How Texas reaches an RV and boat storage yard
Outside city limits, a Texas county has no say over whether a parcel becomes a storage yard: LGC § 232.101(b) withholds use regulation from the commissioners court [1]. What the county holds is the permit file. Montgomery County, around Lake Conroe, has no zoning regulations and issues no certificates of occupancy [7]; its gates are one development permit per canopy or building at $150 plus $0.015 per square foot, a sealed commercial drainage plan once covered area including paving exceeds 15,000 square feet, and a fire code permit that ends in the Fire Marshal's Certificate of Compliance [7, 8]. The fire code step runs on a statutory clock: under Local Government Code Chapter 233, Montgomery County approves or rejects fire code plans within 30 days, as the ESD 8 fire department states [9].
Two state programs reach every yard. TCEQ's construction general permit, TXR150000, took effect March 5, 2023 and expires March 5, 2028; coverage applies once construction disturbs an acre or more, a site of 1 to less than 5 acres is small construction and one of 5 acres or more is large [4, 5], and a large site files a $225 notice of intent [10]. Accessibility review is separate: TDLR registers a project estimated at $50,000 or more, and a Registered Accessibility Specialist reviews its construction documents (16 TAC 68.50) [11]; a local building official may require registration below that cost [11], which can reach a small office and restroom building on a storage site.
The RV and boat storage site plan hub carries the stall, canopy and fire lane geometry for the asset in general, the boat storage site plan hub the boat-only yard, and site plans in Texas the statewide seals, plat clock and county powers. This page is the Texas storage layer between them.
Where the parcel sits decides the rulebook
| Where the parcel sits | What decides the yard | Texas example |
|---|---|---|
| Unincorporated county | Permits, not hearings: structure permits, a drainage plan and the fire code [7, 8] | Montgomery County: no zoning, no certificates of occupancy, a permit per canopy or building [7, 8] |
| Unincorporated county, west of Houston | Chapter 232 platting, street, drainage and driveway standards, floodplain permits and the county fire code | Waller County: regulations adopted under Chapter 232, with the 2021 IFC as its fire code [12, 13] |
| City with no zoning ordinance | Engineering permits and city development standards | Conroe: a sealed engineering site plan, detention on tracts of 1 acre or more, asphalt or concrete parking [14] |
| Zoned small city | A zoning district that allows the use, or a rezoning or SUP with hearings | City of Montgomery: an SUP takes a four-fifths Council vote [15] |
| Zoned large city | The use table, often an SUP | Dallas: a mini-warehouse only by SUP in CR, RR, mixed use and multiple commercial districts (Sec. 51A-4.213(7)) [2] |
| City ETJ | Releasable by petition under SB 2038, in effect since Sept 1, 2023 [16]; until release, city platting applies, though a city may not regulate the use, height or size of a building in its ETJ, require a building permit or enforce its building code [17] | ETJ land near Conroe or Montgomery |
The ETJ row matters for storage tracts on the edge of Conroe and Montgomery. A release petition can come from a resident of the area or from the owners of a majority of its value, and once the petition is valid the city has to release the land at once [16]. If a city does not act on a valid release petition in time, the area is released by operation of law under Sec. 42.105(d), and released land cannot be put back into the ETJ unless the owner asks (Sec. 42.105(e)) [17]. The Montgomery County RV and boat storage model project works the county, Conroe and City of Montgomery paths through structure by structure, with the fee and design tables; the Houston metro page maps the same three jurisdictions.
City codes that shape a Texas storage yard
Dallas. The Dallas Development Code allows a mini-warehouse only by SUP in CR, RR, mixed use and multiple commercial districts, and only by SUP in central area districts (Sec. 51A-4.213(7)) [2]. A Dallas storage program with enclosed units is therefore drawn as an SUP exhibit from the first sheet, with the use's district in the site data table.
Grand Prairie. UDC Sections 10.4.3 and 10.5.1 require concrete paving for drive approaches, driveways, fire lanes, parking and storage surfaces, and a Type 3 screening fence around outside storage [3]. At a June 23, 2026 meeting the city reviewed heavy truck or equipment parking on an existing crushed concrete surface against those concrete paving rules [3]. In Grand Prairie a gravel storage yard is not an option the plan can offer [3].
Houston. The city has no use zoning; new construction in the city and its ETJ takes a development plat under Sec. 42-22 [18], so the plat review is where a storage yard's layout is read.
San Antonio. The city's adoption of IFC Appendix D accepts less than 26 ft of road width where a 25 ft fire lane serves the property [19], a local change to the width a yard's internal drives are drawn at.
