Overview
Code type
hybrid-pd
Naming convention
mixed
CD-N (Character District; higher N = more intense), ND-N (Neighborhood Density; higher N = denser), SF-N (Single-Family; N = lot size in thousand sf; SF-6 = 6,000 sf min), GC (General Commercial §4.2.2.7), P (Public). Hybrid reflects form-based adoption in ORD-2025-01 overlaying conventional SF/commercial frame. | naming_convention_raw=character-prefixed-plus-traditional ; sub_flags_raw=[form-based-hybrid, edwards-aquifer-esa-driver, recent-rewrite]
Worth knowing
- Character-based zoning nomenclature: San Marcos uses CD-/ND- prefix system (CD-3 through CD-5D, ND-3 through ND-4M) alongside conventional SF-6 and GC — form-based hybrid unique among TX cities researched; adopted in ORD-2025-01.
- ESA compliance as zoning driver (CRITICAL): Development Code structured around Edwards Aquifer Habitat Conservation Plan (EAHCP) under ESA Section 10 permit — regulatory constraints unusual for TX municipalities this size; protects fountain darter, Texas wild rice, San Marcos salamander, Texas blind salamander.
- Development Transfer (DT) at §4.2.7.1: DTG sending sites over Edwards Aquifer/watershed/floodplain; DTR receiving sites accept transferred density, impervious cover, or non-residential floor area — market-based conservation tool unique within TX zoning.
+ 6 more in Quirks & notes
Districts
mu 4res_sf 1com 1
| Code | Name | Category | Min lot | Height | Coverage | FAR | Du/ac | Parking | Setbacks F/S/R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SF-6 | Single-Family District | res_sf | 6,000 sf[4] | 35 ft[5] | — | — | — | — | 25[1] / 5[2] / 20[3] |
| CD-3 | Character District 3 (Neighborhood) | mu | — | 35 ft[6] | — | — | — | — | — / — / — |
| CD-5 | Character District 5 — Mixed-use Downtown Core | mu | — | 65 ft[10] | 0.8[11] | — | — | — | 10[7] / 0[8] / 10[9] |
| CD-5D | Character District 5 Downtown | mu | — | 65 ft[15] | 0.8[16] | — | — | — | 10[12] / 0[13] / 10[14] |
| ND-4M | Neighborhood District 4 Mixed-use | mu | — | 45 ft[20] | 0.7[21] | — | — | — | 10[17] / 5[18] / 10[19] |
| GC | General Commercial | com | — | 50 ft[22] | — | — | — | — | — / — / — |
Confidence: confirmed partial under review not found
Overlays
DT
Development Transfer Overlay (Edwards Aquifer)
DTDTG (Development Transfer Granting) sending sites overlay land over Edwards Aquifer, watershed protection zones, buffers, floodplains, or other significant environmental land; DTR (Development Transfer Receiving) sites receive transferred development.
| transferable_attributes | residential density, impervious cover, non-residential floor area[23] |
|---|---|
| inter_jurisdictional_transfers | permitted from/to ETJ sites per annexation or development agreement[24] |
| coordination | EAHCP compliance; Texas State University research (Meadows Center, EARDC) |
| mechanism | Market-based conservation tool; redirects development away from sensitive aquifer areas |
FP
Floodplain Regulations
FPFEMA Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA); San Marcos River and Blanco River corridors.
| compensatory_storage_required | no net loss of floodplain storage in SFHA; lost volume offset by excavation or compensatory measures[25] |
|---|---|
| article | Ch. 39 Art. 3 Floodplain Reclamation Standards[26] |
| coordination | FEMA NFIP; stormwater management integration |
SMRC
San Marcos River Corridor / EAHCP
ENVSan Marcos River and associated springs corridor (Aquarena Springs area); habitat for ESA-listed species.
| protected_species | ['fountain darter', 'Texas wild rice', 'San Marcos salamander', 'Texas blind salamander'][27] |
|---|---|
| coordination | EAHCP; Texas State University Meadows Center + EARDC[28] |
| municipal_linkage | Aquarena Springs = city water supply — direct ESA–utility linkage |
HDO
Historic Downtown Overlay
HPDowntown character district zones (CD-5, CD-5D).
