The gist
During an Aug. 5 meeting, council members voted to approve zoning for a proposed cell tower near the intersection of Trinity Falls Parkway and Laud Howell parkway. McKinney’s Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the zoning in July.
The cell tower will be located on 1.7 acres and is expected to stand at 155 feet tall.
City staff recommended denial of the zoning request due to the structure’s proposed height and alterations to its setback requirements, according to a city document. The cell tower height is about 30 feet higher than the maximum height permitted for cell towers in any commercial area, said city Planning Manager Caitlyn Strickland.
The zoning request also requested reducing the structure setback requirement from 155 feet to 24.5 feet from the property line.
“Given the height and given the reduction of the setbacks that they are requesting, staff is not supportive,” Strickland said.
More details
The property was previously zoned as a “C2” commercial district. The planned development zoning approved by council members enables alternative development standards for the tower like height and setback.
The property is adjacent to single-family residential uses to the north and south. Land to the east is currently undeveloped and zoned for agricultural uses. Land to the west is zoned as a planned development for commercial and residential uses.
“This area is slated for quite a bit of commercial growth with multifamily, retail, restaurant per our comprehensive plan,” Strickland said.
What they’re saying
Ralph Wyngarden, senior zoning specialist with Faulk and Foster, spoke on behalf of the applicant during the meeting. The cell tower will initially host Verizon Wireless but it can accommodate up to three additional providers in the future, Wyngarden said.
“The service provided will be critical to the daily needs of residents and businesses,” he said. “It’ll support learning at home, working at home. It’ll support public safety uses, emergency alerts, 9-1-1 calls.”
Verizon has additional towers surrounding the site of the new tower which will fill a gap in coverage and provide a new capacity footprint that will offload the burden of those existing towers, Wyngarden said.
“As the applicant indicated, this is going to be an existing structure there before anybody comes out and builds so if they don’t like it they can build somewhere else,” council member Patrick Cloutier said. “But this is a public safety issue so I think it’s important that we honor it and get this infrastructure out there before the crowds come out.”