Moratoria. Storage pauses have come from city councils elsewhere: Coos Bay, Oregon adopted Resolution 25-29 unanimously on Aug. 19, 2025, for up to 12 months, and Prattville, Alabama adopted a temporary moratorium on mini-warehouses and self storage on June 17, 2025, later extended until the Council ends it [20, 21]. A Texas city that wants to do the same works under HB 2559 (2025), effective Sept. 1, 2025, which sets a notice deadline of the 30th day before the hearing, a gap of at least 28 days between readings and a three-fourths vote to adopt [22].
Surface and drainage: what a Texas yard is built on
The surface decision moves detention, cost and permit risk, and Texas jurisdictions answer it differently.
| Jurisdiction | Surface or drainage rule | What it means for the yard |
|---|---|---|
| Montgomery County | Gravel and road base carry a runoff coefficient of 0.85 at 100% impervious, the same as concrete and asphalt (Drainage Criteria Manual, adopted August 26, 2025) [23]; a drainage plan once covered area including paving exceeds 15,000 square feet [8] | Gravel saves no detention volume |
| Conroe | Detention on any tract of 1 acre or more; asphalt or concrete parking [14] | A paved yard with a pond |
| Grand Prairie | Concrete for storage surfaces, driveways and fire lanes [3] | No gravel yard |
| Waller County | Zero net increase in runoff, never less than 0.55 ac-ft of detention per acre; a commercial runoff coefficient of 0.90; the coefficient method is not allowed once developed commercial area exceeds 5 acres [12] | A detention reserve sized from the first concept |
| San Antonio ETJ recharge zone | SAWS Category 3 caps impervious cover at 15% for commercial sites [24] | Paved and roofed area held under the cap |
In Montgomery County the paving choice is a cost and durability decision rather than a drainage one, because gravel already counts as pavement [23]. West of Houston in Waller County the 0.55 ac-ft per acre floor sets the detention reserve before stalls are counted [12]. The Waller County truck stop model project shows that county's drainage rules applied to a full site.
Fire access under Texas county codes
Texas counties adopt their own fire codes, and both counties in the record took Appendix D with them. Montgomery County enforces the 2024 IFC with Appendices B, C, D, H, I, J, L and P, effective May 14, 2025 [25]; Waller County enforces the 2021 IFC with all appendices, effective January 1, 2025 [13]. The Montgomery County Fire Marshal's guidelines form asks for a hydrant within 400 ft of the property or NFPA 1142 on-site water, such as a tank or a dry hydrant [26], so a rural yard's plan shows where that water sits.
The stall, canopy and fire lane tables are on the RV and boat storage hub; for an enclosed or condo program the self storage site plan hub covers the building side.
The Texas metros
| Metro | What governs a storage yard | Storage and growth record |
|---|---|---|
| Houston | Unzoned Montgomery County to the north and Waller County to the west; a development plat inside the city and its ETJ [7, 18] | The metro added 126,720 residents from July 2024 to July 2025 [27]; storage filings at Conroe and Cypress below |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | Dallas SUP for mini-warehouses; Grand Prairie concrete paving and screening [2, 3] | 8,477,157 residents on July 1, 2025, while Dallas County fell by 2,616 residents from 2024 to 2025 [27]; Fort Worth permitted 13,148 housing units in 2024, up from 10,060 [28] |
| Austin | Travis, Williamson and Hays are Edwards Aquifer counties under 30 TAC 213 [29] | Alfalfa RV and Boat Storage in Lago Vista, a canopy project: $1,400,000 for 47,000 SF, about $30 per SF, an owner estimate [30]; Williamson County reached 752,827 residents in 2025 from 609,059 in 2020 [27]; the City of Austin permitted 9,444 housing units in 2024, down from 13,684 [28] |
| San Antonio | SAWS impervious cover categories and the city's Appendix D change [24, 19] | 2,813,140 residents in 2025 [27] |
Texas numbers for the layout and the pro forma
Local and Texas figures sit beside the national benchmarks on the hub, and each carries its own label:
- Stalls near Lake Conroe. An operator listing near Conroe markets covered stalls of 14 x 30, 15 x 40 and 15 x 45 ft (operator listing, secondary; industry benchmark, not code) [31].
- Aisles for long rigs. A forum source puts the drive aisle for 50 ft rigs parked at 90 degrees at about 65 ft (forum, secondary; industry benchmark, not code) [32].
- Rents. Covered spaces in Texas rent for $80 to $180 per month and indoor spaces for $150 to $350 (secondary, undated market evidence) [6].
