Building permits, zoning and land rules in Aransas County, Texas

Covered work in unincorporated Aransas County requires a county Development Permit or Repair Permit¹. The floodplain order requires an approved county permit before development, a broad category that includes building, construction, enlargement, alteration, repair, filling, grading, paving, excavation and drilling¹. Aransas County applies floodplain and watershed requirements to construction, placement, alteration, repair, use and maintenance of buildings³. County commissioners court minutes from February 2024 say the county has no building codes for the unincorporated area, while the cities have their own requirements². A Development Permit covers construction or placement of a building or structure; a Repair Permit covers substantial improvements, including alterations or repairs costing at least 50% of the appraisal-district appraised value, which must meet new-building requirements¹. Ordinary minor repairs need Floodplain Administrator approval even when no permit is required¹. New residential construction must provide at least 18 inches of freeboard above the Base Flood Elevation, or above the highest adjacent natural ground when maps or studies are unavailable¹. Floodplain-regulated projects are subject to county inspection authority, but that does not establish a general residential building-inspection program outside the regulated development¹.

For an unincorporated parcel, start with the Aransas County Road & Bridge Department and the Floodplain Administrator⁹. Applications and required project documents go to the Floodplain Administrator; the county may approve the application, approve it with conditions or deny it¹. The county must act on a complete application by the 30th day after receipt, while an incomplete filing must receive written notice of missing documents by the 30th day after submission¹. An application is treated as abandoned after 6 months without an issued permit, although extensions of up to 90 days may be granted for cause¹. Commissioners Court fees must be paid before issuance, and the current floodplain fee schedule is available from the Floodplain Administrator or county website¹. Septic approval is separate and must be obtained from Environmental Health before the building permit can issue^1,10. Fulton requires town permits for manufactured-home construction or installation¹¹. Corpus Christi and Aransas Pass, cities that reach into Aransas County, issue their own building permits^12,13. Aransas County Environmental Health handles county septic permitting; Fulton also requires town council approval^5,6.

Aransas County does not have general county zoning; municipalities have zoning authority that the county generally does not share⁴. In unincorporated Aransas County, county zoning therefore does not set a minimum dwelling size, residential setback, lot coverage or building height¹⁴. Fulton sets town zoning; Corpus Christi, which reaches into Aransas County, sets city zoning^15,16. Aransas County Environmental Health handles county septic permitting, with town council approval also required in Fulton^5,6. Subdivision rules still set minimum lot sizes for covered land divisions: at least 1 acre without public water or sewer, 0.5 acre with public water but no public sewer, and 0.25 acre with both, subject to the stated planned-unit-development exception¹⁷. The regulations cover divisions into two or more parcels and exempt some qualifying divisions, so ask Road & Bridge whether a recorded plat or letter of plat exemption is needed^7,9.

Aransas County requires a permit before constructing, modifying or making non-emergency repairs to an on-site sewage facility through the Aransas County Environmental Health Department^5,10. The published fee schedule lists $400 for a new residential installation permit, $80 for an OSSF verification and $500 for a multi-unit, rental-community or commercial OSSF permit¹⁸. Texas's narrow 10-acre exemption applies only when every listed condition is met, including a site evaluation, one single-family dwelling on at least 10 acres, no nuisance or groundwater pollution, disposal on the same tract and every system component at least 100 feet from the property line¹⁹. Only about 12.6% of Aransas County soils avoid severe limitations for a conventional drain field, so make the site evaluation an early purchase contingency²⁰. County materials do not establish one inspection schedule for every system; ask Environmental Health which installation and maintenance inspections the proposed design requires^10,21.

Unincorporated Aransas County has no general county zoning rule prohibiting RV, tiny-home, manufactured-home or temporary-camping occupancy¹⁴. That does not make occupancy permit-free. Every RV outside an existing RV park requires a permit before utility connection or occupancy¹. The storage exception applies only at a homeowner's primary residence when the RV remains unoccupied, disconnected from water and wastewater, currently licensed and inspected, and capable of highway use¹. A tiny home that falls within covered development needs a Development Permit, and its wastewater system needs county approval unless every condition of a state exemption is met^1,5,19. For a new rental community, available public water or sewer must be used; otherwise the proposed OSSF needs Environmental Health approval and licensed design and installation²². Give Road & Bridge the parcel address and proposed setup before delivery, then confirm wastewater approval with Environmental Health^9,10.

1. Confirm parcel jurisdiction before using the unincorporated-county rules; municipal zoning authority differs from county authority⁴.
2. Check the recorded plat and ask Road & Bridge whether subdivision approval or a plat-exemption letter is required^7,9.
3. Arrange the septic site evaluation, submit to Environmental Health and obtain the septic permit before the building permit can issue^1,5,10.
4. File the signed Development Permit application and project-specific documents with the Floodplain Administrator¹.
5. Obtain the current floodplain fee schedule, pay the adopted fee and post the approved permit on site¹.
6. Confirm utility eligibility; for development covered by county subdivision regulations, plat approval certification is required before water, gas, sewer, electricity or other utility connections¹⁷.
7. For state-highway access, submit TxDOT Form 1058 and wait for the executed permit before construction on the right-of-way²³. New rental-community driveways crossing a county right-of-way require county approval instead²².
8. Ask the Floodplain Administrator which inspections and conformity documentation apply before occupancy¹.

Covered construction in unincorporated Aransas County needs a Development Permit, while regulated subdivisions can require county approval before water, gas, sewer, electricity or other utility connections^1,17. In an adopted regulatory floodway, ordinary encroachment must demonstrate no increase in base-flood levels¹. In mapped Zones A or AE without a designated floodway, cumulative development generally may not raise the base-flood water surface more than 1 foot without the specified federal process¹. Lots in covered subdivisions may use individual wells and septic subject to the regulations, but a future sewer connection covenant applies when public sewer reaches the lot boundary¹⁷. We could not confirm the private-well permit rule or a general residential county-driveway permit rule; ask Environmental Health about wells and Road & Bridge about county-road access^9,10. For a state-highway driveway, obtain the executed TxDOT access permit before construction²³.