Who has to say yes to a ranch entrance gate in Texas?
The county road authority, because your gate stands at the edge of a public right of way. Llano County puts it flatly: nothing may be installed on a county right of way, driveways and culverts included, without the written permission of the commissioner for your precinct, and the county also issues a road cut permit. Burnet County handles the same work on a county road access permit, and the precinct commissioner sets culvert location, length and diameter at a site meeting on your land. Williamson County Road and Bridge Division issues a driveway permit for a new or modified driveway onto a county-maintained road, and the county sizes the culvert.
Travis County is the strictest of the six. Any development in Travis County requires a permit, and the county's own definition of development lists driveways and work in the county right of way outright. Travis County TNR permits a driveway onto a county-maintained road and TxDOT permits one onto a state road. Travis County issues no permit at all for a driveway onto an unmaintained or unaccepted road, which is a separate problem to solve before you order steel. In Bastrop County the driveway rides on the same county development application, with TxDOT taking state highways. Caldwell County runs driveway permits through its Unit Road Department, and that permit applies even on a tract exempt from platting.
State roads change the answer. Burnet County says TxDOT approves a driveway onto a Farm to Market road, a Ranch Road or a State Highway. Travis and Bastrop both send state roads to TxDOT as well. Call the county first anyway, because the county tells you which road is which. This is the same conversation as the one about your driveway surface and drainage, covered in ranch roads, culverts and low water crossings.
Llano County: precinct commissioner's written permission, plus a county road cut permit
Burnet County: county road access permit, signed by the precinct commissioner after a site meeting
Williamson County: driveway permit from Road and Bridge Division, culvert sized by the county
Travis County: driveway permit from TNR on a county-maintained road, TxDOT on a state road, no permit issued on an unmaintained road
Bastrop County: driveway is part of the county development application, TxDOT on a state highway
Caldwell County: driveway permit from the Unit Road Department
Source: Llano County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Burnet County On-Site Sewage Facilities and Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Bastrop County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Caldwell County Development Ordinance, revised February 14, 2023, read 2026-09-13.
How wide should the gate opening be, and will a fire truck fit?
Ask the office that permits your driveway, and ask before you order the gate. Do not take a width off another county's website. The people who set the geometry of your entrance are the same people who approve the approach. Travis County already specifies part of it: the approach is concrete, meets the road at about 90 degrees, and uses corrugated metal culvert pipe at least 18 inches across. Burnet County's precinct commissioner walks the site with you. That meeting is where the width question gets answered.
Bring a written list. A site meeting is short, and the commissioner is the one person who can tell you what will pass.
What clear width do you want between the posts, and how far back from the pavement should the gate sit so a truck can stop clear of the road?
Will a fire apparatus, a concrete truck and a delivery trailer make the turn from the road through that opening?
May a swing gate open over the right of way, or does it have to swing onto my side?
Does the local fire department or emergency services district have its own access requirement, and who do I call about it?
If the entrance meets a state road, what does TxDOT want, and do I apply to TxDOT or to the county?
Source: Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Burnet County On-Site Sewage Facilities and Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Does the gate change your driveway permit and your 911 address?
In Burnet County, yes, and in that order: the driveway approval must be in hand before the 911 address is assigned, the 911 address comes before the building permit, and the building permit comes before the septic permit. Burnet will not process an incomplete packet. The other five counties tie the address to the paperwork in their own ways. In Llano County the development permit is also the 911 address application, while the right of way work runs on the commissioner's written permission and a road cut permit. Williamson County runs the reverse of Burnet: it wants the 911 address from county GIS and Addressing before a county permit application is filed, and the driveway permit is a county permit.
Bastrop County puts the development permit, the septic permit, the driveway and the 911 address on one application, so one filing covers all four. Caldwell County builds it the other way: the Residential Construction Permit will not issue without the approved 911 address and the approved county septic permit already in the file, and the driveway permit comes separately from the Unit Road Department. Travis County requires a basic development permit for any development outside city limits, with the driveway permit from TNR.
