Self storage construction in the Austin region

Each row is the city's own code, read at the code's own sections, with the section numbers and the date. Each code names the use differently: convenience storage in Austin, self storage indoor and outdoor in Georgetown, self storage in San Marcos, self-service storage in Round Rock.

The zoning and special use permit guide sets these four codes beside the other nine read for this site, and the self storage construction cost guide prices the building once the land clears.

Austin (Travis County)

Austin's Land Development Code calls self storage "convenience storage" and defines it as storage of personal effects and household goods in enclosed areas with individual access, including mini-warehouses. Under the use table in Section 25-2-491 it is permitted in the CS, CS-1, CH, IP, MI and LI base districts, a conditional use in W/LO, and not permitted in every residential, office and other commercial base district (including GR, LR, CBD and DMU), DR, AV and AG. For R&D, PUD and P districts the table gives only an endnote pointing to other sections.

SourceCity of Austin Land Development Code, Title 25, Chapter 25-2, Sections 25-2-4 (Commercial Uses Described) and 25-2-491 (Permitted, Conditional, and Prohibited Uses), read 2026-09-23.

Georgetown (Williamson County)

Georgetown's Unified Development Code splits self storage into "Self Storage, Indoor" and "Self Storage, Outdoor" in Table 5.04.010. Indoor self storage is permitted by right in the Industrial (IN) district and needs a City Council Special Use Permit in the Local Commercial (C-1) and General Commercial (C-3) districts. Outdoor self storage is allowed with limitations in IN and needs a Special Use Permit in C-3. Both carry the limitations in 5.04.020.Q and are marked not allowed in every other district column of the table except Mixed Use (MU), whose column is blank. The Mixed Use District has its own use table, Figure 4.09.051, which lists a single "Self Storage" use as allowed with limitations in the Town Center (TC) and Urban Village (UV) sub-districts and not allowed in UN, GN and HC; its note 10 says self storage may be integrated into a multi-story building with no more than a 40-foot entry lobby along a street frontage, configured as a storefront retail operation to the greatest practical extent.

SourceCity of Georgetown Unified Development Code, Sections 5.01.020, 5.04.010 (Table 5.04.010 Commercial Uses) and 16.02 (Definitions), read 2026-09-23.

San Marcos (Hays County)

San Marcos's Development Code Table 5.1 (Land Use Matrix) lists one "Self Storage" use and marks it conditional (C) only in the Commercial (CM) district; it is not permitted in every other current district, including Heavy Commercial (HC), Light Industrial (LI), Heavy Industrial (HI) and Business Park (BP). In the legacy districts kept in Chapter 9, "Mini-Warehouse/Self Storage Units" is conditional in the Mixed Use (MU) and General Commercial (GC) districts and not allowed in the others. No new legacy district may be mapped and existing ones cannot be expanded.

SourceCity of San Marcos Development Code (as amended by Ord. No. 2026-08, effective June 16, 2026), Table 5.1 Land Use Matrix (page 5:9), Table 2.3, Table 4.8, Section 9.3.1.1 and Table 9.1 (pages 9:13 to 9:16), read 2026-09-23.

Round Rock (Williamson County)

Round Rock's zoning code calls the use "self-service storage" (storage of personal and household goods in enclosed areas with individual access, typically mini-warehouses). It is permitted with supplementary use standards (P/S) in the C-1 General Commercial, LI Light Industrial and I Industrial districts, and prohibited in C-1a, C-2, OF-1, OF-2, BP and MI. It is also excluded from the MU-G mixed-use district and from the CT (Chisholm Trail) overlay. No special exception or conditional approval is listed for it.

SourceCity of Round Rock Code of Ordinances, Part III Zoning and Development Code, Sections 1-50, 2-35, 2-48, 2-75 and 2-87, read 2026-09-23.

Austin (Travis County), TOD and ETOD

Two Austin overlay rules prohibit convenience storage even where the base district would allow it. Section 25-2-653(D) lists convenience storage among the prohibited uses on property with ETOD (equitable transit-oriented development) combining district zoning. Section 25-2-766.12(A) prohibits convenience storage in a TOD (transit oriented development) district, under initial district regulations that apply until council adopts a station area plan.

SourceCity of Austin Land Development Code, Sections 25-2-653 (ETOD Combining District Regulations), 25-2-766.11 and 25-2-766.12 (TOD Initial District Regulations), read 2026-09-23.

Georgetown and San Marcos define outdoor self storage to include boats and RVs, so it falls under the storage row, with Georgetown allowing it in fewer districts than indoor storage. Austin's code has no use named boat or RV storage. Its Recreational Equipment Maintenance and Storage use, whose definition includes watercraft, trailers and motor-homes, is permitted only in CR, while vehicle storage is permitted in CS, CS-1, CH, MI and LI; the code does not say which use an outdoor boat and RV storage facility falls under.

