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

No general one. Texas counties can't require a residential building permit or adopt a general building code outside a short list of statutory exceptions, and Reeves County does not appear to meet them². One of those exceptions lets a county adopt its own fire code, but only if it has more than 250,000 residents or is adjacent to one that does, and even then only for commercial buildings, public buildings and multifamily dwellings of four or more units - Reeves County, with roughly 11,770 residents, is nowhere close^2,6. That said, Reeves County isn't a hands-off county: its Road & Bridge Department runs its own permit program covering driveways and culverts, utility lines placed in county rights-of-way, on-site sewage (septic) systems, manufactured-home rental communities and new subdivisions³. If your project touches any of those, you still need a county permit even though there's no permit for the house itself.

Reeves County's permits, regulations and policies are handled out of the Road & Bridge Department, reachable at 432-448-0724, with an online portal for applications³. Subdivision plats go through the County Engineer and the Commissioners Court, and a septic or development permit is not issued for a lot in an unrecorded subdivision until the plat is approved⁴. As of January 1, 2026, all original permit applications must be mailed to the county's Treasurer's Office at 1714 Schmidt Drive, Pecos, TX 79772, rather than dropped off in person, so plan for mailing time³. Septic (OSSF) applications go through the same department's Health Inspector, at 432-448-1193³. Call before you buy materials or start work: a driveway, culvert, utility line or septic system installed without the matching county permit is exactly the kind of thing this office is set up to catch.

No. Reeves County has no published zoning ordinance in unincorporated areas, and Texas's county zoning statute grants that power only to a short, specific list of counties tied to particular geographic features - Reeves County isn't one of them¹. Because the county has no zoning districts, it sets no minimum dwelling size, no minimum lot size, no setbacks, no lot-coverage limit and no building-height limit, and doesn't restrict RVs, tiny homes, manufactured homes or accessory dwellings as a land use through zoning¹. That's a separate question from the county's driveway, utility, septic and subdivision permits above, which apply regardless of zoning³.

Septic systems in Reeves County are permitted locally: the county's own Health Inspector, working out of the Road & Bridge Department, is the TCEQ-authorized agent for on-site sewage facilities (OSSFs) here, rather than a TCEQ regional office^3,4. Statewide, a permit and approved plan are required to construct, alter, extend or repair an OSSF, though a single-family home on at least 10 acres can qualify for an exemption if a licensed site evaluator confirms no nuisance or groundwater risk, every part of the system sits at least 100 feet from the property line, and the home is the only dwelling on the tract⁷. Soils are the thing to plan around here: only about 22% of Reeves County's land has no severe limits for a conventional drain field, so get a site evaluation early and budget for an alternative system if yours comes back limited⁶. Installation is inspected either directly or through a maintenance provider's reporting, which can drop to every six months if the system uses qualifying electronic monitoring⁸. The county application requires a licensed site evaluator, and construction must not start before approval; the Authorization to Construct is valid for one year, and the single-family residential fee is $210⁹. Contact the county at least five working days before the inspection that must happen before the system is covered, and a Notice of Approval follows within seven calendar days⁹.

Reeves County's lack of zoning districts means county zoning doesn't restrict occupying an RV, tiny home or manufactured home on your own unincorporated land¹. Don't confuse that with the county's manufactured-home rental community regulations, which is a distinct permit process aimed at anyone operating a community of manufactured homes for rent, not at a single owner living on their own tract³. Whatever you place still needs to handle sewage through a permitted septic system or a connection to service, since that permit runs through the state regardless of zoning^7,9. If you're unsure which category your plans fall into, call the Road & Bridge Department before you move anything onto the land³.

1. Confirm your parcel is unincorporated Reeves County, not inside Pecos, Balmorhea or another town, since town rules differ from the county's³.
2. Call the Road & Bridge Department at 432-448-0724 to find out which of its permits (driveway/culvert, utility, subdivision) your project needs³.
3. If you're adding or changing a driveway or culvert, get that county permit before construction, separate from anything the state requires³.
4. Apply for an OSSF (septic) permit through the county Health Inspector, and ask up front whether your tract qualifies for the state's 10-acre exemption^3,7.
5. Mail your original application materials to the county Treasurer's Office at 1714 Schmidt Drive, Pecos, TX 79772, under the rule effective January 1, 2026³.
6. If your access is instead from a state highway, apply separately to the local TxDOT district office using Form 1058 before building the driveway¹⁰.

Soils: only about 22% of Reeves County has no severe limits for a conventional septic drain field, so a site evaluation before you close is worth the cost⁶. Climate: this is dry, hot West Texas rangeland, averaging just 11.3 inches of rain a year with 25.5% of years landing in severe drought, a 65.6°F average annual temperature, and a projected 63.9 days a year at or above 100°F by mid-century⁶. Access: driveways and culverts onto county roads need a Road & Bridge Department permit, and access from a state highway needs a separate TxDOT permit on top of that^3,10. Location: Reeves County sits about 84 miles from the nearest metro area at a population density of only 4.5 people per square mile, about as rural as it gets⁶. Taxes: the effective property tax rate runs about 1.2%, with a median bill near $1,343 a year⁶.