Ask your county which comes first before you set a post. In Burnet, a gate built ahead of the driveway approval is a gate built ahead of your address.
Source: Burnet County On-Site Sewage Facilities and Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Llano County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Bastrop County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Caldwell County Development Ordinance, revised February 14, 2023, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Pipe fence or wire fence, and what does your ground allow?
The fence is a steel decision. The post is a geology decision, and these six counties do not sit on one geology. Wire hangs strands on posts and lives or dies on its corner braces. Pipe fence is welded steel, and every post starts as a hole in the ground. That is the real fork: wire puts many small holes in the ground, pipe puts fewer holes that each have to be right. You can run pipe at the entrance and wire down the line. Price the two separately.
In Burnet and Llano you are on the Llano Uplift, a large granite batholith and the major structural feature of central Texas, with Precambrian granites and metamorphic rocks forming the central dome. Burnet and Llano are both core counties of the uplift. At Inks Lake State Park in Burnet County, pink Valley Spring gneiss juts up through the limestone at the east edge of the uplift. On the Edwards Plateau the soils are shallow and underlain by limestone, with stony hills and steep canyons, so the auger can reach rock a short way down and stop. Ask the fence contractor how they set a post in rock and what it adds.
Where your land is blackland clay, the problem inverts. Houston Black soil cracks 0.5 to 4 inches wide from the surface down 12 inches or more when it dries, which is its defining shrink and swell behavior, and it formed in clayey residuum weathered from calcareous mudstone. Ground that moves that much moves whatever is set in it. In the Post Oak Savannah the uplands are sands and sandy loams with clay or clay loams in the bottoms, and a dense clay pan almost impervious to water underlies every soil type only a few feet down, so a post hole can hold water instead of draining.
So walk the fence line before it is bid, not after. A price per foot that assumes soft digging is not a price on granite, and a post that works on the Llano Uplift is not the answer in cracking clay. Ask your site contractor two plain questions: what happens where the line crosses rock, and what happens where it crosses clay that opens up when it dries. A land and lot evaluation is where those answers belong, alongside the septic and driveway questions.
Source: Texas Water Development Board, Report 360 Chapter 9, Paleozoic Aquifers of the Llano Uplift, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Water Development Board, Report 360 Chapter 9, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas Ecoregions, read 2026-09-13.
Source: USDA NRCS, Official Series Description, Houston Black Series, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, read 2026-09-13.
What does an automatic ranch gate need before it will open?
Power, and getting power to the road is a site cost, not a gate cost. The opener is one purchase. The run out to it is its own line item, sized by the distance from your meter to the entrance.
If you pull a line, the trade is regulated. Electricians in Texas are licensed by TDLR, and non-exempt electrical work must be done through a licensed electrical contractor. Verify any electrician through the TDLR license search before you sign anything. Price the gate run at the same time as the meter and the house service so the trench is dug once, not twice.
The trench itself can be permitted work. Travis County defines development to include excavation, grading, clearing and work in the county right of way, and any development in Travis County requires a permit, so ask Travis County TNR whether the conduit run belongs on your development permit. Ask your own county the same question if the trench crosses the right of way.
A solar opener skips the trench. Ask the gate supplier what the panel needs to see, what the battery does after a stretch of cloudy days, and what the gate does when the battery is flat, so you know whether you can still get out. Then ask whoever is doing your barndominium construction to put the entrance, the meter, the septic and the driveway on one site plan.
Source: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Electricians program, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Who enforces deed restrictions and property owners association rules on your gate?
Not the county. Williamson County states that Texas counties have not been given general zoning authority by the state legislature, that it does not issue building permits except for health and safety issues, and that it has no authority to zone property for land use or to issue a certificate of occupancy. Read the permit lists for all six counties and you find development or construction permits, septic, floodplain, driveway, 911 address and plat. A private deed restriction appears on none of them.
