On Feb. 26, the city's Board of Adjustments will hold the first public hearing regarding the potential closing of concrete plants CowTown Redi-Mix and Martin Marietta, both of which are located off of SH 5 and produce ready mix concrete.
This potential closing, would happen under a process known as amortization.
“Amortization is a process by which nonconforming uses may be brought into compliance with applicable zoning,” Development Services Executive Director Michael Quint said in an email.
If amortized, the plants will have to cease operations at their McKinney locations, he said.
The concrete plants' operations are technically not allowed under the current zoning, according to city staff. During an April 2019 McKinney City Council meeting, the concrete plants' properties were rezoned for “regional office” uses in an effort bring the properties into alignment with the city's long-term land-use plans.
While the plants' operations are legally not allowed under the new zoning, according to Quint, some prohibited uses are allowed to continue for a while as long as they are not causing problems. However, this is no longer the case with CowTown and Martin Marietta, according to the city.
For years McKinney residents have filed complaints about noise and dust coming from the batch plants. Both CowTown and Martin Marietta are located within 500 feet of the nearest homes. In 2018, citations were issued to Martin Marietta for violating the city's noising ordinance, and in July 2019, an estimated 8,000 pounds of cement dust was released over several hours from the plant due to an equipment malfunction.
“It’s the city staff’s opinion that the two batch plants will have a negative impact on the welfare of the community and will negatively impact adjacent properties if allowed to continue operation,” Quint said in the email.
For these reasons, city staff believes the plants' uses should be amortized.
The process started during a Dec. 3 meeting, when council passed a resolution prompting the city’s Board of Adjustments to consider amortization of the two plants.
The second step will take place during the upcoming public hearing on Feb. 26, which will be the first of two required to amortize the property. If the board sees it fit to amortize, a second public hearing will be scheduled and the city staff will work to set a compliance date for the concrete plants.
“This compliance date is the date that staff thinks allows the [concrete plants] enough time to recoup its investment in the site before formally closing,” Quint said in the email.
Martin Marietta did not respond to requests for comment from Community Impact Newspaper. CowTown declined to comment.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct the date that McKinney City Council approved the resolution.
