Zoning › Texas › Williamson County › Georgetown

Georgetown, TX Zoning

18 districts. 11 overlays. 3 applicable state preemptions.

Overview

Worth knowing
  • SB 840 does NOT apply today — Georgetown city population ~96K is below the 150K city threshold. Williamson County (~670K) already exceeds the 300K county threshold. Crossover within the freshness window is plausible given Georgetown's growth trajectory.
  • Fastest-growing U.S. city by pct. growth in multiple recent years (2016-2024); growth pressure on AG/RE districts at urban edge.
  • Old Town Overlay District (Ord. 2004-22, § 4.08.020.B) is one of the largest historic residential overlays in Texas by area — bounded by 2nd, Holly/RR/University/Hutto, 17th-19th, and Austin Avenue.

+ 12 more in Quirks & notes

Districts

res_sf 5comm 3res_mf 2off 2mu 2res_2f 1res_th 1ind 1civic 1
CodeNameCategory Min lotHeight CoverageFAR Du/acParking Setbacks F/S/R
AGAgricultureres_sf87,120 sf[4]35 ft[5]———2[6]25[1] / 10[2] / 20[3]
REResidential Estateres_sf43,560 sf[10]35 ft[11]——1[12]2[13]25[7] / 10[8] / 20[9]
RLResidential Low Densityres_sf10,000 sf[17]35 ft[18]——4.36[19]2[20]20[14] / 10[15] / 10[16]
RSResidential Single-Familyres_sf5,500 sf[24]35 ft[25]——7.92[26]2[27]20[21] / 6[22] / 10[23]
TFTwo-Familyres_2f7,000 sf[31]35 ft[32]——12.45[33]2[34]20[28] / 6[29] / 10[30]
THTownhouseres_th2,000 sf[38]35 ft[39]——21.78[40]2[41]15[35] / 0[36] / 15[37]
MF-1Low Density Multifamilyres_mf12,000 sf[45]35 ft[46]——14[47]2[48]20[42] / 10[43] / 10[44]
MF-2High Density Multifamilyres_mf87,120 sf[52]45 ft[53]——24[54]2[55]25[49] / 15[50] / 15[51]
MHManufactured Housingres_sf—[59]35 ft[60]————[61]—[56] / —[57] / —[58]
CNNeighborhood Commercialcomm—30 ft[65]————[66]20[62] / 5[63] / 0[64]
C-1Local Commercialcomm—35 ft[70]————[71]25[67] / 10[68] / 0[69]
C-3General Commercialcomm—60 ft[75]————[76]25[72] / 10[73] / 10[74]
OFOfficeoff—45 ft[80]————[81]25[77] / 10[78] / 10[79]
BPBusiness Parkoff—60 ft[85]————[86]25[82] / 10[83] / 10[84]
INIndustrialind—60 ft[90]————[91]25[87] / 10[88] / 10[89]
PFPublic Facilitiescivic—45 ft[95]————[96]25[92] / 5[93] / 0[94]
MU-DTMixed Use Downtownmu—40 ft[100]————[101]0[97] / 0[98] / 0[99]
MUMixed Usemu——[105]————[106]—[102] / —[103] / —[104]

Confidence: confirmed partial under review not found

Overlays

D
Downtown Overlay District (Historic)
historic
§ 4.08.020.A; § 4.08.030
OT
Old Town Overlay District (Historic)
historic
§ 4.08.020.B; § 4.08.030
H
Designated Historic Districts (Town Square Historic District)
historic
§ 4.08.020.C.1
HL
Historic Landmark Designation
historic
§ 4.08.020.D
CVP
Courthouse View Protection Overlay District
scenic_view
§ 4.10.020; § 4.10.030
G
Gateway Overlay District
corridor
§ 4.11.010; § 4.11.020; § 4.11.030
SP
Special Area Plan Overlay District
special_area
§ 4.07.010; § 4.07.020
EARZO
Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone Water Quality Overlay
environmental
§ 11.07.010; § 11.02.010.B
FP
Floodplain / Flood Damage Prevention
floodplain
§ 11.04
AP
Georgetown Municipal Airport / FAA Part 77
airport
14 CFR § 77.19
PUD
Planned Unit Development District
PD
§ 4.06; § 4.01 (Table 4.01.010)

