Planning commission deadlocks on rezoning request for Coit Marketplace; no recommendation sent to council

Plano — The Planning and Zoning Commission was unable to reach a recommendation on Sept. 15 on a request to rezone approximately 4.5 acres along State Highway 121 from the Regional Employment (RE) district to Regional Commercial (RC). The split votes (a proposed approval and then a motion to deny each failed 3–3) mean the case advances to City Council without a Planning and Zoning recommendation.

Why it matters: Staff recommended denial, saying the request conflicts with city council‑adopted policies that discourage expanding retail‑oriented zoning in established corridors. The applicant, representing United Commercial Development, said the rezoning is partly a technical cleanup of mismatched lot/zoning lines and is necessary to accommodate market‑interested retail tenants, including a prospective bank. The outcome affects what uses can be built along a major State Highway 121 intersection and whether additional retail zoning will be added to a corridor staff says already has significant retail capacity.

Staff position: Molly Coriel, interim lead planner, told commissioners that the parcel lies in the expressway corridors category of the future land use map and that the RE and RC districts are similar in physical standards but differ in allowed retail square footage. She said staff recommends denial because the proposal "does not align with the redevelopment of regional transportation corridors policy, revitalization of retail shopping centers policy, land use policy action 4 ... the retail study of underperforming and vacant retail areas, and the city of Plano shopping center review," and noted 5 responses from adjacent property owners (three opposed, one neutral, one in favor).

Applicant argument: Michael Doggett, representing the applicant, said the rezoning request is a cleanup to resolve split zoning and to allow retail tenants who are interested in the center: "This is a cleanup for not just these 2 lots ... This is also the cleanup zoning that was a mistake in the first zoning district." Jackie Wolpert, with United Commercial Development, added that the site now includes a built Kroger and that tenant interest has changed since a similar request was denied in 2021.

Key concerns in commission discussion: Commissioners weighed two competing considerations: - Policy and citywide retail strategy: Several commissioners cited comprehensive plan goals and prior studies showing an excess of retail and said the city should be cautious about adding more retail zoning. - Site coherence and market reality: Other commissioners said the property functions as one shopping center, that split zoning created an anomalous condition, and that unifying zoning would allow the center to operate cohesively and aid redevelopment where Kroger has vacated land nearby.

Votes and procedural outcome: The commission voted on a motion to approve the rezoning request; that motion failed 3–3. A subsequent motion to deny as recommended by staff also failed 3–3. The chair announced, "this moves forward with no recommendation from planning and zoning to city council." No formal amendments were adopted by the commission.

What the record shows and what remains open: Staff documented examples of uses allowed in RC but not RE (car washes, superstores, vehicle rental, garden centers) and said RE allows employment‑generating uses, banks and medical offices but limits retail square footage. The applicant said some lot lines are split across zoning boundaries and that unifying zoning would remove that split. The commission did not adopt conditions; City Council will consider the case without a planning commission recommendation. The transcript does not record a final roll‑call naming how each commissioner voted on the motions.