Eagle Lake City Zoning Code
§ 14.01.010
District R-2, single-family, two-family, and multifamily residential district.
R-2 district description.
The R-2 district is primarily intended for single-family, two-family, and multifamily dwellings and related religious, educational and recreational facilities that provide the basic elements of a balanced and attractive neighborhood. These areas are intended to be separated and protected from the encroachment of land use activities that do not perform a function necessary to sustain the residential environment and its internal stability, attractiveness, order, efficiency and security. The maintenance of property values is encouraged through the provision of adequate light, air and open space for dwellings and related facilities and through consideration of the proper functional relationship of various land use elements.
R-2 district use regulations.
A building or premises in the R-2 district shall be used only for the following purposes:
One-family dwellings.
Two-family dwellings.
Apartment, townhouse or condominium dwellings and/or rental offices or accessory buildings used in conjunction with such dwellings.
Manufactured homes and manufactured home parks, provided they comply with the requirements of the manufactured home ordinance.
Churches and other places of worship.
Real estate sales offices during the development of residential subdivisions not to exceed two years. Display residential houses with sales offices, provided that if such display houses are not moved within a period of one year, specific permission must be obtained from the city council for such display houses to remain on their locations.
Accessory buildings and uses, customarily incident to the above uses and located on the same lot, not involving the conduct of a business with such accessory building and use being as defined in this chapter.
Home occupations in the R-2 district shall be subject to the following standards, or, if the standards cannot be met, a special use overlay may be granted:
The residential dwelling unit shall not be modified in appearance;
No more than one (1) person who does not reside in the residence may be employed by the business;
The use is limited to office or service businesses, and may not involve vehicle service or repair, a bed and breakfast, or any type of child care facility;
The business shall be operated in accordance with all applicable laws and permitting requirements;
The business shall be owned and operated by a person who resides in the dwelling unit;
The business activity shall not occupy more than 20 percent of the gross floor area of the principal residential building;
All business operations and storage shall be contained within the residential building;
No display of merchandise shall be visible from the exterior; and
The home occupation shall not create or cause any perceptible noise, odor, smoke, electrical interference, or vibrations that constitute a public or private nuisance.
Group homes subject to Texas Human Resources Code, section 123.001 et seq., are permitted provided they conform to all standards of this section, state law, and the exterior of the home is compatible with surrounding residential structures.
Senior citizen independent living facilities, assisted living facilities, nursing homes and group homes, licensed in accordance with state law.
R-2 district area regulations.
Size of yards.
Front yard.
In the R-2 district, there shall be a front yard having a depth of not less than twenty (20) feet. Where lots have double frontage, running through from one street to another, the required front yard shall be provided on both streets.
Side yard.
Single-family homes and duplexes shall have a side yard on each side of the lot having a width of not less than five (5) feet. A multifamily dwelling, apartment house, townhouse grouping, condominium structure, or a manufactured home park shall have a side yard on each side of the lot of not less than ten (10) feet. A side yard adjacent to a side street shall not be less than twenty (20) feet.
Rear yard.
There shall be a rear yard having a depth of not less than ten (10) square feet.
Size of lot.
Where a lot having less area, width and/or depth than is required in this subsection existed on the effective date of this chapter the regulations in this subsection shall not prohibit the erection of a one-family dwelling on the lot nor shall this chapter prohibit the erection of a two-family dwelling on a lot existing in separate ownership on the effective date of this chapter;
A two-family dwelling, multifamily dwelling, apartment house, townhouse, or condominium structure shall not be erected on a lot less than eight thousand (8,000) square feet.
New subdivisions and residential lots created after the effective date of this chapter shall abide by the following lot dimension standards:
Lot area.
No building to be used as a one-family dwelling shall be constructed on any lot of less than five thousand (5,000) square feet. No two-family or multifamily dwelling, apartment house, townhouse, or condominium structure shall be constructed on any lot of less than eight thousand (8,000) square feet.
