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

Yes, but not the kind most buyers expect: unincorporated Johnson County requires a residential or commercial Development Permit before construction begins on any new development, including mobile homes, as part of the county's floodplain-management work rather than conventional building-code approval¹. Johnson County has no statutory authority to inspect buildings and cannot issue a Certificate of Occupancy; a city or municipality may impose its own requirements². The Development Permit is valid for one year from issuance, must be posted visibly from the road once issued, and construction cannot begin before that posting¹.

Development Services is the office that issues Development Permits, reviews floodplain and subdivision materials, and handles septic permits for unincorporated Johnson County¹. The office is at Johnson County Annex 2, N Mill St Suite 305, Cleburne, Texas 76033, reachable at (817) 556-6380¹. Business hours run Monday through Friday, 8am to 11:45am and 1pm to 4:45pm¹. Development Services also reviews subdivision plats and engineering plans, issues road-bore and pipeline permits in county right-of-way, and coordinates transportation planning with NCTCOG¹. If your land sits inside a city or its extraterritorial jurisdiction, that city may set its own platting and permitting rules instead, and Development Services will direct you there¹.

No, Johnson County has no general countywide zoning ordinance in unincorporated areas³. Texas counties generally lack zoning authority, with limited exceptions around special features, so Johnson County manages land use through development permitting and subdivision platting^3,6. Cities set their own zoning inside city limits: Alvarado has a zoning ordinance covering business, industrial, residential and other land uses, and Burleson publishes a citywide zoning map^4,5. The one exception is airport-specific: Johnson County and the City of Cleburne created a joint airport zoning board in 1979 to regulate land near Cleburne Municipal Airport, and the county formally adopted the board's current zoning regulations by commissioners court order⁹. Outside that airport zone and outside any city, in unincorporated Johnson County the county sets no minimum home size, no minimum lot size, no setbacks and no building-height limit⁶. That silence means RVs, tiny homes, manufactured homes and temporary camping on your own land are unrestricted under county rules, though the Development Permit process still applies to any new structure^1,6.

Every OSSF (on-site sewage facility) in unincorporated Johnson County needs a permit from Development Services, which reviews applications and plans and includes inspections in its OSSF program; the county does not publish a universal inspection schedule or every inspection stage¹. A permit is required for the construction and location of an individual OSSF on a home site¹⁰. Published permit fees are $475 for an aerobic septic system and $375 for other septic systems⁷. At occupancy, a home or commercial parcel must have either an approved community-sewer connection or a properly designed, operational individual OSSF¹⁰. Only 6.9% of Johnson County land is free of severe limits for a conventional drain field, so arrange the site evaluation early⁸. Texas provides a narrow permit exemption for qualifying tracts of at least 10 acres, but only when every listed condition is met, including licensed evaluation, one dwelling, a 100-foot property-line separation and on-tract effluent disposal¹¹.

Unincorporated Johnson County has no zoning ordinance restricting how you occupy your own land, so there's no county rule limiting RV or tiny-home living, and no minimum home size or lot size to meet⁶. That said, the county's Development Permit requirement still applies to a mobile home the same way it applies to a house, so the permit and posted-sign steps aren't optional just because there's no zoning¹. If your land is inside a mapped floodplain, floodplain development rules apply to any structure placed there, RV or otherwise, and a properly designed sewage-disposal system is required at the time of occupancy regardless of dwelling type¹⁰.

1. Order a site and soil evaluation early, since only 6.9% of county land is free of severe limits for a conventional drain field⁸.
2. Apply through Development Services for the OSSF permit and confirm the inspection stages before installation; the published fee is $475 for an aerobic system or $375 for another system^1,7.
3. Submit the residential or commercial Development Permit application before starting a house, mobile home or other new development¹.
4. Complete any required floodplain review; qualifying residential construction must place the lowest floor three feet above the 100-year flood elevation and provide professional certification¹⁰.
5. Post the permit visibly from the road before work starts¹.
6. Register a new well with the Prairielands Groundwater Conservation District before drilling; non-exempt wells need a permit¹².
7. Obtain a TxDOT permit for a new driveway from a state roadway¹³.
8. Before dividing land, confirm platting requirements and the conditions of any agricultural-use exemption^1,14.

Soils are the biggest hidden cost here: with only 6.9% of the county's land free of severe septic limitations, budget for a site evaluation and possibly an engineered system before you count on a standard drain field⁸. Water matters too — annual precipitation runs about 37 inches a year, but 25.9% of years bring severe drought, so a reliable well deserves real budget, and a well in the Prairielands Groundwater Conservation District must be registered before drilling^8,12. The land itself is flat and buildable, with 99.5% of the county at 15% slope or less, and about 20.4% forested⁸. Check FEMA flood maps before you buy, since floodplain land carries extra elevation and certification requirements on top of the standard Development Permit¹⁰. If the tract you're buying was recently split off a larger parcel outside a city, confirm it went through the county's platting process under the Subdivision Rules and Regulations, since minimum lot frontages and building setback lines are set by separate commissioners court orders¹. Typical property tax runs about 1.3% effectively, with a median bill near $3,259 a year, against a typical home value around $344,399⁸.