So do not expect a county road office to settle an argument about gate style, stone columns, fence material or how far the entrance sits off the road. Pull the recorded deed and the subdivision's recorded documents before you close, and ask the association, if there is one, for its architectural rules in writing. Plat notes are worth reading anyway: Williamson County says a lot in a recorded subdivision may already carry its Certificate of Compliance in the plat notes.
Two approvals can both be required, and neither one substitutes for the other. The county can approve your driveway while the association objects to your gate. Find both answers before the steel is cut.
Source: Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Llano County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Burnet County On-Site Sewage Facilities and Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Bastrop County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Caldwell County Development Ordinance, revised February 14, 2023, read 2026-09-13.
What if the gate sits in a floodplain, near a Highland Lake, or over the Edwards Aquifer?
Then your gate stops being a gate and becomes development. A permit is required before construction or development begins inside any Special Flood Hazard Area, and the floodplain administrator is responsible for making sure development complies and that permits are applied for. Check the address at the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, the official public source for flood hazard information produced for the National Flood Insurance Program. Each county names the person: Llano and Burnet through Development Services, Williamson through the County Engineer's office, Travis through TNR, Bastrop inside Development Services, Caldwell through the Director of Sanitation.
Near the lakes, the Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance reaches this work directly. It regulates construction of buildings, roads, paved storage areas and parking lots, plus any land-disturbing and construction activity including clearing, excavating, grading, contouring, mining and depositing refuse, waste or fill. It covers the Lake Travis watershed in Travis County, the Colorado River watershed in Burnet County, and a portion of Llano County above the Regulated Pool Elevation, as drawn on the official Ordinance Map. A development permit is required if impervious cover will exceed 10,000 square feet and/or land disturbance will exceed one acre. A long drive, an apron and a house pad add up against that line. Eleven local governments administer part or all of the ordinance under interlocal agreements, so the LCRA permit may not be the one that applies to you. Ask which.
Over the Edwards Aquifer, the acreage math changes by zone. The Edwards Aquifer Protection Program covers eight Texas counties, and in the Austin region that means Williamson, Travis and Hays, handled by the TCEQ Austin Regional Office at (512) 339-2929. In the contributing zone a Contributing Zone Plan is triggered when activities disturb at least five acres or are part of a larger plan of development or sale. On the recharge zone there is no acreage floor at all: every regulated activity needs an approved Water Pollution Abatement Plan before construction starts, and a site sitting partly on each is treated as recharge zone. Technical review of a complete application takes 90 days, so this is not a question to discover with a fence crew standing in the drive. Check the parcel on the TCEQ Edwards Aquifer Map Viewer first. In Travis County the aquifer question comes before the site work on the western side of the county.
Source: FEMA glossary, Permit for Floodplain Development, read 2026-09-13.
Source: FEMA, NFIP Floodplain Management Requirements study guide, Unit 7, read 2026-09-13.
Source: FEMA Flood Map Service Center, read 2026-09-13.
Source: LCRA Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance program page, read 2026-09-13.
Source: LCRA Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance, Section 1, Title and Scope, read 2026-09-13.
Source: LCRA Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance program page, Required notifications and permits, read 2026-09-13.
Source: LCRA Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance program page, Interlocal agreements, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ GIS metadata, Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone - Chapter 213 Rules (TSMS), quoting 30 TAC 213.3(8), read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ Edwards Aquifer Protection Program home page, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ, Edwards Aquifer Protection Program: What Plans You Might Need, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ, Water Pollution Abatement Plan page, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ, What Plans You Might Need, recharge zone branch, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ, What Plans You Might Need, contributing zone branch, read 2026-09-13.
Source: TCEQ, Edwards Aquifer Map Viewer page, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Llano County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Burnet County On-Site Sewage Facilities and Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Bastrop County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Caldwell County Development Ordinance, revised February 14, 2023, read 2026-09-13.
What order should you work the entrance in?
From the road inward. The gate is the last thing you buy, not the first. This sequence sits inside the larger sequence laid out in the guide to building a barndominium in Central Texas.
Llano County asks for seven to 10 business days on a review outside the floodplain, and longer for floodplain work and septic. Plan for that pace and start these calls early.
