Zoning › Texas › Bell County › Killeen

Killeen, TX Zoning

20 districts. 9 overlays.

Overview

Worth knowing
  • v1 profile cited 'Chapter 25 — Zoning Ordinance' and a district roster of SF-1/SF-2/MF-1/MF-2/MF-3/C-1/C-2/C-3/I-1/I-2/PF. Authoritative killeentexas.gov sources establish Chapter 31 as the zoning chapter and a completely different roster (A, A-R1, SR-1, SR-2, R-1, SF-2, RM-1, RT-1, R-2, R-3, R-3F, R-3A, B-1, B-2, B-3, NBD, B-4, B-5, M-1, M-2). v1 was generic-Texas fabrication; >70% district roster change.
  • Killeen qualifies for TX SB 840 MF-by-right (pop ≥150k in county ≥300k). But Fort Cavazos AICUZ covers a meaningful slice of northern/eastern commercial-zoned parcels. Where SB 840 mandates MF and AICUZ prohibits residential (Clear Zone, APZ-I, DNL 70+), federal controls per FM-P — NOT a pure state preemption.
  • Killeen has TWO airports creating airspace overlays: (1) Skylark Field (ILE/KILE) — civilian-only municipal airport east of Killeen; (2) Killeen-Fort Hood Regional (GRK/KGRK) — joint-use facility located on Fort Cavazos (Robert Gray Army Airfield). GRK Part 77 surfaces largely coincide with Fort Cavazos AICUZ. Hazard zoning is administered via the Killeen/Harker Heights/Bell County Joint Airport Zoning Board ordinance, NOT Chapter 31.

+ 6 more in Quirks & notes

Districts

res_sf 6res_mf 5com 5ind 2ag 1spec 1
CodeNameCategory Min lotHeight CoverageFAR Du/acParking Setbacks F/S/R
AAgricultural Districtag—[1]—[2]————— / — / —
A-R1Agricultural Single-Family Residential Districtres_sf—[3]—————— / — / —
SR-1Suburban Residential Single-Family Residential Districtres_sf—[4]—————— / — / —
SR-2Suburban Residential Single-Family Districtres_sf—[5]—————— / — / —
R-1Single-Family Residential Districtres_sf6,000 sf[9]—————20[6] / 5[7] / 25[8]
SF-2Single-Family Residential Districtres_sf5,000 sf[13]—————20[10] / 5[11] / 20[12]
RM-1Residential Modular Home Single-Family Districtres_sf—[14]—————— / — / —
RT-1Residential Townhouse Single-Family Districtres_mf—[15]—————— / — / —
R-2Two-Family Residential Districtres_mf—[16]—————— / — / —
R-3Multifamily Residential Districtres_mf—[17]—————— / — / —
R-3FMultifamily Residential District (variant — Article IV Division 8A)res_mf—[18]—————— / — / —
R-3AMultifamily Apartment Residential Districtres_mf—[19]—————— / — / —
B-1Professional Business Districtcom——[20]————— / — / —
B-2Local Retail Districtspec——[21]————— / — / —
B-3Local Business Districtcom——[22]————— / — / —
NBDNeighborhood Business Districtcom——[23]————— / — / —
B-4Business Districtcom——[24]————— / — / —
B-5Business Districtcom——[25]————— / — / —
M-1Manufacturing Districtind——[26]————— / — / —
M-2Heavy Manufacturing Districtind——[27]————— / — / —

Confidence: confirmed partial under review not found

Overlays

AICUZ
Fort Cavazos (formerly Fort Hood) AICUZ (Air Installation Compatible Use Zone)
SPEC
Federal DoD AICUZ Program (DoDI 4165.57); coordinated via formal MOU with Fort Cavazos. Killeen Chapter 31 does NOT contain a §-anchored AICUZ overlay — application is via federal DoD recommendations and per-parcel land-use review, NOT via city zoning code.

