The Residential Design and Compatibility or "McMansion" regulations, were designed to minimize the impact of new construction, remodels, and additions to existing buildings on surrounding properties in residential neighborhoods by defining an acceptable building area for each lot within which new development may occur.
The standards were adopted to protect the character of Austin's older neighborhoods by ensuring that new construction, remodels, and additions are compatible in scale and bulk with existing neighborhoods. There may be additional pertinent regulations to consider. To see if they apply to a particular property or neighborhood, please refer to the following resources.
The regulations and boundary area are contained in Chapter 25-2, Subchapter F of the City Code.
Resources
- Residential Building Permits
- Adopted Neighborhood Planning Areas
- Design Tools Map for Neighborhood Planning Areas shows the Impervious Cover/Parking Placement, Garage Placement, and Front Porch design tools (subdistrict or area-wide)
- Building Criteria Manual