State preemptions

TX SB 15applies
Qualifying condition
Inputs: SB 15 statewide; trigger threshold = lots <=4,000 sf. Vintage: SB 15 effective 2025. Georgetown base-district minimum lot sizes from § 6.02 are AG=2 ac, RE=1 ac, RL=10,000 sf, RS=5,500 sf, TF=7,000 sf, TH=2,000 sf, MF-1=12,000 sf, MF-2=2 ac (per § 6.02.020 through § 6.02.090). Threshold compared: TH at 2,000 sf base lot < 4,000 sf SB 15 floor — TH district lots are SB 15-eligible by default. Base RS, RL, etc. exceed 4,000 sf so not preempted at base, but any replat to <=4,000 sf in any district triggers SB 15 lot-by-lot.
TX HB 2127applies
Qualifying condition
Inputs: HB 2127 statewide. Vintage: 2023 enactment, partial preliminary injunction issued by Travis County district court 2023, on appeal. Threshold: any municipal regulation in field-preempted topics (labor, business). Georgetown UDC dimensional standards in Chapters 6 & 7 are not in the field-preempted topics; partial injunction further limits reach to non-zoning municipal authority.
TX HB 3699applies
Qualifying condition
Inputs: HB 3699 statewide; addresses platting review timelines and disapproval-grounds procedure. Vintage 2023. Threshold: applies to any TX municipality processing plats. Georgetown's Section 6.01.010 cites Tex. Loc. Gov't Code chs. 211 & 212 as the authority for Chapter 6, so HB 3699's plat-review procedure preempts conflicting Georgetown procedures. Procedural only — no dimensional preemption floors.
Non-applicable laws (1)
TX SB 840not_applicable_today_watch_for_crossover
Qualifying condition
Inputs: Georgetown city population ~96,000 (Census 2024 est) BELOW the 150,000 statutory city threshold. Williamson County population ~670,000 EXCEEDS the 300,000 statutory county threshold. SB 840 requires BOTH thresholds; vintage 2024 estimates as of 2026-04. Threshold compared: 96,000 < 150,000 city floor → SB 840 does NOT currently apply to Georgetown.

Adopted building codes

Home rule; major cities on 2024 IBC

IBC
2021
IRC
2021
NEC
2023
IFC
Local adoption
IECC (Residential)
2015
IECC (Commercial)
2015

Click a code label to open its state-by-state adoption atlas.

Quirks & notes

  • SB 840 does NOT apply today — Georgetown city population ~96K is below the 150K city threshold. Williamson County (~670K) already exceeds the 300K county threshold. Crossover within the freshness window is plausible given Georgetown's growth trajectory.
  • Fastest-growing U.S. city by pct. growth in multiple recent years (2016-2024); growth pressure on AG/RE districts at urban edge.
  • Old Town Overlay District (Ord. 2004-22, § 4.08.020.B) is one of the largest historic residential overlays in Texas by area — bounded by 2nd, Holly/RR/University/Hutto, 17th-19th, and Austin Avenue.
  • Town Square Historic District (§ 4.08.020.C.1) is a designated historic district within the Downtown Overlay — covers Blocks 37-41 and 50-52 around the Public Square.
  • Sun City Texas (~5,300-acre age-restricted MPC) is the single largest PUD in Georgetown — site-specific deviation from base standards via § 4.06.
  • Karst geology and Inner Space Cavern — geologic-assessment requirements drive § 11.07 review on Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone parcels (per § 11.07 definitions, geologic assessments per 30 TAC § 213.5).
  • Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone overlay (§ 11.07) is one of the most elaborate TX municipal groundwater-protection regimes; § 11.02.010.B subdivision-level impervious cover formula is unique. Federally significant: aquifer supports USFWS-listed Georgetown Salamander (Eurycea naufragia) at named springs — § 11.07.030 carves out Occupied Sites for federal standards (§ 11.07.010.B).
  • Courthouse View Protection Overlay (§ 4.10) is a scenic view-corridor regulation tied to the Williamson County Courthouse Dome — height plane formula in § 4.10.030.C.3 may override base district height.
  • Gateway Overlay (§ 4.11) imposes 25-ft (Highway/Scenic) or 10-ft (Downtown) landscape buffer, with 0-ft front setback for non-residential properties in the Downtown Gateway (§ 4.11.030.B.1).
  • Georgetown UDC skips C-2 — Table 4.01.010 numbering jumps C-1 (Local Commercial) to C-3 (General Commercial); CN (Neighborhood Commercial) fills the small-scale-commercial role.
  • MF-2 at 24 du/ac is the city's highest MF density — below the SB 840 statutory floor of 36 du/ac. If Georgetown crosses 150K population, the SB 840 statutory floor would prevail over the city's MF-2 maximum.
  • TH district base lot of 2,000 sf is BELOW SB 15's 4,000 sf threshold — TH lots are SB 15-preempted by default; city cannot regulate setbacks, parking, height, or bulk below the SB 15 floor on TH lots.
  • MU district uses § 4.09 sub-district + Regulating Plan framework — flat per-district dimensional schedule does not exist; values live in adopted Regulating Plans.
  • Downtown Overlay impervious cover may be increased to 95% with Development Engineer approval based on downtown regional stormwater pond capacity (§ 11.02.010.B.1.d) — distinctive bonus.
  • MH district has dual regime (parks + subdivisions per § 6.02.100) — flat per-lot dimensional table not provided.

