During Tuesday's City Council meeting, council members gave City Manager Paul Grimes the go ahead to enter into a development agreement with a private land owner in downtown McKinney for the schematic design of a parking garage.

The garage, which would be located near the northeast corner of Chestnut and Virginia streets, could include up to 300 spaces.

Council members said the agreement only calls for the schematic design of the garage and does not mean the city is bound to develop the garage.

During the meeting, council member Rainey Rogers asked city staffers if it would be likely the city would have funding to build a parking garage without holding another bond election. Assistant City Manager Barry Shelton said the city would be looking to spend roughly $15 million to build a garage on a city-owned site downtown, which would likely require a bond.

However, McKinney Mayor Brian Loughmiller said Council could not hold another bond election for a parking garage for three years, according to state law. He also said that though the downtown tax increment reinvestment zone could provide funding to build a garage, Council did not want to spend those funds on a garage at this time.

According to the agreement, the property owners are willing to construct a 300-parking-space garage on a portion of their property on their own dime and then allow the city to lease the garage with an option to buy. Loughmiller said the city was not going to consider constructing the garage until staffers know what type of garage they could get, the number of spaces that would be within the garage and how much the project would cost.