Parcels within Fort Cavazos AICUZ boundary (Clear Zone, APZ-I, APZ-II, and DNL 65+ noise contours) extending south/east from installation boundary into northern/eastern Killeen city limits. Fort Cavazos installation is ~339 sq mi, adjacent to Killeen's north boundary.

FP
Floodplain Overlay (Chapter 12 — NOT Chapter 31)
SPEC
City of Killeen Code of Ordinances Chapter 12 — Flood Damage Prevention (NOT in Chapter 31 Zoning); adopts FEMA NFIP 44 CFR 60.3

Parcels within FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) — Zone A, AE, AO along Nolan Creek, South Nolan Creek, Little Nolan Creek, and tributary drainages

HOD
Historic Overlay District
SPEC
Chapter 31 Article IV Division 17 §§31-391 through 31-394 (and §31-401 Vacant Structures, per 2024 amendment) — VERBATIM TEXT RETRIEVED via Killeen city-hosted PDF

Properties within the historic district as designated in Killeen Code; downtown Killeen historic core; HOD boundary established by ordinance

AIRPORT_HAZARD
Killeen Municipal Airport Hazard Zoning Ordinance (Skylark Field ILE) — administered by Killeen/Harker Heights/Bell County Joint Airport Zoning Board
SPEC
Joint ordinance adopted by Killeen/Harker Heights/Bell County Joint Airport Zoning Board under Texas Local Government Code Ch 241 (Airport Zoning Act); separate from Chapter 31; cross-referenced in Harker Heights Code of Ordinances §§97.01-97.02 (amlegal); FAA 14 CFR Part 77

Parcels within Skylark Field (ILE/KILE) Part 77 imaginary surfaces. Skylark Field is the civilian-only municipal airport east of Killeen (elevation 848 ft, 5,495×100 ft runway). NOTE: Killeen-Fort Hood Regional Airport (GRK) is a joint-use facility located on Fort Cavazos (Robert Gray Army Airfield) — its Part 77 surfaces overlap Fort Cavazos AICUZ and are administered through military-civil coordination.

ENV
Environmental / Riparian Overlay
SPEC
Killeen Drainage Design Manual (Nov 2011) — channel freeboard, riparian habitat preservation; NOT a §-anchored Chapter 31 zoning overlay

Nolan Creek corridor and tributaries; waters of the US subject to Clean Water Act §404; grass-lined drainage channels per Drainage Design Manual

TOD
Transit-Oriented Development Overlay
tod
CBD
Downtown / CBD Form/Bulk Overlay
SPEC
CORRIDOR
Corridor / Highway Overlay
SPEC
AH_BONUS
Affordable Housing / Density Bonus Overlay
SPEC