Austin (Travis County)

Austin's Land Development Code has no use named boat storage or RV storage, but it does list a "Recreational Equipment Maintenance and Storage" use, defined as the use of a site for the maintenance, service, or storage of sports equipment, watercraft, watercraft motors, trailers, motorcycles, or motor-homes. The Section 25-2-491 use table permits that use only in the CR (Commercial Recreation) base district (R&D, PUD and P carry endnote references) and not in any other base district, and ETOD combining district zoning prohibits it. Two other listed uses are related: vehicle storage (long term storage for vehicles, including vehicles towed from private parking areas and impound yards), which the table permits in CS, CS-1, CH, MI and LI and makes conditional in CBD and DMU, and marina, whose definition includes wet or dry storage of seaworthy watercraft for profit, which the table permits only in CR.

SourceCity of Austin Land Development Code, Sections 25-2-4 and 25-2-491, read 2026-09-23.

Georgetown (Williamson County)

Georgetown covers boat and RV storage through its "Self Storage, Outdoor" use, defined as a fenced, access-controlled area with individual spaces, not fully enclosed, leased for storing motor vehicles, trailers, boats and similar items. Table 5.04.010 allows it with limitations in the Industrial (IN) district and by City Council Special Use Permit in General Commercial (C-3); it is not allowed elsewhere in the table. The code separately defines vehicle storage as long-term storage (over 72 hours) of vehicles, typically tow-aways or impound yards.

SourceCity of Georgetown Unified Development Code, Sections 5.04.010 and 16.02, read 2026-09-23.

San Marcos (Hays County)

San Marcos defines "Self Storage, Outdoor" as individual storage spaces, not fully enclosed, leased for storing motor vehicles, trailers, boats and similar items, so boat and RV storage falls inside the self storage use. Table 5.1 has a single Self Storage row covering both indoor and outdoor, conditional only in the Commercial (CM) district. The code separately says general outdoor storage is accessory only and not a primary use, pointing to Section 5.1.7.7 for self storage.

SourceCity of San Marcos Development Code (Ord. No. 2026-08, effective June 16, 2026), Section 5.1.7.7 (page 5:35) and the accessory Outdoor Storage provision in Chapter 5, read 2026-09-23.

Georgetown's City Council decides a special use permit after a commission recommendation. San Marcos's Planning and Zoning Commission decides a conditional use permit, with an appeal to council; confirm the hearing body with city staff before filing. Austin sends a conditional use site plan to its land use commission, with an appeal to council, and its fee is the highest read for this site. Round Rock needs no use permit where storage is permitted.

Two of the four cities limit what kind of storage building goes in a commercial district: Round Rock allows only multistory, interior-access storage in C-1, and Georgetown requires climate-controlled, interior-hallway storage in C-1.

Georgetown (Williamson County)

Georgetown's UDC Section 5.04.020.Q sets standards for indoor and outdoor self storage. Facilities are storage only (an accessory leasing office, accessory retail and one security residence allowed), indoor facilities must operate fully inside a building, and indoor facilities in C-1 must be climate controlled and reached only from shared interior hallways. Bay doors cannot face a public street unless set back at least 40 feet, gated sites need at least 60 feet of driveway before the gate, chain-link fencing is barred from front and street setbacks, and outdoor storage needs paving, no wrecked or inoperable vehicles, and an eight-foot masonry screening wall along any public right-of-way.

SourceCity of Georgetown Unified Development Code, Section 5.04.020 (Commercial Use Limitations), subsection Q, read 2026-09-23.

San Marcos (Hays County)

San Marcos Section 5.1.7.7.B limits self storage sites to storage plus the leasing office, bans inoperable vehicles unless all fluids are drained, bars outdoor self storage from required setbacks, and requires a Type A/B transitional protective yard wherever the site adjoins any district other than HI or HC.

SourceCity of San Marcos Development Code (Ord. No. 2026-08, effective June 16, 2026), Section 5.1.7.7 Self Storage (page 5:35), read 2026-09-23.

Round Rock (Williamson County)

Round Rock Section 2-91(jj) allows only multi-story, interior-access self-service storage in C-1, with no exterior roll-up unit doors. Units are storage only, site lighting cannot glare onto adjacent residential lots, each unit gets at most one 20-amp, 110-volt circuit, and a caretaker residence is allowed only in LI and I. LI and I facilities on a designated arterial need a fully landscaped street yard at least 25 feet deep with no parking, masonry walls or fences facing the street, full enclosure, and any RV, boat or trailer storage kept out of the street yard behind a building wall or eight-foot fence.

