ADU Pass
Lake Highlands
Also known as Northeast Dallas, Old Lake Highlands, Hamilton Park, Merriman Park, Moss Farm, Forest Meadow, Lake Highlands Town Center, White Rock, Far North Dallas
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Lake Highlands — a USPS locale inside Dallas, Dallas County, Texas — navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This locale covers 1 ZIP code.
Map
Locale-specific ADU details
Site (parcel physics)
Slope:
Soil:
Lot profile:
Geo-hazards:
Recent ADU permit activity
Utility capacity (upgrade likelihood)
Housing stock age:
Electric service drop:
Sewer lateral:
Water pressure:
Gas availability: available — Full gas service available throughout Lake Highlands via Atmos Energy Mid-Tex Division. Dallas has no all-electric mandate and no gas-service moratorium. Owners can freely choose gas or all-electric appliance packages. Note: Atmos Energy has been phasing in replacements of legacy cast-iron and bare-steel mains across Dallas since 2018; some 1950s-era Lake Highlands gas mains may be replaced over the planning horizon, occasionally triggering street cuts that delay or complicate ADU construction timing.
Locale property values
Lake Highlands (ZIPs 75218/75231/75238/75243) median home value runs roughly 1.6x the Dallas citywide median (~$295K) — meaningfully above citywide but well below Lakewood's $775K tier. Zillow's Lake Highlands neighborhood tracker reported median sale price in the mid-$400Ks through 2024-2025; Redfin's Lake Highlands tracker similar. A key market driver: Lake Highlands is served predominantly by Richardson ISD (RISD), not Dallas ISD. RISD schools (Lake Highlands High School, Lake Highlands Junior High, Forest Meadow JH, Lake Highlands Elementary, Merriman Park Elementary, Moss Haven, Skyview, White Rock Elementary, Northlake Elementary, Stults Road) are widely regarded as stronger than surrounding DISD options; this commands a school-district premium on Lake Highlands parcels that would otherwise carry Dallas citywide pricing. Effective property-tax rate is the countywide Dallas effective rate (RISD + City + County + Dallas College + Parkland Hospital blended — note RISD replaces Dallas ISD in the blend but the combined effective rate is within ~0.02 percentage points). The Texas Residence Homestead 10% appraisal cap (Tax Code Sec. 23.23) limits year-over-year assessed-value increases for owner-occupied primary residences.
Locale market rent
| Sq ft | Rent |
|---|---|
| 400 | $1,250/mo |
| 600 | $1,550/mo |
| 800 | $1,800/mo |
Locale HOA prevalence
Locale overlays (3)
- other — Several Planned Development (PD) districts overlay Lake Highlands commercial and mixed-use corridors, most notably PD-891 (Lake Highlands Town Center at Skillman/Walnut Hill) and smaller PDs along the Skillman corridor. These are parcel-specific ordinances; most single-family Lake Highlands parcels are outside any PD and fall under base R-7.5 / R-10 / R-16 / R-1AC zoning. · +15d · +3% cost
For parcels inside a PD, the PD's own ordinance governs permitted accessory uses. Most Lake Highlands PDs are commercial/mixed-use and do not authorize single-family residential ADUs anyway — so the practical impact on ADU seekers is limited to the small number of mixed-use-zoned single-family parcels near PD boundaries. Sustainable Development staff determine PD compliance during permit intake; add ~2 weeks for this review on any affected parcel. - other — Lake Highlands Town Center TIF District (Tax Increment Financing) around Skillman and Walnut Hill. TIF districts do not alter ADU legality or impose design review on single-family parcels; they fund infrastructure improvements for developer-scale projects.
The TIF is mentioned for contextual completeness. It has no direct ADU-permitting impact on single-family parcels inside or outside its boundary. Homeowners do not file TIF paperwork to build an ADU. - flood-zone — FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas along White Rock Creek affect a minority of southern and western Lake Highlands parcels (roughly parcels adjacent to the creek corridor between Northwest Highway and LBJ Freeway). The White Rock Lake shoreline itself is to the southwest outside Lake Highlands proper. · +21d · +15% cost
Parcels inside a mapped SFHA require an elevation certificate and compliance with the Dallas floodplain ordinance. A new ADU in Zone AE must be elevated to or above Base Flood Elevation; ground-floor or basement sleeping space is not permitted. Most Lake Highlands parcels (the ranch-heavy central and northern areas) sit on higher ground and are NOT in a mapped SFHA — verify parcel-by-parcel via the Dallas Floodplain Viewer before scoping.
Inherited from the city
These sections come from the city page. Click through to the Dallas ADU research for details.
- legal history
- size range
- permitting process & fees
- permit forms
- contacts
- utilities
- incentives
- viability
- pre-approved plans
- financing
- service complexity
Dallas — city ADU rules and incentives
ADU legality: unclear
Texas leaves ADU regulation to local municipalities under home-rule or Dillon-rule authority. Dallas permits ADUs subject to local conditions per its zoning ordinance.
City cost envelope
$117,300 all-in for a 525 sqft ADU (permit + build). Midpoint scenario.
Permit fee bundle: $2,905 (2026-04).
City viability (selected uses)
Dallas County — county ADU rules and overlays
County regulatory overlays
Dallas County's county-level overlays apply only inside its small unincorporated footprint (under 10% of county land, primarily southeastern Dallas County). The two material overlays at county scope are FEMA-mapped Special Flood Hazard Areas administered by Dallas County Public Works under the county's floodplain ordinance, and the countywide Trinity Common Vision Program governing floodplain management along the Trinity River corridor. Inside incorporated cities — where the vast majority of Dallas County residents and ADU-candidate parcels sit — overlay administration is a city function (e.g., the City of Dallas administers its own Escarpment Zone at Dallas Development Code Art. V and its own Floodplain regulations at Div. 51A-5.100). There is no countywide WUI / wildland-fire hazard overlay of the kind seen in California or Washington; North Texas's fire-hazard regime is ESD-by-ESD rather than a county-administered WUI zone.