Find out which road your entrance meets: county-maintained, a state road under TxDOT, or a road the county does not maintain. Travis County issues no driveway permit onto an unmaintained or unaccepted road.
Call the precinct commissioner in Llano or Burnet, or the road office in Williamson (Road and Bridge), Travis (TNR), Bastrop (Development Services) or Caldwell (Unit Road Department). Ask for the driveway application and a site meeting.
At that meeting, ask the width, setback, swing direction and culvert questions, and ask for the answers in writing.
Confirm the order for your county. In Burnet the driveway approval comes before the 911 address, then the building permit, then the septic permit.
Check the parcel against the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, the official Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance Map if you are near the lakes, and the TCEQ Edwards Aquifer Map Viewer in Travis or Williamson.
Pull the recorded deed restrictions and any association architectural rules.
Walk the fence line with the contractor and price rock separately from clay.
Have a licensed electrical contractor quote the run to the gate while the meter and house service are being planned, or settle on solar.
Source: Llano County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Burnet County On-Site Sewage Facilities and Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Williamson County frequently asked questions, County Engineer, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources, Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Bastrop County Development Services, read 2026-09-13.
Source: Caldwell County Development Ordinance, revised February 14, 2023, read 2026-09-13.
Also on this site: metal building homes.
Questions people ask
- Do I need a permit just for a ranch entrance gate in Texas?
- No county on this list names a gate permit, but you do need approval for the driveway the gate stands on. Llano County allows nothing on a county right of way, driveways and culverts included, without the precinct commissioner's written permission plus a road cut permit. Burnet uses a county road access permit, Williamson a driveway permit from Road and Bridge, Travis a TNR driveway permit with TxDOT on state roads, Bastrop the county development application, and Caldwell a permit from the Unit Road Department. Call that office before you order anything.
- Who decides the culvert size under my entrance?
- The county, not you and not the fence crew. Burnet County's precinct commissioner sets culvert location, length and diameter at a site meeting on your land. Williamson County sizes the culvert as part of its driveway permit. Travis County specifies a concrete approach meeting the road at about 90 degrees with corrugated metal culvert pipe at least 18 inches across. Burnet County says TxDOT approves a driveway onto a Farm to Market road, a Ranch Road or a State Highway instead.
- Will an automatic gate need power run out to the road?
- Yes, unless you go solar. Electricians in Texas are licensed by TDLR, and non-exempt electrical work must be done through a licensed electrical contractor, so verify anyone quoting the run through the TDLR license search. Plan the conduit with the meter and house service so the trench is dug once. In Travis County, ask TNR whether the trench belongs on your development permit, since the county counts excavation, grading and work in the right of way as development.
- Can a property owners association or a deed restriction control my gate and fence?
- It can, and the county will not settle that argument for you. Williamson County states that Texas counties have no general zoning authority, that it issues no building permits except on health and safety issues, and that it cannot zone land use. Private deed restrictions appear on none of the six counties' permit lists. Read the recorded deed and subdivision documents, and get any association architectural rules in writing. County approval and association approval are separate, and you may need both.
- Is pipe fence a better choice than wire on my land?
- It depends on what the auger hits. Burnet and Llano are core counties of the Llano Uplift, a large granite batholith with Precambrian granites and metamorphic rocks, and Edwards Plateau soils are shallow over limestone, so a post hole can reach rock early. In blackland country Houston Black soil cracks 0.5 to 4 inches wide from the surface down 12 inches or more when dry, and Post Oak Savannah soils sit over a dense clay pan almost impervious to water a few feet down. Walk the line and price rock separately from clay before you commit.
- Does the gate affect my 911 address?
- In Burnet County, yes: the county will not assign the 911 address until the driveway approval is in hand, and the address then comes before the building permit and the septic permit. In Llano County the development permit is also the 911 address application. Williamson County runs it the other way and wants the address from county GIS and Addressing before a county permit application. Bastrop puts the address, driveway, development and septic on one application, and Caldwell's Residential Construction Permit requires the approved address and septic permit first.
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