- Declared project costs, Houston market. Cornerstone RV and Boat Storage in Conroe filed $1,470,000 for 319,181 sf including paving and detention, $4.61 per sf of total area, an owner-reported estimate [33]. CY-TEX in Cypress, a mostly open project registered June 18, 2025, filed $600,000 for 70,000 SF, about $8.6 per SF, an owner estimate [34].
- Declared project costs, Austin market. Alfalfa's canopy project in Lago Vista sits at about $30 per SF, an owner estimate [30].
These are accessibility registrations with owner-reported costs, not land use approvals; they show where storage is being built and at what declared scope [33].
The storage facility dimensions and land guide gathers the wider benchmarks, and the post on site planning for RV and boat storage facilities in Texas covers the Texas market background.
State roads, county plats and the aquifer
A yard on a state road near Lake Conroe, such as SH 105, FM 1097 or FM 830, takes a TxDOT driveway access permit through the Houston District's online DAP system, on Form 1058 [35]. The application asks for a site plan of the entire development with driveway widths, radii and turning paths for the largest design vehicle [35], which for a storage yard is the longest motorhome or boat trailer it is built to hold; the district treats a driveway serving more than 20 vehicles a day as commercial [35]. On frontage roads at 50 mph or more, connections sit 425 ft apart one-way and 510 ft two-way (Access Management Manual Table 2-1) [36].
Around Dallas-Fort Worth, Collin, Denton, Tarrant, Ellis and Parker counties hold subdivision authority under Local Government Code Chapter 232, with county timelines in Sec. 232.0025 [37]. Storage sites in Medina, Bexar, Comal, Kinney, Uvalde, Hays, Travis or Williamson County fall under TCEQ's Edwards Aquifer program in 30 TAC Chapter 213, with a Water Pollution Abatement Plan over the recharge zone and a Contributing Zone Plan upstream [29], and TCEQ must approve regulated activities before soil is disturbed [38]. In San Antonio the aquifer protection site development plan shows scale, north point, floodplain preservation areas, recharge features, the erosion control plan and the impervious cover percentage (UDC Sec. 35-B105) [39], so a storage yard's paved and roofed area is counted on that sheet.
Seals and the handoff in Texas
Texas engineering rules set where the unsealed plan stops. Preliminary engineering documents may be released unsealed when marked as not to be used for construction, bidding or permit purposes and when they show the firm name and registration number (22 TAC 137.33(e)) [40], and that marking applies to electronic files as well [41]. The final version is sealed, signed and dated before release (137.33(f)), and the structural design of a metal storage building is PE-sealed for permit under the same rule [42]. An office or enclosed storage building that is a private commercial building not exceeding 2 stories or 20,000 sq ft is outside the architect requirement (Occupations Code 1051.606(a)(4)) [43].
| On the preliminary site plan | Added by the engineer or architect of record |
|---|---|
| Stall program by type, canopy rows and enclosed buildings, each as a separate structure | Structural design of canopies and metal buildings, PE-sealed |
| Gate, drive aisles, turning paths and fire lanes, with hydrant or on-site water location | Fire protection design and any stamped submittals the fire official asks for |
| Surface by area, impervious cover and the detention reserve | Drainage report and detention design |
| Site data table: jurisdiction and ETJ status, acreage, structures and square footage, impervious cover | Sealed civil set |
The preliminary site plan is the layout the engineer of record builds the sealed set on, and the sheet a developer takes to a lender, to a contractor for pricing and to a city hearing where one applies. Related plan types are industrial outdoor storage site plans for contractor and truck yards and marina site plans for a yard that adds a launch. To start a Texas storage site, send the parcel.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need zoning approval for RV and boat storage in an unincorporated Texas county?
No use approval: LGC 232.101(b) keeps the commissioners court out of use regulation [1]. In Montgomery County, which has no zoning and issues no certificates of occupancy, the gates are a permit for each canopy or building, a sealed drainage plan past 15,000 square feet of covered area and a fire code permit [7, 8].
Can a Texas storage yard be gravel instead of paving?
It depends on the jurisdiction. Montgomery County's drainage manual gives gravel and road base a runoff coefficient of 0.85 at 100% impervious, the same as concrete and asphalt [23]; Conroe requires asphalt or concrete parking [14]; Grand Prairie requires concrete for storage surfaces, driveways and fire lanes [3].
Can I build self storage by right in Dallas?
No. Dallas allows a mini-warehouse only by SUP, in CR, RR, mixed use and multiple commercial districts, and only by SUP in central area districts (Sec. 51A-4.213(7)) [2].
Which fire code applies to a storage yard in a Texas county?
When does a Texas storage site need TCEQ stormwater coverage?
How big are covered RV stalls near Lake Conroe?