- Dallas County Floodplain Management (FEMA NFIP participation) — A new ADU in a Zone AE parcel must be elevated to or above the Base Flood Elevation per the county ordinance and is generally not permitted as a basement or ground-floor sleeping space.
- Trinity Common Vision Program — Structures including ADUs proposed within the Common Vision corridor face stricter review than FEMA NFIP alone and may require a No-Rise Certificate from a Texas-licensed engineer.
- On-Site Sewage Facility (OSSF) jurisdiction — An ADU counts as an additional dwelling for OSSF sizing purposes, which can trigger system expansion on undersized lots and may be infeasible on very small unincorporated parcels.
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
Dallas County regulates construction in unincorporated areas through the Department of Unincorporated Area Services (DUAS), in partnership with the Dallas County Fire Marshal's Office and Public Works. Because the county has no zoning authority (see countyOrdinance), DUAS does not restrict whether an ADU may be built — it regulates only subdivision/plat compliance, residential building-code inspection, on-site sewage (OSSF) compliance, floodplain compliance, 911 addressing, and nuisance abatement. A detached secondary dwelling on an unincorporated parcel is permitted as an ordinary residential structure through DUAS's building-permit pathway; there is no separate 'ADU permit' because there is no county use category for accessory dwellings. Unincorporated Dallas County comprises under 10% of county land area, primarily in the southeastern corner of the county. Most ADU activity in Dallas County occurs in incorporated cities (notably the City of Dallas ADU Overlay at Dallas Development Code Sec. 51A-4.510), which are governed by city-level permitting, not this section.
Texas state — ADU law and programs
State ADU law
Texas has NOT enacted a statewide ADU preemption or ADU-by-right statute. Local governments (municipalities and counties) retain full authority over ADU zoning, setbacks, parking, size limits, owner-occupancy, and permitting. Two recent housing-reform bills in the 89th Legislature (2025) touch density and zoning procedure but do NOT preempt ADU-specific local rules: SB 15 (Bettencourt, signed 2025-06-20, effective 2025-09-01) caps minimum single-family lot sizes in cities over 150,000 in counties over 300,000, and HB 24 (signed 2025-06-20, effective 2025-09-01) raises the protest petition threshold for zoning changes. A dedicated ADU-preemption bill — SB 673 (Hughes, 2025) — passed the Texas Senate on 2025-04-10 and was reported favorably by the House Land & Resource Management Committee on 2025-05-08, but died on the General State Calendar when the 89th Regular Session adjourned on 2025-06-02. In the absence of a state ADU statute, homeowners must consult the ordinance of the municipality (or the county's subdivision rules for unincorporated areas) where the lot sits.
- Texas SB 15 (89R, 2025) — Relating to size and density requirements for residential lots in certain municipalities; authorizing a fee — Prohibits municipalities of population greater than 150,000 located in counties of population greater than 300,000 from imposing minimum lot sizes greater than a specified threshold (3,000 sqft for certain residentially zoned subdivisions; lower for new subdivisions) and limits their authority over setbacks, parking, permeable-surface, and height on those lots. Not ADU-specific, but functionally expands the footprint of small-lot single-family housing in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and other qualifying cities. Signed 2025-06-20; effective 2025-09-01.
- Texas HB 24 (89R, 2025) — Relating to procedures for changes to a zoning regulation or district boundary — Raises the protest-petition threshold for neighboring property owners who wish to trigger a supermajority city-council vote on a rezoning from 20% to 60%, and constrains the ability of a small minority to block citywide zoning updates. Not ADU-specific; affects the procedural posture of any city-wide ADU-enabling rezoning. Signed 2025-06-20; effective 2025-09-01.
State financing programs
Texas does not operate an ADU-specific statewide loan, grant, or forgivable-loan program comparable to California's CalHFA ADU Grant. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) administers the state's general housing finance programs — My First Texas Home, My Choice Texas Home, Mortgage Credit Certificates, multifamily Housing Tax Credits, the Homeowner Assistance Fund, and Housing Trust Fund awards. None target ADU construction directly, but several can apply to an ADU as part of a primary-residence purchase or refinance when program criteria are met. ADU-specific financing in Texas is primarily local: the City of Austin's ADU Loan Program (administered through Neighborhood Housing and Community Development) and a handful of smaller pilot programs are the most visible, but these sit at the city tier, not the state tier.
Federal (United States) — ADU-relevant rules and programs
Federal ADU law
The United States has no federal statute that directly regulates accessory dwelling unit entitlement or design. Land-use authority over ADUs resides with states and local governments under the traditional police power. Federal engagement is limited to financing (Fannie/Freddie/FHA/VA/USDA), flood insurance (FEMA/NFIP), and discretionary housing programs (HUD), which are recorded in sibling sections of this file.
Federal financing programs
Federal housing-finance agencies and GSEs set nationwide underwriting rules that govern whether an ADU can be financed, appraised, and counted toward mortgage qualifying income. The relevant actors are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA (HUD), VA, and USDA Rural Development.
Federal tax credits
There is no ADU-specific federal tax credit. ADUs may incidentally qualify for existing federal energy-efficiency and clean-energy tax credits when the ADU construction includes qualifying measures.
Federal housing programs
HUD administers several discretionary programs that can fund ADU-related activity at the grantee's election, but none is an ADU-specific program.
ZIP Code
- 75238
Post Office
- 10502 Markison Rd, 75238