Formulas

Definitions

height
Vertical distance from lowest finished grade (or BFE where applicable) to: average between eaves and ridgeline (gable/shed/hip/gambrel), highest mansard point, or highest coping of flat roof. Per § 7.02.030.D.
lot_coverage
Building footprint / lot area.
impervious_cover
Total impervious surface (building + paving + walks + drives) / lot or subdivision area, per § 11.02.010.
far
Gross floor area / lot area (UDC does not regulate FAR by district; controlled via height + setbacks + impervious cover).
du_ac
Dwelling units per gross acre.
setback_front
Front property line to nearest building face (corner lots: shortest street dimension is the front per § 7.02.030.B.2).
setback_side
Side property line to nearest building face.
setback_rear
Rear property line to nearest building face.
parking
Spaces per dwelling unit (residential) — see UDC Chapter 9 for unit-by-use schedule.

Capacity calculations

max_footprint_sf
lot_area_sf * impervious_cover_pct (approx; impervious cover includes paving, so footprint envelope is smaller)
buildable_width_ft
lot_width_ft - setback_side_ft * 2
buildable_depth_ft
lot_depth_ft - setback_front_ft - setback_rear_ft
max_stories_approx
max_height_ft / 11 (typical 11-ft stack for residential)

Massing explorer

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Sources & references

Primary source
Georgetown Unified Development Code (UDC)
municode · Current Municode supplement; version Mar 24, 2026
Citations
  1. [1] § 6.02.020.A
  2. [2] § 6.02.020.A
  3. [3] § 6.02.020.A
  4. [4] § 6.02.020.A (2 acres = 87,120 sf)
  5. [5] § 6.02.020.A
  6. [6] §UDC ch. 9 (Off-Street Parking and Loading)
  7. [7] § 6.02.030.A
  8. [8] § 6.02.030.A
  9. [9] § 6.02.030.A
  10. [10] § 6.02.030.A (1 acre = 43,560 sf)
  11. [11] § 6.02.030.A
  12. [12] i
  13. [13] §UDC ch. 9
  14. [14] § 6.02.040.A
  15. [15] § 6.02.040.A
  16. [16] § 6.02.040.A
  17. [17] § 6.02.040.A
  18. [18] § 6.02.040.A
  19. [19] i
  20. [20] §UDC ch. 9
  21. [21] § 6.02.050.A
  22. [22] § 6.02.050.A
  23. [23] § 6.02.050.A
  24. [24] § 6.02.050.A
  25. [25] § 6.02.050.A
  26. [26] i
  27. [27] §UDC ch. 9
  28. [28] § 6.02.060.A
  29. [29] § 6.02.060.A
  30. [30] § 6.02.060.A
  31. [31] § 6.02.060.A
  32. [32] § 6.02.060.A
  33. [33] i
  34. [34] §UDC ch. 9
  35. [35] § 6.02.070.A
  36. [36] § 6.02.070.A (Shared Wall / Non-shared Wall Side Setback)
  37. [37] § 6.02.070.A
  38. [38] § 6.02.070.A (Townhouse Lot Size)
  39. [39] § 6.02.070.A
  40. [40] i
  41. [41] §UDC ch. 9
  42. [42] § 6.02.080.A
  43. [43] § 6.02.080.A
  44. [44] § 6.02.080.A
  45. [45] § 6.02.080.A
  46. [46] § 6.02.080.A
  47. [47] § 6.02.080.A (Dwelling Units per acre, maximum 14)
  48. [48] §UDC ch. 9
  49. [49] § 6.02.090.A
  50. [50] § 6.02.090.A
  51. [51] § 6.02.090.A
  52. [52] § 6.02.090.A (2 acres = 87,120 sf)
  53. [53] § 6.02.090.A
  54. [54] § 6.02.090.A (Dwelling Units per acre, maximum 24 — city's highest MF density)
  55. [55] §UDC ch. 9
  56. [56] z
  57. [57] z
  58. [58] z
  59. [59] z
  60. [60] § 6.02.100
  61. [61] §UDC ch. 9
  62. [62] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (CN 20 ft)
  63. [63] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (CN 5/10 ft)
  64. [64] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (CN 0/20 ft)
  65. [65] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (CN 30 ft)
  66. [66] §UDC ch. 9
  67. [67] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (C-1 25 ft)
  68. [68] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (C-1 10/15 ft)
