Texas Zoning Obstacles

Is the city of Arlington, Frisco, Irving or Plano making your property development impossible—or extremely expensive? 

If you’re developing property for residential use in these Texas cities, then your life may be about to get much more difficult. 

Recently, in response to statewide reforms that make it easier to create more housing, Arlington, Frisco, Irving, and Plano enacted new zoning ordinances designed to drive up the cost of developing property for multifamily housing, including modest developments.  

Now, even modest in-fill developments may be subject to requirements like pet-washing stations, on-site gyms, EV charging stations, etc. 

These rules make it harder to build housing when Texans need it most. 

Who This Affects

Are you…  

• In Frisco and thinking about building a triplex less than 150 feet tall?  

• In Irving and thinking about building a duplex less than eight stories high? What about small apartments without  both an on-site gym and an on-site yoga studio or pet-washing station?  

• In Arlington and thinking of building apartments less than six stories high or without expensive EV charging stations?  

• In Plano and trying to build a duplex less than 45-feet tall?  

Those all may well be illegal.  

Why This Matters

These burdensome ordinances will exacerbate the housing shortage and raise serious concerns under the Texas Constitution. 

At a time when even the State legislature and the federal government are beginning to recognize serious problems in the housing market, these cities went out of their ways to make it even harder to build new housing. That makes no sense. 

Together, we can challenge this unconstitutional interference with private property rights. 

What Can We Do About It?  

Past court rulings say that the government must provide a good reason and evidence for interfering with your property rights. And the Texas Supreme Court has ruled that the government can’t impose arbitrary and unnecessary barriers that prevent people from earning an honest living using their property. 

Share Your Story

The Institute for Justice (IJ) is a non-profit civil liberties law firm, representing everyday people who stand up for their rights—free of charge! 

As part of IJ’s Zoning Justice Project, we believe that the government should make it easier for people to develop private property to meet the needs of the housing market, not harder. 

We’re looking for individuals who are trying to develop private property for small-scale residential uses in Arlington, Frisco, Irving, and Plano.  

If you’re concerned about increasing the housing supply in Texas and believe a development project of yours has been (or will be) made more expensive or impossible, we want to hear from you.  

Fill out the form to share how these ordinances impact you. 

Whether you’re a small developer engaged in the business of building modestly sized multifamily dwellings or just a regular property owner who wants to expand the housing supply with in-fill development like an ADU—your experience matters.  

Together, we can challenge this unconstitutional interference with private property rights.