State preemptions

Non-applicable laws (2)
Texas SB 840 (2025)under_review
Qualifying condition
Inputs: city.population=165,000 (Census PEP 2024-07-01 estimate for Killeen place 4840144); county.population=415,000 (Census PEP 2024-07-01 for Bell County); parcel.base_zone_category ∈ {com, office, retail, warehouse, mu} matches Killeen B-1/B-2/B-3/B-4/B-5/NBD/M-1 warehouse parcels. Vintage 2026-04-25. Threshold: population ≥150,000 AND county ≥300,000. Both met — Killeen QUALIFIES. | overlay_id=TX_SB840_MF_BY_RIGHT_2025 ; preempting_law=Texas SB 840 (88th Legislature); Tex. Local Gov't Code (as enacted) ; preempted_value=MF residential by-right on com/office/retail/warehouse/MU parcels; ≥36 du/ac minimum; ≥45 ft height minimum; ≤25 ft setback maximum; ≤1 space/unit parking maximum; ministerial (discretionary review waived) ; preempted_effective_date=2025-09-01 ; affected_districts=['B-1', 'B-2', 'B-3', 'B-4', 'B-5', 'NBD', 'M-1 (warehouse parcels)'] ; federal_conflict_check={'status': 'federal_state_conflict', 'federal_overlay_refs': 'Fort Cavazos AICUZ Clear Zone / APZ-I / DNL 70+', 'note': "Where a qualifying B-1/B-2/B-3/B-4/B-5/NBD parcel is within Fort Cavazos AICUZ Clear Zone or APZ-I or DNL 70+ noise zone, SB 840's MF mandate conflicts with federal AICUZ residential restriction. Federal AICUZ prevails per FM-P. Significant swath of northern/eastern Killeen commercial parcels are expected to fall under this federal_state_conflict."}
Texas SB 15 (2025) — Small-Lot Deregulationunder_review
Qualifying condition
Inputs: parcel.lot_area_sf ≤ 4,000 (predicate is per-parcel, not city-level). Vintage 2026-04-25. Threshold: lot ≤4,000 sf. Killeen has no city-level gate — preemption applies to any qualifying small lot in Killeen. | overlay_id=TX_SB15_SMALL_LOT_DEREGULATION_2025 ; preempting_law=Texas SB 15 (88th Legislature) ; preempted_value=City regulation of setbacks, parking, height, and FAR waived on lots ≤4,000 sf (city retains use and life-safety authority) ; preempted_effective_date=2025-09-01 ; affected_districts=['any district containing lots ≤4,000 sf'] ; federal_conflict_check={'status': 'federal_state_conflict_possible', 'federal_overlay_refs': 'Fort Cavazos AICUZ; FAA Part 77; Killeen Municipal Airport Hazard Zoning Ordinance', 'note': 'SB 15 height waiver on small lots intersects federal airport imaginary surfaces and the Joint Airport Zoning Board ordinance — federal/joint surface controls.'}

Adopted building codes

Home rule; major cities on 2024 IBC

IBC
2012 (state min)
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.

Amendment history

DateKindCitation
2023-10-06amendment effectivec§31-188 (R-1 area regulations) / c§31-195 (SF-2 area regulations) — Killeen Legistar Chapter 31 amendment ord. footer dated October 6, 2023 | status=confirmed | evidence_url=https://killeen.legistar.com/View.ashx?GUID=1945CCF9-62F2-4537-A1F8-1365A809E827&ID=12369000&M=F
1970-01-01supplement effectiveiso_missing=true | status=under_review | notes=Supplement date for full Municode publication not retrieved — municode SPA blocker; recent ord-level amendments confirmed via Legistar PDFs

