The city’s board of adjustments held the first of two public hearings Feb. 26 to discuss the potential closings of CowTown Redi-Mix and Martin Marietta, both of which produce ready-mix concrete. A second hearing will be scheduled in the next few months, according to city staff.
“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,” Development Services Executive Director Michael Quint said in an email.
Neither plant responded to requests for comment from Community Impact Newspaper.
This potential closing would happen through amortization. This process identifies land uses that are not allowed under the current zoning and gives landowners a certain amount of time to shut down.
Some prohibited uses that “do not have an adverse impact on surrounding properties or the welfare of the community” can be allowed to continue, Quint stated. However, that is no longer the case with the CowTown and Martin Marietta plants, according to the city.
If amortization gets approved, the McKinney plants will have to cease operations, Quint said. The closure date could be years away.
The plants’ concrete operations are on land that was rezoned by the city in April 2019 for regional office use.
State officials have said the plants pose no immediate health threat. However, McKinney City Council initiated the amortization process at a Dec. 3 meeting with a resolution that cited the “numerous health and nuisance incidents” at the properties since 2017.
McKinney residents have filed complaints over the years about noise, light and dust pollution coming from the batch plants. Both plants are located within 500 feet of the nearest homes. In 2018, citations were issued to Martin Marietta for violating the city’s noise ordinance. CowTown also has violated the city’s stormwater runoff ordinances, according to Quint, and in July 2019, an estimated 8,000 pounds of cement dust were released, polluting a nearby neighborhood. Martin Marietta told state regulators that its equipment had malfunctioned.
City officials have attempted to work with the plants but have “not been able to reach an agreed solution,” the December resolution stated.
In the coming months, city staff is expected to set a date for the companies to potentially close.
