At their Sept. 15 meeting, commissioners split 3-3 on motions both to approve and to deny the rezoning request due to mixed opinions on adding more retail to the area.
What you need to know
The applicant is seeking to rezone 4.5 acres on the western side of Coit Marketplace, located at Coit Road and Ridgeview Drive, from regional employment to regional commercial to allow additional retail use.
City staff recommended denying the request, citing concerns about the “overabundance of retail zoning within the city” as well as inconsistencies with Plano’s comprehensive plan.
“If this property is rezoned, additional retail could be developed and further exacerbate the decline of existing retail development within this intersection,” Senior Planner Molly Coryell said. “Overall, it is not necessary or prudent to rezone property within this area to allow for the development of additional retail uses.”
Michael Doggett, engineer and representative for the applicant, said the request is to “clean up” split zoning after their staff discovered parts of the Kroger anchor site and another lot were placed in two districts.
Assistant Planning Director Michael Bell said there is some potential “retail creep” in this area, which is where developers push to expand retail zoning lot by lot.
Some context
The property expanded its regional commercial zoning in 2016 when the development began, according to city documents.
In 2021, the developer requested to rezone 4.5 acres of the property to regional commercial use, which was denied by commissioners. The current request is the same request made in 2021, Coryell said.
What they’re saying
The city received five written responses, with three nearby homeowners opposing the request, according to city documents.
Commissioner Tosan Olley said adding more retail zones doesn’t align with Plano’s long-term goals, noting the proposal and argument was the same that was made in the 2021 request.
“The city has its own objectives, which is to ... ensure that the retail environment that exists citywide, not just for this site, is managed in a healthy way,” Olley said. “You bought it with full knowledge of what the base zoning is.”
Commissioner Doug Bender said the center should be cohesive and have the same zoning across its sites.
“When this was laid out before, we probably should have zoned it all the same,” Bender said. “Building retail where people want retail and where they’re going to do business is still important.”
What’s next?
The item is set to go before Plano City Council at its Oct. 13 meeting.