What do covered RV spaces rent for in Texas?
As secondary, undated market evidence: $80 to $180 per month for covered spaces and $150 to $350 for indoor spaces [6].
Can storage land near Conroe or Montgomery leave a city's ETJ?
Sources
- 1)Local Government Code § 232.101(b), county regulatory authority (statute text quoted via millercreekrvpark.com, secondary), Texas Legislature. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 2)Dallas Development Code Sec. 51A-4.213, Wholesale, Distribution, and Storage Uses, City of Dallas, Texas (American Legal Publishing). Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 3)City of Grand Prairie communication, meeting date June 23, 2026 (UDC Sections 10.4.3 and 10.5.1), City of Grand Prairie, Texas. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 4)Stormwater General Permit for Construction Activities (TXR150000), Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 5)Stormwater TPDES Construction General Permit (CGP, TXR150000) Overview, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 6)Texas RV Storage: Where to Park and How Much It Costs, findboatstorage.com (secondary). Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 7)Codes, Zoning and Occupancy letter (revised November 2, 2015), Montgomery County, Texas, Permit Department. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- 8)Development Permit Procedures, Commercial Structure packet, Montgomery County, Texas. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 9)Permits and Inspections, South Montgomery County Fire Department (ESD 8). Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 10)Stormwater: construction activities assistance, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- 11)Elimination of Architectural Barriers at a glance, Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (via Issuu). Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 12)Subdivision and Development Regulations (effective March 15, 2021, amended December 6, 2023), Waller County, Texas. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 13)Fire Marshal, Waller County, Texas. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 14)Application for a Commercial Development Plan Permit and checklist (May 28, 2025), City of Conroe, Texas. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 15)Planning and Zoning Commission agenda report, July 2, 2024 (Secs. 98-27 and 98-88), City of Montgomery, Texas. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 16)Bill analysis, S.B. 2038 (88R), Senate Research Center, Texas Legislature. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 17)Elliott v. City of College Station, No. 23-0767, Supreme Court of Texas. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- 18)Approval of a development plat, Houston Permitting Center. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 19)San Antonio Fire Code 2021, Appendix D: Fire Apparatus Access Roads (via UpCodes, secondary), City of San Antonio, Texas. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 20)New Self-Storage Facility Moratorium (Resolution 25-29), City of Coos Bay, Oregon. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 21)Ordinance to Extend the Temporary Moratorium on Mini-Warehouses and Self-Storage Facilities, City of Prattville, Alabama. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 22)H.B. 2559 (2025), enrolled bill text, Texas Legislature.
- 23)Drainage Criteria Manual (adopted August 26, 2025), Montgomery County, Texas. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 24)Aquifer Protection Ordinance, San Antonio Water System. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 25)Montgomery County Fire Code (2024 IFC, Appendices B, C, D, H, I, J, L, P), Montgomery County, Texas. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 26)Guidelines for Fire Code Permitting form, Montgomery County Fire Marshal's Office. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 27)Slow Growth Impacts Nation's Largest Counties Hardest (Census release CB26-56), US Census Bureau. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 28)2024 Annual Building Permits highlights, US Census Bureau. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 29)Commission work session marked agenda (Edwards Aquifer rules, 30 TAC Chapter 213), Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 30)TDLR TABS2023022296, Alfalfa RV and Boat Storage (Lago Vista), Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 31)Conroe Lakeside RV and Boat Storage (member listing), Conroe/Lake Conroe Chamber (operator listing, secondary). Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 32)RV/Boat Storage Spaces/Acre and Construction Costs (forum thread), Self-Storage Talk (secondary). Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 33)TDLR TABS2024016817, Cornerstone RV and Boat Storage (Conroe), Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 34)TDLR TABS2025021589, CY-TEX (Cypress), Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 35)Houston District Driveway Access Permit application checklists, Texas Department of Transportation, Houston District. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 36)Access Management Manual, Chapter 2, Section 3: Frontage Roads (Table 2-1), Texas Department of Transportation. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 37)2026 County Subdivision Handbook, Texas Association of Counties. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 38)Edwards Aquifer Protection Plans, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 39)San Antonio Unified Development Code § 35-B105, ERZD Documentation (via elaws.us), City of San Antonio, Texas. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 40)22 TAC § 137.33, Sealing Procedures (rule text via Cornell LII, secondary), Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 41)Policy advisory opinion response EAOR45, Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 42)Policy advisory opinion response EAOR52, Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Accessed 2026-10-10.
- 43)When to Engage an Architect or Excepted Engineer (flow chart, Occupations Code 1051.606), City of Abilene, Texas. Accessed 2026-10-10.