed by certified mail. That date "shall constitute the filing date."

• The approval authority must approve, conditionally approve or disapprove within 30 calendar days of the official submission date; if it does not act, "the application shall be deemed approved."
• A conditional approval or disapproval must list each requirement, "with citation to the appropriate regulation or law."
• A resubmittal must be decided within 15 calendar days, or it is deemed approved.
• The review period may be extended up to 30 days, but only on the applicant's written request.
• A withdrawn application may be resubmitted with no new fee if it is rescheduled within 60 days.

These steps match Local Government Code 212.009, which says a plat "is approved by the municipal authority unless it is disapproved within that period."

Replats and Amending Plats

A replat changes an approved final plat, and under Sec. 7.1 it follows the same standards and steps as a new plat. Section 7.1.c adds a hearing for some residential replats: where, in the preceding five years, any of the area was limited by zoning to "not more than two (2) residential units per lot," or a lot in the earlier plat was limited that way by deed restrictions. Notice is published before the 15th day before the hearing and mailed to owners in the original subdivision within 200 feet. If the replat needs a variance and owners of 20 percent of the notified area protest, approval needs "three-fourths (3/4) of the Commission members present."

The City text and state law differ on when the hearing is held. Sec. 7.1.c.2 says final action "may be taken only after a public hearing" for every such replat. Local Government Code 212.015(a-1) requires the hearing only "if a proposed replat described by Subsection (a) requires a variance or exception." State law controls where the two conflict, so ask the Planning Department whether your replat, with no variance, will be set for a hearing.

Two shorter routes exist. Under Sec. 7.2, the Director of Planning may approve an amending plat, with no notice or hearing, to fix errors, cure a building that crosses a lot line, or move lot lines between adjacent lots when all owners join and no lot is added. And under Sec. 7.1.d, a building setback line on a recorded plat can be removed without a replat if the Board of Adjustment grants a yard variance and the owner records it.

Planning and Engineering Fees

Fees are set in Sec. 16-19 of the Code of Ordinances. Ordinance No. 2025-11-2 replaced the whole section from January 1, 2026, and Ordinance No. 2026-3-7 amended it again, adding a waiver for some government applicants and a new notice fee. The City's schedule, marked "Effective March 23, 2026," lists:

Source: City of Plano, Development Fees for Planning and Engineering Services, Ordinance No. 2026-3-7, "Effective March 23, 2026," read October 8, 2026. Fees by the acre or foot round up to the next whole unit.

The municode copy is older than these ordinances. Supplement 153 of the Code, which carries ordinances through October 2025, still prints the older Sec. 16-19, with a final plat at "$250.00 plus $5.00 per lot" and a preliminary plat at "$280.00 per acre." The later ordinances replaced that table and control.

Building Permit Fees

Ordinance No. 2025-11-4 repealed the 2020 Building Inspections fee schedule "in its entirety" and adopted a new one. The City posts it as the Building Inspections Fee Schedule effective January 2, 2026. The housing lines:

Source: Exhibit "A" to Ordinance No. 2025-11-4, City of Plano Building Inspections Department Fee Schedule.

The City's Residential Permits page still links an older "Building Inspections Fee Schedule," Exhibit A to Ordinance No. 2020-3-6, with first re-inspections at $50. The 2025 ordinance repealed it, so use the 2025 figures. State law sets the permit clock: Local Government Code 214.904 gives a city 45 days to grant or deny a permit, give written reasons it cannot yet decide, or agree on a deadline, and a city that misses the deadline "may not collect any permit fees associated with the application."

Park Fee, and No Impact Fees

Chapter 16, Article XII imposes a park fee "on all residential development" to pay for neighborhood and linear parks. Sec. 16-266, last amended by Ordinance No. 2025-7-11 on July 28, 2025, sets $5,691 for each single-family home and $4,359 for each multi-family home, across 14 park service areas. The fee is collected before the building permit at the rate in effect when the permit application was filed. It does not apply to remodeling, rebuilding a damaged structure, or "permits required for backyard cottages or accessory uses."

An impact fee is a one-time charge on new building that pays for added public water, sewer or road capacity, under Local Government Code chapter 395. Plano has none in its code for water or wastewater. The editor's note to Chapter 21, Article VI says Ordinance No. 2009-8-23, adopted August 24, 2009, repealed the former Article VI "in its entirety, which pertained to impact fees." One cross-reference was left behind: Sec. 21-181 still refers to crediting deposits "against impact fees due for water or wastewater facilities in the manner prescribed in Article VI of this chapter," an article that is now reserved. Chapter 21, Article V, covers pro rata fees and the extension of water and wastewater mains.

Site Plan Review

Article 3 of the Zoning Ordinance sets three plans: a concept plan, a preliminary site plan and a site plan. "Concept plans and preliminary site plans require review and approval by the Planning & Zoning Commission. Site plans may be approved by city staff provided that they conform to preliminary plans." Site plan review applies to planned developments, nonresidential and multifamily development, patio home and townhome projects, RCD and NBD residential development, mobile home parks, parking lots of more than 20 spaces, and Single-Family Small Lot subdivisions. A detached house or a duplex on an existing platted lot is not on that list.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Plano overview, Texas property tax and how Texas zoning works.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)