What happened?
Council members unanimously approved the zoning request during a Sept. 2 meeting. The action authorizes light industrial zoning for two tracts of land totaling 62.9 acres. City staff did not recommend approval since the city’s comprehensive plan envisions entertainment uses along the SH 121 corridor.
“Staff feels that industrial uses along 121 does not align with our comprehensive plan for the entertainment center placetype,” City Planning Manager Caitlyn Strickland said. “As such, the C3 designation ... is a much better fit for the 121 corridor.”
Bob Roeder, a director and shareholder with Abernathy, Roeder, Boyd & Hullett, spoke on behalf of VanTrust, the applicant, during the meeting.
“We’re here tonight because this property, my client’s property, does not lend itself for a commercial-, retail-, entertainment-type use,” Roeder said.
Instead, VanTrust officials intend to build five buildings for low-impact industrial uses under the city’s “L1” light industrial zoning.
The details
McKinney’s “L1” light industrial zoning allows for a range of lower-intensity industrial uses, according to the city’s unified development code. Warehouse uses, office uses and more are permitted by right under the zoning.
The land is located next to a single-family residential neighborhood directly north, undeveloped land to the east and a utility substation to the west. More light industrial development is planned south of SH 121 in the city of Allen.
A site layout attached to Roeder’s presentation plans for more than 760,000 square feet across five buildings. The maximum building height allowed under light industrial zoning is 45 feet, according to McKinney’s unified development code.
Roeder said traffic generated by the industrial development will be concentrated on SH 121’s access road, and there should be no traffic going through the neighborhood north of the property. The development will generate little traffic after 5 p.m., he said.
VanTrust is a national development firm that manages multiple properties across the country, according to its website. Roeder said building light industrial developments and maintaining them is VanTrust’s “core business.”
“My client doesn’t build these, rent them up and then sell them,” Roeder said. “My client puts this in its portfolio that it’s had for years and years. It operates it with its own forces, maintains it with its own forces.”
