Representatives of the McKinney Islamic Association presented a rezoning request that would allow for the construction of a 37,000-square-foot mosque at the meeting. Planning and zoning commission members voted unanimously to recommend denial of the request. Commission member Bry Taylor was absent from the meeting.
The details
The worship center is proposed to be built on a 5 acre site at the southeast corner of Virginia Parkway and Crutcher Crossing.
The site is subject to a zoning restriction that limits any building on the site to be no larger than 15,000 square feet. The same zoning restriction affected the development of the nearby Tivona Event Center project.
The rezoning request for the project would allow for the construction of a singular, 37,000-square-foot building rather than multiple buildings limited to 15,000 square feet each, according to city documents. The proposed zoning is similar to the existing zoning in regards to requirements for parking, screening and permitted uses but differs primarily in the requirements related to building size, said Jake Bennett, a planner with the city of McKinney.
City staff recommended the request be approved due to the adjacency of a signalized intersection along Virginia Parkway, the existing natural buffer of a wooded creek along the southern border of a property and minimal changes between the existing and proposed zoning, Bennett said.
Diving deeper
McKinney Islamic Association President Samad Syed said the organization, which has been in McKinney since 2013, is looking to build the new facility to serve its growing population. The organization purchased the land in November 2022.
Its current facility located on Eldorado Parkway near Hardin Boulevard has 45 parking spaces. The organization partnered with a nearby grocery store to utilize additional spaces in their lot, Syed said.
Richard Brown, the architect for the project, said the facility’s sanctuary space would be able to accommodate between 500-600 people, and the facility would include prayer areas, educational space, meeting space and a gymnasium. The site would also have about 300 parking spots, he said.
The facility will host prayer five times each day with between 10-40 people at each session, Syed said, as well as larger prayer sessions on Friday afternoons.
What they’re saying
Over 60 people spoke in opposition or submitted a written stance of opposition at the meeting, with less than 10 speaking or submitting a written stance in support of the request.
Residents of the adjacent Stone Brooke Crossing neighborhood spoke at the meeting, with many citing concerns about the size of the proposed building. Planning and Zoning Commission member Steve Lebo also expressed concern for the size of the building prior to making a motion to recommend denial of the request.
“It’s a massive building that doesn’t fit in a single family home area,” Stone Brooke Crossing resident David Nobles said.
Speakers also noted the proposed number of parking spaces may not be sufficient to support the mosque’s operations. Stone Brooke Crossing resident Gina Duran said the land is too small for the facility, and she anticipates that the nearby neighborhoods and businesses will see overflow parking as a result.
“The problem is that the residents there have no say in whether someone parks on their street or not, so they could take up two or three streets ... and no one can do anything about it,” Duran said.
Duran also said that utilizing narrow neighborhood streets for overflow parking could present a safety issue due to decreased access for first responders in the event of an emergency.
Some of the other concerns shared included environmental impacts to the creek and treeline, lack of privacy due to the scale of the building and increased traffic that could cause a bottleneck at the entrance to the neighborhood.
On the other hand
Molly Baum, a senior pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in McKinney, said she is in support of the project because she has lived near the organization’s current location and has considered them to be “conscientious neighbors,” she said.
Syed said he did not expect the opposition from community members at the meeting, calling it a “huge surprise.” He noted that the organization is aiming to help the community better understand the operations and logistics of the mosque.
“There is concern, we understand that, we're looking into that,” Syed said. “There's a huge responsibility on us to educate the neighbors that have concerns.”
Brown said the project could move forward without the zoning change if it was developed as multiple smaller buildings rather than one larger building.
“It is allowed whether we get the zoning change or not,” he said. “We’d have to do some juggling around to get it in multiple pieces if we’re required to observe the 15,000-square-foot per building regulation. Whereas if we can put it all together, I think it makes a much more cohesive project.”
Looking ahead
The project will be presented to city council members for action at a Aug. 6 meeting.
A site plan for the project will be required to be submitted when the project moves forward but the timing for when that is submitted is up to the applicant, Bennett said. Brown said he expects the site plan will be submitted in the coming weeks. A traffic study will be completed for the site as well, he said.
If the rezoning request is not approved, Syed said he expects that the project will move forward with a design featuring multiple smaller buildings that complies with the existing zoning. He noted that this plan would include an increase in construction costs.
