Dirt Work in Southlake, TX

Southlake Ground: Cross Timbers Sand Over Clay

Southlake sits in the East Cross Timbers, post oak country on sandy ground. The city's Bob Jones Park alone holds nearly 500 acres of native Cross Timbers habitat. Grapevine Lake reaches into the north end of the city.

NRCS soil maps put Gasil and Crosstell soils on about 4 in 10 acres of the city. Gasil is fine sandy loam over sandy clay loam, and it drains well. Crosstell has clay 4 to 10 inches down that shrinks and swells, and it cracks when dry.

Rader soils cover about another 18 percent, on stream terraces. Water perches above their subsoil in long wet spells from December to May. Big Bear Creek and Kirkwood Branch cross the city, and the soil maps show frequently flooded ground on creek bottoms.

For a new house, the city wants sealed foundation plans and an engineer's letter citing the soil report. That report tells us which of these soils the pad sits on. Our land grading then follows the engineer's grades and the drainage arrows on the plan.

What Does Southlake Require Before the Dirt Moves?

Under the city's building guidelines, lot grading and brush clearing wait for the right permit. That is a tree protection permit with an approved inspection, or a building permit or Earth Disturbance Permit on site. The Earth Disturbance Permit from Planning and Development Services covers regrading and excavation, from house lots to commercial sites.

For a house lot, the Earth Disturbance submittal list includes an engineered grading plan and an erosion control plan. It also asks for a tree protection plan and a stormwater plan acceptance letter from Public Works. Tree protection and erosion control must be installed and inspected before that permit issues. The only site work allowed before then is putting those controls in.

Southlake's tree ordinance, No. 585-E, protects trees 6 inches or more across at chest height. Altering a protected tree takes a tree permit unless the ordinance exempts it. One of the ordinance's stated purposes is to prohibit the clear-cutting of property.

Texas law also wants a Texas 811 request at least 48 hours before machine digging 16 inches or deeper. Weekends and legal holidays do not count toward that window. We build to the approved plans and the permits posted on the site.

Custom Home Pads on Southlake Estate and Tear-Down Lots

The 2020 Census counted 31,265 people in Southlake, and the 2025 estimate is about the same. About 94 percent of homes are detached houses, and about 95 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied. The median home was built in 1997, and about 45 percent went up in the 1990s. Land still zoned AG Agricultural carries a 10-acre minimum lot size in the zoning ordinance.

When an older house comes down, the lot starts over as a building site. The city closes out the demolition permit before it issues the new house permit. Once the old house is gone, we cut and fill the new pad to the engineer's grades. Then we compact it in lifts and shape the lot so water drains off the pad.

Every new house plan set carries a drainage and grading plan with arrows that show where water runs. A single lot outside an engineered subdivision plan needs its own engineered drainage study. At the end, the city wants a final lot drainage survey or a sealed engineer letter. Our site drainage work shapes the swales and slopes so the finished lot matches that plan.

Where a street has bar ditches, a new drive may need a culvert and its own culvert permit. A planned pond has to appear on that drainage and grading plan too. For select clients, Bankston's Builders carries the job from the pad through custom home construction.

Commercial Pads Along SH 114 and Near Southlake Town Square

The city's SH 114 Corridor Plan covers about 1,878 acres along the highway. A second plan covers about 850 acres along FM 1709 and FM 1938. Southlake Boulevard is FM 1709, and Southlake Town Square sits along it.

Town Square turned 130 acres of farmland into a town center, and Town Hall sits inside it. For commercial development, the Earth Disturbance Permit asks for engineered grading plans that Public Works accepts and stamps. It also needs the Tree Conservation Plan the City Council approved with the development.

Developments under Ordinance 1268 also have to meet the city's post-construction stormwater standards. We build commercial pads to the geotechnical report, with cut and fill and compaction in tested lifts. Detention ponds and utility trenches follow the civil plans. Once the shell is up, our commercial tenant finish out work can build out the space for the tenant.