Austin right-of-way reservation and dedication: what the city can require

Last verified August 6, 2026 against the Austin Land Development Code · Kimbrough Gray · KiliGray Homes

Austin may require right-of-way to be reserved or dedicated as a condition of rezoning, platting or site plan approval. Setbacks are then measured from the reserved right-of-way boundary, not your property line. What it may cost you is capped at your development’s roughly proportionate share.

Applies to: Applications for zoning or rezoning, preliminary plan or final plat approval, and site plan approval. An ordinary building permit on an existing lot does not trigger this article.

When this applies at all

Most people never meet this article. §25-6-21 attaches it to exactly three applications:

zoning or rezoning;
preliminary plan or final plat approval; or
site plan approval.

An ordinary building permit on an existing lot does not pull it in. Nor does a minor revision of an approved site plan, nor a development permit for a lot in the extraterritorial jurisdiction.

So the trigger is a plat, a site plan or a rezoning — the moments when the city has leverage and the property is changing shape anyway.

Reservation: the strip you cannot build on

Under §25-6-51 the city may require land to be reserved as a condition of approving a site plan or subdivision — where that land is "reasonably likely to be acquired for public use."

It cannot be applied anywhere the city likes. The land must sit along a roadway designated in one of three documents:

the Transportation Plan;
an approved collector plan; or
an established capital improvement project in the city's planning jurisdiction.

Reservation is not purchase. The land stays yours, and you keep paying tax on it — but §25-6-52 bars erecting any structure or making any improvement in it.

Reservation is not the same as dedication. A reservation holds land in place against a future acquisition — you still own it. A dedication under §25-6-55 transfers it. The article uses both, and a determination can require either or a combination.

The part that costs you twice

This is the provision worth reading twice, because it is short and it is not what anyone assumes:

What the code says

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Austin Land Development Code

Your front setback is no longer measured from your property line. It is measured from the inner boundary of the reserved strip.

So a reservation moves the buildable area twice. The strip itself becomes unbuildable under §25-6-52, and then the setback runs inward from the strip's new edge. A 25-foot front setback behind a 10-foot reservation leaves the front of the house 35 feet from where the plat says your land begins.

Anyone sizing a building envelope off the recorded plat, without checking for a reservation, is working from the wrong line.

What it may cost you: rough proportionality

§25-6-23 is the applicant's protection, and it is stronger than most people realise. Where the city requires dedication, or requires you to build or fund system transportation improvements, or requires dedication beyond your own boundaries, your costs may not exceed the amount roughly proportionate to your development.

Three details give that teeth:

The proportionate share is determined by a professional engineer licensed under Chapter 1001 of the Occupations Code and retained by the City — not by the reviewer handling your file.
The director must issue the determination in writing, before approving the application. Not after, and not on request.
The director must also identify in writing every infrastructure improvement required, capped at the total attributable to your development.

The code concedes the determination "need not be made to a mathematical certainty" — it is a fairness tool, not an equation. But it must exist, on paper, before your approval.

Contesting it has a cost. §25-6-23(D)(2) lets the director respond to a challenged proportionality determination by requiring a traffic impact analysis, a neighborhood traffic analysis, or other traffic and safety information — whether or not one would otherwise be required. Disputing the number can buy you a study.

Getting out of it: waivers and variances

There are four distinct exits, and they do different jobs.

Temporary use agreement — §25-6-56

The city may authorize a temporary structure or improvement in reserved right-of-way by written agreement: a parking area, detention pond, landscaping, a sign. The agreement must carry an expiry date, a notification method, your address, and a penalty for failing to remove the improvement. Useful, but it never becomes permanent.

Waiver — §§25-6-81 to 25-6-84

Two routes in. If you are filing a development application that puts a structure in the reserved strip or in the setback from it, you must either sign a §25-6-56 agreement or request a waiver with the application. If you have no application pending, you may request a waiver only where 15 percent or more of your property is or would be subject to reservation.

What happens next is the interesting part, and it is set out below.

Amendment — §25-6-85

You may simply amend the application to take the improvement out of the reserved strip. The city may then discontinue its acquisition procedures. Often the cheapest answer.

Variance from dedication — §25-6-86

A different remedy for a different requirement. The director may grant a variance from the dedication requirements on either of two grounds: undue hardship from special circumstances applicable to the property, or that the requirement renders the property unsuitable for an economically feasible use. Denial is appealable to council.

The six-month freeze

A waiver request starts a clock. Within 90 days the city manager must decide whether the city can actually acquire the reserved land (§25-6-83(A)).