| design_standards | Design Manual for Historic Guidelines; build-to requirements; facade standards |
|---|---|
| referenced_documents | Design Manual (Jan 25, 2025) — Downtown Design Guidelines, Historic Guidelines, Parklets, Sidewalk Cafes, Preferred Plant List[29] |
TSU
Texas State University Proximity Overlay
INSAreas adjacent to and supporting Texas State University campus.
| mixed_use_districts | ND-4M (Neighborhood District 4 Mixed-use) |
|---|---|
| coordination | Texas State University master plan |
State preemptions
TX-SB-15applies
Qualifying condition
SB 15 applies to lots ≤4,000 sf statewide (no population gate). San Marcos's SF-6 base residential lot is 6,000 sf per §4.2.1.5 — SB 15 engages primarily any future small-lot subdivision product (ND-3 and denser, character districts) where individual lots fall to 4,000 sf or below. | title=SB 15 — Small-Lot Deregulation (2025) ; effect_on_city=On any qualifying ≤4,000 sf lot in San Marcos the city cannot impose parking, setback, height, or bulk regulations tighter than SB 15's ceilings. Use-regulations and life-safety remain city authority.
TX-HB-2127applies
Qualifying condition
HB 2127 field preemption applies to all TX home-rule cities including San Marcos (home-rule charter city in Hays County). Travis County District Court issued partial injunction August 2023 (cause D-1-GN-23-004260); appeals ongoing. Core housing-code / building-code authority preserved via express carve-out. | title=HB 2127 — Field Preemption 'Death Star' (2023) ; effect_on_city=Limits San Marcos's authority in preempted fields (labor, natural resources, business, some property). Zoning authority not directly preempted, but regulations bordering preempted fields (e.g., STR business-license restrictions layered into zoning) face litigation risk.
TX-HB-3699applies
Qualifying condition
HB 3699 preempts local regulation of cottage-food residential kitchens statewide; no population gate. | title=HB 3699 — Cottage Food Residential Kitchen Preemption (2023) ; effect_on_city=San Marcos cannot condition residential home-kitchen cottage-food operations on zoning, permit, or special-use review. Integrates with SF-6 / character / neighborhood districts that allow residential use.
SB 840eligible
Note
City pop 67,553 (2020 decennial) / ~76,918 (2024 PEP) FAILS 150k city prong. Hays County pop 241,067 (2020) / ~292,029 (2024 PEP) FAILS 300k county prong. BOTH prongs fail at both vintages; SB 840 does not apply.
Non-applicable laws (2)
TX-SB-840under_review
Qualifying condition
City pop 67,553 (2020 decennial Census, vintage 2020-04-01) and ~76,918 (2024 Census Vintage 2024 PEP) — BOTH below 150,000 city-prong threshold. Hays County pop 241,067 (2020 decennial) and ~292,029 (2024 PEP) — BOTH below 300,000 county-prong threshold. Either prong failure defeats applicability; BOTH fail here. Note: the TX state-preemption roster erroneously lists San Marcos under 'Travis/Williamson counties' — San Marcos is in Hays County; applicability is nonetheless determined by primary Census arithmetic per INVARIANTS FM-9. | title=SB 840 — Multifamily By-Right (2025) ; effect_on_city=SB 840 does not override San Marcos zoning for MF in C/O/R/W/MU zones; base ordinance dimensional standards (density, height, setbacks, parking) remain controlling. Re-check applicability if city crosses 150k AND Hays County crosses 300k in a future PEP vintage.
TX-ADU-NONEunder_review
Qualifying condition
Texas has no statewide ADU preemption as of April 2026. Local ADU rules govern. | title=No TX statewide ADU mandate ; effect_on_city=San Marcos ADU provisions (if any) in the Development Code govern — not preempted by state.
Adopted building codes
Home rule; major cities on 2024 IBC
Click a code label to open its state-by-state adoption atlas.
Quirks & notes
- Character-based zoning nomenclature: San Marcos uses CD-/ND- prefix system (CD-3 through CD-5D, ND-3 through ND-4M) alongside conventional SF-6 and GC — form-based hybrid unique among TX cities researched; adopted in ORD-2025-01.
- ESA compliance as zoning driver (CRITICAL): Development Code structured around Edwards Aquifer Habitat Conservation Plan (EAHCP) under ESA Section 10 permit — regulatory constraints unusual for TX municipalities this size; protects fountain darter, Texas wild rice, San Marcos salamander, Texas blind salamander.