Quirks & notes

  • v1 profile cited 'Chapter 25 — Zoning Ordinance' and a district roster of SF-1/SF-2/MF-1/MF-2/MF-3/C-1/C-2/C-3/I-1/I-2/PF. Authoritative killeentexas.gov sources establish Chapter 31 as the zoning chapter and a completely different roster (A, A-R1, SR-1, SR-2, R-1, SF-2, RM-1, RT-1, R-2, R-3, R-3F, R-3A, B-1, B-2, B-3, NBD, B-4, B-5, M-1, M-2). v1 was generic-Texas fabrication; >70% district roster change.
  • Killeen qualifies for TX SB 840 MF-by-right (pop ≥150k in county ≥300k). But Fort Cavazos AICUZ covers a meaningful slice of northern/eastern commercial-zoned parcels. Where SB 840 mandates MF and AICUZ prohibits residential (Clear Zone, APZ-I, DNL 70+), federal controls per FM-P — NOT a pure state preemption.
  • Killeen has TWO airports creating airspace overlays: (1) Skylark Field (ILE/KILE) — civilian-only municipal airport east of Killeen; (2) Killeen-Fort Hood Regional (GRK/KGRK) — joint-use facility located on Fort Cavazos (Robert Gray Army Airfield). GRK Part 77 surfaces largely coincide with Fort Cavazos AICUZ. Hazard zoning is administered via the Killeen/Harker Heights/Bell County Joint Airport Zoning Board ordinance, NOT Chapter 31.
  • Killeen's floodplain regulation lives in Chapter 12 (Flood Damage Prevention), NOT Chapter 31 (Zoning). Verbatim Drainage Design Manual quote: 'Finished floor elevations shall be a minimum of 2 feet above the applicable base flood elevation per City Ordinance Chapter 12, as amended.' This means floodplain is a parallel ordinance, not a zoning overlay. Killeen has 2-ft freeboard above NFIP minimum (which would help with CRS rating).
  • Killeen's airport-hazard zoning is administered by the Killeen/Harker Heights/Bell County Joint Airport Zoning Board under Tex. Local Gov't Code Ch. 241. Cross-referenced in sister-jurisdiction Harker Heights §§97.01-97.02 (amlegal). NOT in Chapter 31.
  • Historic Overlay District (HOD) IS a codified Chapter 31 overlay — Article IV Division 17 §§31-391 through 31-394 (with §31-401 vacant-structures provisions added in 2024 amendment). Has registration requirement, design oversight by Development Services, conditional-use-permit thresholds for business uses (§31-456 cross-reference), and §31-7 penalty anchor. Boundary set by separate establishment ordinance.
  • v1 referenced 'Leon River' as primary Killeen floodway. The Leon River is upstream of Killeen (feeds Belton Lake). Killeen's primary flood-prone corridors are the Nolan Creek system.
  • Killeen has TWO single-family districts at different intensity tiers: R-1 (6,000 sf min lot, 60-ft width, 100-ft depth) and SF-2 (5,000 sf min lot, 50-ft width, 100-ft depth, 1-ac project minimum, PUD required at 25 ac). SF-2 is a smaller-lot, larger-project-required district — suited to subdivision development. R-1 is the legacy individual-lot SF district.
  • On 2023-10-06 Killeen amended R-1 (§31-188) and SF-2 (§31-195) front yards from 25 ft to 20 ft, and R-1 side yard from 7 ft to 5 ft. Older code references (pre-2023) cite 25 ft front. Current effective values are 20 ft front, 5 ft side, 25/20 ft rear (R-1/SF-2).

Formulas

Definitions

height
Definition not retrieved — Chapter 31 §31-1 Short Title and definitions section not accessible due to Municode SPA / elaws 503 blockers; field under_review
lot_coverage
Definition not retrieved — under_review
density
Definition not retrieved — under_review
setback
Defined by yard depth/width per district; verbatim per c§31-188 / c§31-195 for R-1/SF-2 — measured from front street building line (front), street side (side), and easement centerline (rear, per Subdivision Ordinance cross-reference)

Massing explorer

Interactive 3D comparison across every district. Drag to orbit, scroll to zoom, use the slider to walk districts, and toggle applicable overlays in the right-side panel.

—
—
Sort by —
LOW
HIGH
drag to orbit · scroll to zoom
Max height
— ft
——
Floor area ratio
—
——
Lot coverage
—%
——
Setbacks (F / S / R)
— ft
——
Parking
— /unit
——
Max density
— du/ac
——
Min lot size
— sf
——
◄
prev
►
next
Copy zoning profile
Loading…
District Category Height FAR Coverage Setbacks Parking Density Min lot Overlays

Sources & references

Primary source
https://library.municode.com/tx/killeen/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH31ZO