If the city cannot acquire it, the director releases your application from the article, or grants the waiver for as long as the city remains unable to acquire.

If the city can acquire it, the waiver is denied — and §25-6-83(C) then does something people do not expect. The director may not approve your development application for a period of up to six months, pending acquisition.

The saving grace is in the same subsection: if the city has not acquired the property within those six months, the director shall continue to process the application. The freeze has a hard end date. But asking for a waiver you do not get can cost you half a year of program.

Where the line actually falls

The director sets the alignment during review, or within 60 days of a waiver request (§25-6-54(A)). It follows the Transportation Plan, collector plan or capital improvement project, adjusted for engineering reality — grade, sight distance, turning radii, curvature, existing green infrastructure, and floodplain or wildfire hazards.

On an existing or platted street the baseline is the existing centreline, measured before any additional dedication from the opposite side. Where the centreline is being shifted, the proposed centreline governs. And where none of that resolves it, §25-6-54(E) splits the reservation equally on each side of the existing centreline.

For a state roadway project, the Texas Department of Transportation may set the alignment instead.

What we tell clients about right-of-way

Check for a reservation before you draw anything. It is the single cheapest piece of due diligence on a corridor lot, and the answer changes the buildable envelope more than any setback variance you might later chase.

The written proportionality determination is an entitlement, not a courtesy. It must exist before approval. If a dedication is being asked for and no written determination has been produced, that is worth raising early and politely — the code is unambiguous about the sequence.

Think hard before requesting a waiver you are likely to lose. A denial under §25-6-83(C) can park the application for six months. Amending the plan to keep improvements out of the strip (§25-6-85) often gets to the same place without the delay.

And on a corridor lot, remember the setback line has moved. We have seen otherwise careful envelope studies drawn from the plat line, which quietly overstates the buildable depth by the width of the reservation.

Common questions

Can Austin make me give up part of my land for a road?

It can require reservation or dedication of right-of-way as a condition of approving a rezoning, plat or site plan, where the land lies along a roadway in the Transportation Plan, an approved collector plan or a capital improvement project. What it may cost you is capped at your development’s roughly proportionate share.

Does a right-of-way reservation change my setback in Austin?

Yes. §25-6-53 measures the setback from the boundary of the reserved right-of-way, not from your property line. The reservation removes the strip and then the setback runs inward from the strip’s new edge.

What is the difference between reserving and dedicating right-of-way?

Reservation holds land against a future acquisition — you keep ownership but may not build or improve in it. Dedication transfers it. A determination can require either or a combination of both.

Can I build anything in reserved right-of-way in Austin?

Not permanently. §25-6-52 prohibits erecting a structure or making an improvement there. The city may authorize a temporary improvement — parking, a detention pond, landscaping or a sign — by written agreement with an expiry date and a removal penalty.

What is rough proportionality in Austin development?

A cap on what the city can require. Your costs for dedication or system transportation improvements may not exceed the share roughly attributable to your development, as determined by a licensed engineer retained by the City, issued in writing before your application is approved.

Does the right-of-way article apply to a building permit?

No. It applies to zoning or rezoning, preliminary plan or final plat, and site plan approval. It also excludes minor site plan revisions and development permits in the extraterritorial jurisdiction.

How do I get a waiver from a right-of-way reservation in Austin?

With a development application, request a waiver alongside it or execute a temporary use agreement. Without a pending application, you may request one only where 15 percent or more of the property is or would be subject to reservation.

How long can the city delay my application over right-of-way?

If a waiver is denied because the city can acquire the land, the director may withhold approval for up to six months pending acquisition. If the city has not acquired it in that time, processing must continue.

Can I appeal a right-of-way decision in Austin?

Yes. Denial of a waiver request is appealable to council under §25-6-84, and denial of a variance from the dedication requirements is appealable to council under §25-6-86.

Send us an address and we will tell you what we find

We do this research ourselves on every project we take on — zoning, floodplain, watershed, trees, whether it is a legal lot. Send us an address and we will run it and tell you what we find. It works the same whether you own a vacant lot, a house you are thinking of adding a unit to, or a house you are thinking of replacing. No charge and no strings, and if it is a bad lot we will say so.

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We are homebuilders, not the City of Austin. This page explains how we read the code in practice — it is not legal advice and it is not an official determination. Always confirm with Austin Development Services before you rely on it for a project. The authoritative text is the Austin Land Development Code; permitting questions go to Austin Development Services Department.