Parking in booming downtown McKinney continues to be an area of concern for residents, business owners and city officials. A November 2015 bond proposition for a parking garage on Church Street failed because of its proposed location. After several McKinney City Council discussions in the months since, the city has created a parking committee to study the issue and make recommendations. Rick Wells, co-owner of downtown restaurants Harvest Seasonal Kitchen and Rick’s Chophouse, said parking problems greatly affect his businesses. “We are slowly but surely going to stop commerce because we do not have places to park,” Wells told council during a Feb. 16 meeting. “A beautiful older lady walked out of Harvest the other day. She said her daughter had been circling the square seven times, and she was leaving because she couldn’t find a place to park. I told her I was sorry because I knew exactly how she felt.” City officials say the issue may not be a lack of parking spaces, but a lack of awareness of additional places to park outside the square’s inner parking ring. Assistant City Manager Barry Shelton said he has been studying the parking situation in downtown McKinney for years. “The amount of spaces we have downtown is adequate,” Shelton said. “The problem is that it is not located directly on the square or in what we call ‘the first ring.’” Parking is not only an issue during lunch and dinner, officials said, but throughout the day as more businesses are moving downtown and word of the city’s historic square has spread. McKinney Mayor Brian Loughmiller said the parking issue could affect downtown’s ability to be competitive with nearby cities. “People will drive downtown, and if they can’t find something right on the square, they leave even though there might be a nearby lot with spaces available,” he said. “In terms of competing with other areas that have retail or restaurants, that’s a problem. Ultimately, the question is this: Can the downtown area remain competitive with other areas both in and out of McKinney if there is a capacity problem in terms of parking?”

Development adding to the issue

According to a 2014 parking study, downtown McKinney has a total of  2,576 parking spaces—1,266 are located in parking lots, 457 are street parking and 853 are private parking spaces. The availability of 523 parking spaces will soon  temporarily come to an end as the city begins to develop its 9-acre site to the south and east of the square this fall. More than 440 public parking spaces will be added back to the site once development is complete, but that will not be for several months after construction on the site is complete. Two new office buildings at the corner of Chestnut and Virginia streets and one on Hunt Street are under construction. All three buildings are located just outside the historic square and will supply parking for employees However, because the city wants denser development downtown, current zoning does not require builders to supply public parking in addition to employee parking. Officials said requiring downtown developers to supply public parking would take away from the ambience provided by the area’s historic design that has made the area so popular. Therefore, downtown zoning also creates a larger demand for public parking structures, according to the parking study. With more businesses opening and development happening downtown, the parking committee is looking at ways to solve current parking problems with an eye on potential future problems as the area continues to grow. The committee has been asked to consider options that would include a new City Hall at some point in the future, which could include a parking structure that would serve not only city employees but also downtown shoppers and diners. “The discussion of the new City Hall was not to create a way to fund a new parking garage,” Loughmiller said. Loughmiller said many residents and downtown business owners questioned the city’s selection of the proposed site for the failed bond-funded parking garage. In addition to adequate surrounding infrastructure, such as streets that could handle the traffic flow in and out of the garage, Loughmiller said,  some  of the available city-owned sites were already earmarked for potential municipal center locations. Thus, committee has been asked to look at city-owned land in downtown McKinney, available land east of SH 5 and to consider the northern portion of the city as well for potential future City Hall locations. “Downtown is really successful now, and I think there was a time when people thought moving City Hall from downtown would be devastating and I think that is no longer the case,” said Council Member Tracy Rath. “I think [moving City Hall] is a conversation that needs to be had, and all options should be explored when we talk about future growth and ultimately where our City Hall should end up.”

Committee progress

The parking committee consists of city-appointed residents and stakeholders from east and west McKinney. Loughmiller and Rath are also on the committee. The committee is expected to present its recommendations to the council by May 16. The committee is looking into immediate solutions, including better lighting and new signage directing drivers to existing lots. The committee is also looking into the availability of land for additional parking lots, including the possibility of leasing land from First United Methodist Church. Space at Wysong Park could be turned into a parking lot as well. The committee has instructed city staff to also look into any other suitable locations, Shelton said. Rath said a mobile parking application is also being discussed, as is a city-wide communication plan. “We need to discuss all of those things,” Loughmiller said. “The purpose of the committee is to discuss the issue and its solution, if there is one. We have heard suggestions from everything from reducing the three-hour parking to a lesser time period and what to do in terms of structured parking.” Long-term solutions include parking garages. Shelton said the ultimate number of parking garages downtown greatly depends on the number of new developments. Shelton said the committee has funding options and will make recommendations May 16 on how to fund both short- and long-term solutions. Options include using $2.5 million from a 2010 bond, existing tax increment reinvestment zone funds generated from downtown businesses, general fund dollars and future bond dollars. Loughmiller said because the bond for the parking garage failed last year, the city cannot by law hold a bond election specific to a stand-alone parking garage for three years. “Now, you can tie [a garage] into another project,” he said. “But the community will have to understand what we can and cannot do according to the law. We can’t just go out and hold another bond election on a parking garage.”