Retrieval failure: municode_spa

Citations
  1. [1] c§31-158 (Article IV Division 2 — confirmed via elaws Google indexing of '§ 31-158. Area regulations., Division 2. DISTRICT A AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT')
  2. [2] c§31-158
  3. [3] c§31-800 et seq. (Article IV)
  4. [4] c§31-800 et seq.
  5. [5] c§31-800 et seq.
  6. [6] §31-188(a)(1)
  7. [7] §31-188(a)(2)
  8. [8] §31-188(a)(3)
  9. [9] §31-188(b)(1)
  10. [10] §31-195(b)(1)
  11. [11] §31-195(b)(2)
  12. [12] §31-195(b)(3)
  13. [13] §31-195(c)(1)
  14. [14] c§31-800 et seq. (Article IV Division for RM-1)
  15. [15] c§31-800 et seq.
  16. [16] c§31-800 et seq. (base R-2 area regulation §)
  17. [17] c§31-800 et seq. (Article IV Division 8 expected)
  18. [18] c§31-800 et seq. (Article IV Division 8A confirmed via elaws Google indexing of 'Division 8A. DISTRICT R-3F MULTIFAMILY RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT')
  19. [19] c§31-800 et seq.; PUD-trigger §31-256.9
  20. [20] c§31-800 et seq.
  21. [21] c§31-800 et seq.
  22. [22] c§31-800 et seq.
  23. [23] c§31-800 et seq.
  24. [24] c§31-800 et seq. (Article IV Division 13 expected, preceding B-5 in Division 14)
  25. [25] c§31-800 et seq. Article IV Division 14 (confirmed via elaws indexed URL coor_ch31_artiv_div14)
  26. [26] c§31-800 et seq.
  27. [27] c§31-800 et seq.

Research status

Publication gates

primary url presentpassedevidence=Municode canonical https://library.municode.com/tx/killeen/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH31ZO + 6 city-hosted fallbacks (killeentexas.gov + killeen.legistar.com + killeengis.killeentexas.gov)
no aggregator citedpassedevidence=scan clean — no zoneomics/steadily/siteplanguide/sitedesignguide/siteplancreator/propwire/zonara/unzoned cited in confirmed/partial values
confidence tags full formpassedevidence=R-1 and SF-2 carry full {v,c,status} short-form citations with §31-188/§31-195 anchors and Legistar PDF evidence URLs; HOD overlay parameters carry {v,c,status} with §31-393/§31-394 anchors; floodplain freeboard carries {v,c,status} with Drainage Design Manual citation. SB 840 / SB 15 use confirmed long-form {law, qualifying_condition_checked, preempting_law, preempted_value, preempted_effective_date} structure.
overlays have parameters trigger confidencepassedevidence=AICUZ (federal_state_conflict + DoDI 4165.57 cited; AICUZ confirmed as non-Chapter-31, federal-program-only), FP (Chapter 12 anchor + 2-ft freeboard verbatim), HOD (8 parameters with §-anchors), AIRPORT_HAZARD (5 parameters with Joint Board cite), ENV (Drainage Design Manual cite). All have parameters+trigger+status+citation. TOD/CBD/CORRIDOR/AH_BONUS are correctly not_found with search_performed.
preempt section city specificpassedevidence=2 laws with city-specific qualifying_condition_checked (SB 840: population 165k Census PEP 2024 ≥150k threshold + Bell County 415k ≥300k threshold; SB 15: per-parcel ≤4,000 sf predicate)

Data quality

68%completeness24 confirmed19 partial4 not found
Documented gaps
  • Per-district dimensional tables for A-R1, SR-1, SR-2, RM-1, RT-1, R-2 (base), R-3 (base), R-3F, R-3A (base, PUD trigger known), B-1, B-2, B-3, NBD, B-4, B-5, M-1, M-2 — Municode SPA + elaws 503 still block; would require contacting Killeen Planning Dept (254-501-7631) or unblocked Municode access
  • AICUZ overlay confirmed as NOT in Chapter 31 — application is via federal DoD program
  • Airport hazard ordinance text — separate joint ordinance, not in Chapter 31 hosting

Known issues

status:solidpriority:mediumcohort:remaining-dimensional-blockedblocker:municode-spa-elaws-503-for-non-r1-sf2-districts

Other cities in this state

Nearest-alphabetical profiles. Click through to compare zoning patterns side-by-side.

AllenCarrolltonDentonGarlandLaredoMansfieldNew BraunfelsPflugerville