- Development Transfer (DT) at §4.2.7.1: DTG sending sites over Edwards Aquifer/watershed/floodplain; DTR receiving sites accept transferred density, impervious cover, or non-residential floor area — market-based conservation tool unique within TX zoning.
- Floodplain citation is Chapter 39 (NOT Chapter 6 as v1 stated): SubPart A General Ordinances §39.49.2 compensatory storage. V1 chapter error corrected against live eLaws breadcrumb.
- TX SB 840 does NOT apply to San Marcos: city pop 67,553 (2020) / ~76,918 (2024) fails 150k prong; Hays County pop 241,067 (2020) / ~292,029 (2024) fails 300k prong — BOTH prongs fail. Useful teaching example for SB 840 arithmetic.
- Texas State University dominance: university operates Meadows Center and EARDC, giving academic institutions direct role in habitat monitoring that feeds back into zoning decisions.
- Outlet mall zoning: San Marcos Premium Outlets + Tanger Outlets in IH-35 corridor — major retail-tourism driver, unique intersection of commercial zoning with regional commercial influence.
- Brand-new Development Code: ORD-2025-01 effective Jan 25, 2025 — fresh rewrite following Vision SMTX Comp Plan (Oct 2024). Design Manual companion document covers Downtown/Historic Guidelines, Parklets, Sidewalk Cafes, Preferred Plant List.
- library.municode.com returns header-only to WebFetch (JS SPA); static §-addressable URLs at http://sanmarcos-tx.elaws.us/code/coor supply the breadcrumb confirmations used in this record.
Formulas
Definitions
- height
- Grade to highest point.
- lot_coverage
- Footprint / lot area.
- far
- GFA / lot area.
- du_ac
- Units per gross acre.
- setback_front
- Front lot line to building.
- setback_side
- Side lot line to building.
- setback_rear
- Rear lot line to building.
- parking
- Spaces per unit unless noted.
Capacity calculations
- max_footprint_sf
lot_area_sf * lot_coverage- max_gfa_sf
lot_area_sf * far- max_units
lot_area_sf / 43560 * du_ac
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.
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Parking
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Max density
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| District | Category | Height | FAR | Coverage | Setbacks | Parking | Density | Min lot | Overlays |
|---|
Sources & references
Primary source
Citations
- [1] §4.2.1.5
- [2] §4.2.1.5
- [3] §4.2.1.5
- [4] §4.2.1.5
- [5] §4.2.1.5
- [6] §4.2
- [7] i
- [8] i
- [9] i
- [10] §4.2
- [11] i
- [12] i
- [13] i
- [14] i
- [15] §4.2
- [16] i
- [17] i
- [18] i
- [19] i
- [20] §4.2
- [21] i
- [22] §4.2.2.7
- [23] §4.2.7.1
- [24] §4.2.7.1
- [25] §39.49.2
- [26] §39.49
- [27] EAHCP + ESA §10
- [28] EAHCP
- [29] Design Manual
Research status
Publication gates
| primary url present | passed | |
|---|---|---|
| no aggregator cited | passed | |
| confidence tags full form | passed | |
| overlays have parameters trigger confidence | passed | |
| preempt section city specific | passed |
Data quality
62%completeness14 confirmed14 partial10 inferred
Documented gaps
- Full Table 4.2-X dimensional standards (Municode SPA blocks live table retrieval)
- Exact historic overlay §-citation within Chapter 4
- SF-6 setbacks and height not retrieved as a live table (partial status)
- ND-3, ND-3.5, ND-4 dimensional standards (districts confirmed, values partial)
- Character District CD-3, CD-4 dimensional standards (districts confirmed, values partial)
Known issues
data:gaps-present
Verification
| last_verified_at | 2026-04-19T00:00:00Z |
|---|---|
| verifier_specialist | verification-pass |
| verifier_version | 1.0 |
| verification_result | passed |
| atomic_claims_checked | 22 |
| atomic_claims_passed | 22 |
| atomic_claims_failed | 0 |
| failed_claims | |
| narrative_ref | narratives/san-marcos-tx/san-marcos-tx-20260419.json |
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