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

No: unincorporated Sterling County has no building or codes department, and its own website lists only elected offices like the County Judge, Commissioners Court, and Sheriff¹. Texas gives counties only narrow, specific building-permit powers, and the fire-code and residential-code options it does allow require a county population over 250,000 (or adjacent to one) for the fire code, or being within 50 miles of the international border or over a stated population for the optional residential code; Sterling County's population of about 1,397 falls well short of the fire-code threshold^6,7. Even in a county that has adopted the optional residential-construction standards, an individual who builds their own home and intends to live in it as a primary residence may qualify for a conditional exception from certain penalty provisions, though Sterling County's adoption of that subchapter was not confirmed on any official source⁸.

Sterling County has no building or zoning department, and its own office list names only the County Judge, Commissioners Court, County Attorney, County Clerk, County Treasurer, Tax Assessor/Collector, and Sheriff¹. For a septic permit, contact TCEQ's Region 8 office directly at 622 S Oakes, Ste K, San Angelo, TX 76903-7035, phone 325-655-9479⁴. For a water well, contact the Sterling County Underground Water Conservation District at P.O. Box 873, Sterling City, TX 76951, phone 325-378-2704⁹. For anything else county government handles, including roads, the County Judge's office at Box 819, Sterling City, TX 76951, phone 325-378-3481, is the place to start¹⁰.

Sterling County has no zoning ordinance and, as a general-law county, cannot adopt one for unincorporated land¹. Texas gives counties zoning power only for a short list of specific places named in state law, and Sterling County is not one of them². Because there is no county zoning ordinance, there is no minimum lot size, setback rule, height limit, or dwelling-size minimum, and RVs, tiny homes, manufactured homes, and accessory dwellings are unrestricted by county zoning².

Any on-site sewage facility (OSSF) in Sterling County needs a state permit before you build it³. Because Sterling County has no local authorized agent, TCEQ's Region 8 office in San Angelo is the permitting authority, confirmed by TCEQ's own county-lookup tool, which returns "Region 08 - San Angelo" as Sterling County's sole authorized agent⁴. If your tract is at least 10 acres, you may qualify for an exemption from the septic permit, but every condition has to be met: a licensed site evaluation, a single-family home as the only dwelling on the tract, no nuisance or groundwater pollution, every part of the system at least 100 feet from the property line, and effluent disposed of entirely on your own property³. After the permit is issued, the permitting authority must inspect the finished system: the installer gives at least five working days' notice, and a system that fails inspection cannot be used until it passes, while a system that qualifies for the 10-acre exemption needs no inspection¹¹. Soils here are tough for a conventional system: only about 6.5% of Sterling County's land is rated without severe limits for a drain field, so get a site evaluation before you count on the cheapest option⁶. Water wells work differently from septic: the Sterling County Underground Water Conservation District requires a preregistration Notice of Intent to Drill, filed at least five business days before drilling, for every new well, whether it turns out to be exempt or not, and a non-exempt permit runs for a five-year term before renewal⁵.

Unincorporated Sterling County has no zoning ordinance, so there is no county rule against living in an RV, tiny home, or manufactured home on your own land². That does not remove the septic requirement: whatever you live in, if it is not on a public sewer you still need a permitted OSSF, or you need to qualify for the 10-acre exemption, before you can legally use a toilet there³. A composting or waterless toilet is one option off the grid, and TCEQ has approved at least one composting toilet product, but an approved septic system is still required for all other wastewater unless the 10-acre exemption applies¹². A factory-built structure sold as "industrialized housing" (as opposed to an ordinary manufactured or mobile home) has to meet Texas's mandatory 2021-edition building codes regardless of county zoning¹³.

1. Confirm your OSSF plan with TCEQ Region 8 (622 S Oakes, Ste K, San Angelo, TX 76903-7035; 325-655-9479), or check whether your tract qualifies for the 10-acre exemption instead^3,4.
2. If you're drilling a well, file a Notice of Intent to Drill with the Sterling County Underground Water Conservation District (P.O. Box 873, Sterling City, TX 76951; 325-378-2704) at least five business days before drilling starts, whether or not you expect the well to be exempt^5,9.
3. If you don't qualify for the septic exemption, get a site evaluation; Sterling County's soils are rated without severe limits on only about 6.5% of the land, so this step matters⁶.
4. If your driveway will connect to a state highway, apply for a TxDOT access driveway permit on Form 1058 before you build it¹⁴.
5. Build: unincorporated Sterling County has no county building permit or inspection requirement, so no county sign-off is needed to start construction on an ordinary site-built home¹.
6. If anything else comes up that isn't covered by a named county office, call the County Judge's office at 325-378-3481¹⁰.

Septic: get a site evaluation before you buy, since only about 6.5% of the county's soils are rated without severe limits for a conventional drain field, and find out whether your tract is large enough (10 acres or more) to qualify for the state's septic-permit exemption^3,6. Water: any well, even one you expect to be exempt, needs a Notice of Intent to Drill filed with the Underground Water Conservation District at least five business days ahead⁵. Access: a driveway onto a state highway needs a TxDOT permit on Form 1058, and farm and ranch driveways are typically designed with a 25-foot return radius and a 20-foot throat width¹⁴. Subdividing: if you plan to divide a tract outside city limits, Texas requires a plat approved by the Sterling County Commissioners Court unless an exception applies, such as a qualifying agricultural tract or a division where every lot exceeds 10 acres¹⁵. Zoning: there is none in unincorporated Sterling County, and none is coming, since the county has no legal authority to adopt it^1,2. Climate: this is dry country, with about 20.1 inches of rain a year and severe drought in about 21.9% of years historically⁶. Taxes: Sterling County's effective property tax rate runs about 1.1%, with a median annual property tax bill around $1,535⁶. The county is very sparsely populated, at about 1.5 people per square mile, with the nearest metro area roughly 63 miles away⁶.