SourceCity of Round Rock Code of Ordinances, Sec. 2-91 (Supplementary use standards), subsection (jj) Self-service storage, read 2026-09-23.

Austin (Travis County), use standards

Austin's Land Development Code prints no use-specific standards section for convenience storage. The commercial-use requirements in Article 4, Division 2 of Chapter 25-2 (Sections 25-2-801 to 25-2-820) cover other uses but have no convenience storage section.

SourceAustin's use standards were read; none is written for convenience storage. City of Austin Land Development Code, Chapter 25-2 Subchapter C Article 4 (Additional Requirements for Certain Uses), read 2026-09-23.

Texas counties have no general zoning power; Chapter 231 allows county zoning only in named areas. Travis County requires a Commercial Site Plan permit for commercial development outside city limits, with a sealed site plan and drainage report. Williamson County says it has no zoning and names no county building permit, and its Fire Marshal reviews and permits commercial construction under the International Fire Code.

Hays County's own permit pages were not read for this site. Ask the county before relying on anything for land outside a city there.

Travis County

Outside city limits, Travis County Development Services issues the permits for all development, and the county says every development there needs one. A commercial project with no dwelling applies online for a Commercial Site Plan permit under the "Development (Non-Residential)" type. What it asks for includes a site plan carrying a Texas-licensed engineer's seal, a sealed engineering and drainage report, site plan approval from the Travis County Fire Marshal, traffic generation figures (with a Traffic Impact Analysis when the project generates more than 1,000 vehicle trips a day), and drainage design to the City of Austin Drainage Criteria Manual. Once approved, the permit is posted and a pre-construction meeting is held.

SourceTravis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services pages: Development Services, read 2026-09-23.

Williamson County

Asked "Do I need a building permit?", Williamson County's own FAQ names no county building permit. It points owners to the Road and Bridge Division for a Certification of Compliance, which the county says checks the property against the floodplain, and to a driveway permit when a driveway is being built. The county says it has no zoning regulations, no power to zone or to issue certificates of occupancy, and no adopted residential building code standards for unincorporated land. The FAQ adds that permits may also be required by the health district, TCEQ, emergency services districts, and cities in their ETJ.

SourceWilliamson County, Texas, Frequently Asked Questions, Infrastructure - Developers category, read 2026-09-23.

Williamson County

In unincorporated Williamson County, the county Fire Marshal is the authority having jurisdiction for commercial buildings and does the plan review for the construction itself, for fire alarms, and for fire protection systems. Since November 17, 2020, unincorporated areas have used the 2018 International Fire Code as locally amended, together with the Williamson County Fire Code, which reaches public buildings and commercial establishments. The office's process runs through non-structural architectural plan review, fire protection plan review, permits for the development and its fire systems, and inspections. Plans covering 5,000 square feet or more must carry the seal of a Texas-licensed architect or engineer.

SourceWilliamson County, Texas, Fire Marshal, Construction Permits page, read 2026-09-23.

SourceChapter 231 was read; it grants counties no general zoning power. Texas Legislature, Local Government Code Chapter 231 (all subchapters A through M read), read 2026-09-23.

Travis, Williamson and Hays all appear on 30 TAC 213's list of Edwards counties. The contributing zone is the area upstream of the recharge zone, generally north and northwest of it; the rule places it within Hays and Travis Counties except areas draining to the Colorado River above a point 1.3 miles upstream of Tom Miller Dam, and within Williamson County except areas draining to the Lampasas River above the Stillhouse Hollow dam. The recharge zone comes from TCEQ's official maps.

The Texas Water Development Board notes that San Marcos Springs, fed by the aquifer, is in Hays County. The aquifer and stormwater guide has the plan types, fees and review clock.

SourcesTexas Administrative Code, 30 TAC 213, Subchapter A title and Sec. 213.3(8), read 2026-09-23; Texas Administrative Code, 30 TAC 213, Subchapter B, Sec. 213.22(2), read 2026-09-23; Texas Water Development Board, Edwards (Balcones Fault Zone) Aquifer page, read 2026-09-23.

All three counties are in TxDOT's Austin District, which takes driveway permit applications for state highways. Lake Travis is one of this region's reservoirs. Much land near it is outside city limits, where Chapter 231 allows county zoning only in named areas that include certain lakes, so ask the county whether a special provision reaches it.

SourcesTexas Department of Transportation, Austin District page, read 2026-09-23; Texas Department of Transportation, Access Management Manual, Chapter 2, Section 4: Driveway Permits, Design, and Materials, Permits, read 2026-09-23; Chapter 231 was read; it grants counties no general zoning power. Texas Legislature, Local Government Code Chapter 231 (all subchapters A through M read), read 2026-09-23.