Subdividing Land in Presidio County, TX

Presidio County sits entirely within the Texas Local Government Code's defined border area, which means a genuinely different, more demanding subdivision-law regime applies here than in the interior counties covered elsewhere on this site -- one written specifically to prevent a repeat of the county's own documented colonias.

This page covers what's specific to Presidio County. For the general explanation, see the national guide.

Why Presidio County is different: the border-area trigger

Most of the general Texas rule that "there is no zoning, but there is subdivision and platting law" applies uniformly across the state's counties. Presidio County is a genuine exception to that uniformity: because the Texas Local Government Code defines the "border area" as any county with any part located within 50 miles of the Texas-Mexico border, and Presidio County runs directly along the border for 135 miles on the Rio Grande, the entire county falls within that definition. That triggers Subchapter B of Local Government Code Chapter 232 -- commonly called the colonias-prevention law -- which layers substantially more demanding requirements onto new residential subdivisions here than apply in an interior Texas county with no zoning and only baseline platting rules.

This law exists because of Presidio County's own documented history. The county has several named colonias -- rural, largely Hispanic settlements along the border that historically grew up without basic infrastructure -- including Redford, Ruidosa, Candelaria, and Shafter. Ruidosa, on the Rio Grande fifty miles southwest of Marfa, has been documented with as few as a dozen active water meters; Redford has roughly 50. Presidio County officials formed a Presidio County Utility System Board in late 2023 to meet grant-reporting requirements, and in July 2024 restructured that board to seat representatives from Candelaria, Shafter, Redford, and Ruidosa in place of the commissioners who had served on it (CORRECTED 2026-09, superseding an earlier framing that described July 2024 as the board's creation rather than a reorganization) -- concrete, current evidence that the underlying infrastructure gap the 1990s-era colonias laws were written to prevent is still a live, working issue in this specific county, not just historical background.

"Build it or bond it," and the ban on selling underserved rural lots

The practical core of the colonias-prevention law is a requirement often summarized as "build it or bond it." A subdivider creating a new residential subdivision in the border area -- which includes all of Presidio County -- generally must either install water service, sewer service, and adequate roads and drainage before getting final plat approval, or post a financial guarantee with the city or county covering the cost of that infrastructure, tied to a specific completion date stated on the plat itself. Separately, and this is the provision that most directly protects an individual buyer, state law generally makes it unlawful to sell a rural lot in the border area that lacks water and sewer service (or the required financial guarantee for it), except to a buyer who will actually reside on that lot. If you're buying a lot in a new or recent Presidio County subdivision, verifying that water and sewer service is actually in place -- or that a valid bond covers it -- is not optional due diligence; it's the specific protection this law was built to guarantee you.

The Texas Water Development Board has also developed statewide Model Subdivision Rules under Texas Water Code Section 16.343, aimed at assuring water and wastewater service specifically for new subdivisions in the parts of the state -- including border counties like Presidio -- where this framework applies; a county can choose to adopt these model rules directly or something at least as protective. In practice, that means the exact platting checklist a Presidio County subdivider or lot buyer faces may draw on both the county's own subdivision regulations and this state-developed model framework. Before buying an unplatted tract with the intent to subdivide it yourself, or before buying an individual lot out of an existing or proposed subdivision, confirm directly with the Presidio County Commissioners Court (which handles plat approval here, since the county has no separate planning department of its own) exactly which water/sewer/road/drainage documentation is required and whether it has already been satisfied for that specific plat.

Subdividing Land in Presidio County, Texas

Why Presidio County is different: the border-area trigger

"Build it or bond it," and the ban on selling underserved rural lots

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