Help Manvel residents find answers

The problem

Manvel residents ask city staff the same questions again and again. Can I build on my lot? Can I split my land after I buy it? Is this a city rule or a county rule? The answers are already published, but they're spread across the city's website, the Code of Ordinances, permit forms, maps and Brazoria County's rules.

Who it's for

Manvel residents, including older residents, and small builders. Also the city's permitting staff, who answer these questions every day.

What to build

The minimum is a target, not a rule. Judges score every team with the same five criteria.

Build at minimum

A tool that:

answers common property and permit questions in plain language, using only the city's and county's published information;
shows the source for every answer, with a link;
says "I'm not sure" when it can't answer, and sends people to the city's Development Services department (opens in a new tab).

Stretch goals

Address lookup: is this address inside city limits, in the ETJ (the area just outside city limits where some city rules apply), or only in the county?
Point people to the city's Development Guide for their kind of project.
Work by voice, like a phone call.

The data

All of it is public, on the city's and county's own websites. Nothing to download from us.

Public sources for this challenge
Source	What's in it	Link
Permits	When you need a permit, checklists for common projects, and links to forms and codes	City of Manvel: Permits (opens in a new tab)
Permit forms	Every permit form, such as fence, pool, roofing, demolition and fill dirt	City of Manvel: Available Permit Applications (opens in a new tab)
Fee schedule	Fees for zoning, plats and building permits, adopted September 2026. It's a scanned PDF (10 MB, 17 pages), and the text you copy out of it has errors. Check numbers against the page	City of Manvel: Fee Schedule (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
Planning	Plats (maps that divide land into lots), splitting land, pre-development meetings and plat deadlines	City of Manvel: Planning (opens in a new tab)
Building codes	Which building codes the city uses	City of Manvel: Building and Inspections (opens in a new tab)
Code of Ordinances	The city's laws, including zoning and building rules. The online copy is current through May 2025. The site needs JavaScript, so simple scraping tools may get a blank page. Copy the sections you need by hand	Manvel Code of Ordinances on Municode (opens in a new tab)
Permit status	The city's permit portal, where people check a permit's status	City of Manvel permit portal (MyGov) (opens in a new tab)
City map	City limits, ETJ (the area just outside city limits where some city rules apply), zoning, parcels, subdivisions and flood zones (FEMA map from December 2020)	City of Manvel GIS map (opens in a new tab)
Development map	Plat approvals, new commercial building and city projects	City of Manvel Development Map (opens in a new tab)
City plans	Comprehensive plan, future land use map and thoroughfare plan	City of Manvel: Adopted Development Plans (opens in a new tab)
Development Guide	The city's guide for planning a project. It opens on a sign-in page that also offers a guest option	City of Manvel Development Guide (opens in a new tab)
County development rules	Brazoria County's subdivision rules and plat checklists, for land outside city limits	Brazoria County: Development (opens in a new tab)
County building and flood permits	Brazoria County building and floodplain permits, for land outside city limits	Brazoria County: Building Permits (opens in a new tab)
County septic permits	Forms for septic systems (the county calls them OSSF)	Brazoria County: Environmental Health forms (opens in a new tab)

Start here

No code needed: add the city's pages and PDFs as sources in Gemini Notebook, ask it the questions below, and check each answer against its source.
Writing code? Start with a few pages, not the whole website. Get answers with sources working first.

Questions residents ask

Written by the event team from the city's published pages. Not checked by city staff. Use them to build and test your tool, then check its answers against the sources above.

I want to put a shed in my backyard. Do I need a permit?
Do I need a permit to put up a fence?
How do I check on a permit I already applied for?
How much does a permit for a new house cost?
Can I do my own electrical work?
I bought 5 acres. Can I split off 1 acre so my daughter can build a house?
What is a plat, and do I need one?
Is my house inside Manvel city limits, or just in Brazoria County?
I live just outside city limits. Who gives me a building permit?
Is my lot in a flood zone, and what does that change?
Can I bring in fill dirt to raise my lot?
Who approves a septic system?
What is my property zoned, and can I run a small business from home?
My HOA (homeowners association) said yes. Do I still need a city permit?
Do I need a permit for solar panels?
How long does it take to get a permit?
Do I need a permit for a carport?
Which building code does the city use?

Some of these can't be answered from the published pages. A good tool says so and sends people to city staff, instead of guessing.

Good to know

Using the data

Use only what the city and county publish. Don't make up rules.
Show the date of each source. Rules change, and the online code can be behind.
Be gentle with the city's website. Download each page or file once. Don't run tools that hit the site again and again.
Parcel data can show owners' names. Don't put names or anyone's personal information into your tool, your slides or an AI tool.

What happens after the hackathon

Teams build one-day prototypes. The city doesn't host, support or guarantee anything built on the day.
Nothing is released under the city's name without the city's review.
Any decision about using an idea stays with the city.

How it's judged

Judges score your proof of concept with the same five criteria as every track. How judging works

Help Manvel residents find answers in the city's published information