  69. [69] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (C-1 0/25 ft)
  70. [70] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (C-1 35 ft)
  71. [71] §UDC ch. 9
  72. [72] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (C-3 25 ft)
  73. [73] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (C-3 10/15 ft)
  74. [74] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (C-3 10/25 ft)
  75. [75] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (C-3 60 ft)
  76. [76] §UDC ch. 9
  77. [77] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (OF 25 ft)
  78. [78] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (OF 10/15 ft)
  79. [79] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (OF 10/25 ft)
  80. [80] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (OF 45 ft)
  81. [81] §UDC ch. 9
  82. [82] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (BP 25 ft)
  83. [83] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (BP 10/20 ft)
  84. [84] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (BP 10/25 ft)
  85. [85] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (BP 60 ft)
  86. [86] §UDC ch. 9
  87. [87] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (IN 25 ft)
  88. [88] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (IN 10/25 ft)
  89. [89] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (IN 10/35 ft)
  90. [90] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (IN 60 ft)
  91. [91] §UDC ch. 9
  92. [92] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (PF 25 ft)
  93. [93] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (PF 5/15 ft)
  94. [94] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (PF 0/25 ft)
  95. [95] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (PF 45 ft)
  96. [96] §UDC ch. 9
  97. [97] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (MU-DT 0 ft)
  98. [98] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020; § 7.02.030.C.3
  99. [99] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (MU-DT 0 ft)
  100. [100] § 7.02.020 Table 7.02.020 (MU-DT 40 ft)
  101. [101] §UDC ch. 9
  102. [102] z
  103. [103] z
  104. [104] z
  105. [105] z
  106. [106] z

Research status

Publication gates

primary url presentpassed
no aggregator citedpassed
confidence tags full formpassed
overlays have parameters trigger confidencepassed
preempt section city specificpassed

Data quality

86%completeness105 confirmed25 partial6 inferred
Documented gaps
  • Parking ratios per Chapter 9 — not extracted in this session (UDC ch. 9 cache not fetched); marked 'partial' with paired companions at every district
  • Floodplain freeboard, substantial-improvement threshold, and floodway-prohibition language live in the City of Georgetown Code of Ordinances flood damage chapter (separate from UDC) — not fetched in this session
  • Georgetown Municipal Airport local zoning ordinance — separate City Code chapter outside the UDC; FAA Part 77 federal framework documented at the airport overlay
  • MU sub-district per-figure standards (Figures 4.09.051, 4.09.052, 4.09.061) require per-District Regulating Plan retrieval — not flat schedule
  • MH § 6.02.100 dual-regime details (parks vs subdivisions) — schema cannot flatten cleanly; quirk documented
  • Sun City Texas and other site-specific PUD ordinances — per-ordinance, not enumerated in this record
  • Watch for Georgetown city population crossing 150K in Census/ACS updates — would trigger SB 840 attachment to OF/C-1/C-3/CN/BP/IN/MU-DT

Known issues

freshness:volatile

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