Lot width.
The width of a lot for a single-family dwelling shall not be less than fifty (50) feet, and the width of a lot for a two-family dwelling, multifamily dwelling, apartment house, townhouse, or condominium structure shall not be less than eighty (80) feet at the front street building line, nor shall the average width of a lot for a single-family dwelling be less than sixty (60) feet.
Lot depth.
The depth of the lot shall not be less than one hundred (100) feet, except that a corner lot for use of a one-family dwelling having a minimum width of not less than eighty (80) feet may have an average depth of less than one hundred (100) feet provided that the minimum depth is no less than eighty-eight (88) feet. A corner lot to be used for the erection of a two-family dwelling shall have a minimum width of not less than eighty (80) feet.
R-2 district parking regulations.
Off-street parking spaces shall be provided on dust-free, hard surfaces, in such numbers as necessary to accommodate regular traffic, including disabled parking spaces:
Single-family dwelling units shall have a minimum or two off-street parking spaces.
Real estate sales offices, three (3) parking spaces plus one (1) additional parking space for each four hundred square feet of floor area over one thousand square feet.
Group homes, one space for each bedroom, plus one additional parking space for each employee.
Disabled parking spaces shall be provided as required by the Texas Accessibility Standards, and shall be in addition to the required parking outlined above.
Parking for multifamily dwellings, apartment houses, townhouses, or condominiums shall be provided as follows:
One (1) space for each one-bedroom apartment, townhouse or condominium; two (2) spaces for each unit with two bedrooms, two and one-half (2-1/2) spaces for each three-bedroom apartment, plus an additional two (2) parking spaces for every three (3) units, or fraction thereof.
The front yard may be used for off-street parking, provided such parking otherwise complies with the provisions of this section and as may otherwise be embodied in this code applicable to such parking; irrespective of existing requirements, no front yard parking shall be allowed within fifteen (15) feet of the intersection of public streets as measured from the property line.
The parking areas shall be landscaped and permanently maintained by the landowner or management of the complex, in addition to required on-site landscaping.
Any lighting of drives or parking areas shall be designed to not cause any glare on any other residential property.
Additional standards for multifamily dwellings, apartment house, townhouse, condominium development, or senior living facility.
Open space.
A minimum of ten percent of the total gross lot area shall be reserved and maintained as open landscaped space for recreational use by the owners or tenants. This shall not include common areas such as walkways, yards fronting upon streets, side yards, swimming pool areas, or parking lots. In the case of multifamily dwellings, each unit shall satisfy the open space requirement.
Privacy screen.
Whenever a multifamily, apartment, townhouse or condominium dwelling abuts upon a residential or other multifamily, apartment, townhouse or condominium district there shall be erected along the property lines, except along city streets, a privacy fence at least six feet in height constructed of masonry or wood materials
Signs.
Signs shall be of a monument style, no higher than four feet from grade, and may be indirectly illuminated or non-illuminated. They may indicate the name and address of the multifamily, apartment, townhouse or condominium dwellings, availability and rental or purchase information. Non-illuminated signs, not to exceed four square feet in area, or 30 inches above ground level, are permitted internally for traffic control.
Visibility.
No sign shall impair the visibility of intersections as follows: Any sign which obstructs vision at any point between a height of two and one-half (2-1/2) feet and a height of ten (10) feet above the upper face of the nearest curb (or street centerline if no curb exists) and within the triangular area bounded on two sides by the two street lines, or by projection of such lines to their point of intersection, and on the third side by a straight line connecting points on such street lines (or their projections) each of which is twenty-five (25) feet distant from the point of intersection of the street lines. Consider adding a graphic here. [sic]
Number of signs.
For each use of a lot under this section, there shall be no more than one (1) sign of each of the types described in this section facing each street adjacent to such use, plus one (1) such sign for each public entrance to such use in excess of one (1) public entrance on each street.
(Ordinance 2016-002 adopted 4/26/16)