McKinney City Council members voted 5-2 to approve a zoning request for the project during an Oct. 21 meeting. Council members Patrick Cloutier and Geré Feltus cast dissenting votes after expressing concerns about rezoning property that is currently zoned for single-family development.
In a nutshell
After council action, 10.9 acres along the north side of McKinney Ranch Parkway will be zoned for multifamily residential uses, according to a city document. The zoning request was submitted by Endeavor Real Estate Group with plans to build a 336-unit apartment development at the site.
The request also included two modifications to McKinney’s typical development standards for multifamily development related to landscape buffering and maximum density. The landscape buffer will be reduced on the east and west sides of the property where it is adjacent with a utility substation and another multifamily development.
The landscaping adjustments were requested because the property is very narrow, said Zach Johnston, principal with the Endeavor Real Estate Group. Endeavor officials proposed several site enhancements to offset potential negative impacts of the modifications, such as an 8-foot-tall masonry wall adjacent to single-family uses.
More information
McKinney's Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend approval of the zoning request in September. Johnston also presented during that meeting.
Developers had initially requested an increase in maximum density to 33 units per acre, but initial plans show a smaller increase was needed, according to Johnston’s presentation. There are currently plans for 336 apartment units in total, which measures out to nearly 31 units per acre.
Those units will be spread across three buildings on the property. Two buildings on the north side of the property will be three stories tall, and the building on the south side is planned to be four stories tall.
What they’re saying
Council member Cloutier said he appreciates that Endeavor Real Estate has been a good partner to McKinney, but the “gameboard has recently changed” for McKinney. He referred to nearby properties that are currently zoned for commercial development during his comments.
“As of Sept. 1, those can be apartments, and this City Council does not get a bite of the apple,” he said.
Cloutier is referring to Senate Bill 840, which requires McKinney to permit multifamily or mixed-use residential in all nonresidential zoning districts, such as commercial districts.
Cloutier said he wants to protect any single-family zoning the city currently has. Feltus said she agreed with Cloutier’s comments and that she was hesitant to vote for rezoning property planned for single-family development.
While it was a “wonky piece of property” Feltus said she would rather see something developed for ownership, such as smaller homes or townhomes.
“We’re not short of multifamily in this area,” she said.
On the other side
Council member Rick Franklin said he’s seen a lot of properties that are crowded like this and that it was one of the “worst ones” that he’s seen. He said he wouldn’t want to own a single-family home on a property that’s crowded by multifamily or commercial development.
“You’ve done an incredible job of mitigating that for the residents out there,” Franklin said. “You’ve done an awesome job with this site plan, and I’m in favor of it.”
Council member Justin Beller said he agreed with Franklin. Beller said the city was undersupplied in housing regardless of what’s already coming. The multifamily use will serve the city better than other uses such as single-family, he said.
“This is at the intersection of two arteries near two major highways in a high-employment zone,” he said. “This is where density is designed.”
