Plano staff outlines state laws that will change where and how multifamily, small-lot housing and office conversions are allowed

Plano — Planning staff presented a package of proposed zoning and subdivision changes on July 21 to comply with three state bills passed in the 2025 legislative session: Senate Bill 15 (small-lot single-family), Senate Bill 840 (multifamily and mixed-use residential in nonresidential districts and conversions) and Senate Bill 2477 (office-to-multifamily conversions). The commission provided direction to staff on an initial set of ordinance amendments.

City staff told commissioners the bills apply to municipalities with populations over 150,000 (Plano qualifies) and to counties over 300,000; the laws restrict what a city may require for properties that meet the bills’ thresholds. Key changes: SB 15 requires cities to allow a small-lot single-family subdivision (minimum lot size 3,000 square feet, minimum lot width 30 feet) on continuous unplatted tracts of 5 acres or more that are zoned for single-family; SB 840 requires cities to allow multifamily or mixed-use residential in any district that allows office, commercial, retail, warehouse or mixed-use, with limits on allowable parking, height, setbacks and density; SB 2477 clarifies office conversions to residential use.

City staff proposed four primary implementation goals: preserve Plano’s economic-development areas (for example, Research & Technology and Commercial Employment districts), protect neighborhood compatibility, ensure adequate infrastructure capacity and require well-built multifamily and mixed-use developments. To meet those goals staff presented a suite of draft approaches: create use-specific standards for small-lot single-family; require alleys and certain street-design elements for small-lot subdivisions; create minimum design, unit-size and amenity standards for multifamily and mixed-use developments; set district-level minimum heights in select nonresidential districts so developments built under SB 840 meet a higher construction and design standard; and adjust landscaping, stormwater, subdivision and traffic-analysis requirements to ensure adequate infrastructure and environmental protections.

Staff also recommended removing multifamily as an allowed use in the Residential Conservation District (RCD) to avoid nonconformities, and asked the commission whether single-family product types (patio homes, duplexes, stacked townhomes) should be allowed in some nonresidential districts as an option. Commissioners discussed restricting small-lot single-family to areas with certain lot or block patterns, requiring rear alleys where lots are narrow, and using minimum unit sizes and facade articulation to preserve quality. Commissioners asked staff to pursue a revised overlay for expressway-fronting parcels that retains protections the city can still require — for example, air-intake location and mechanical filtration — and to consider signage or a modest fee to fund public-notice mailings explaining where the new state standards apply.

Planning staff said they will bring draft ordinance language to a joint work session with council on Aug. 4, a Planning & Zoning public hearing on Aug. 6 and a council hearing Aug. 25 so changes can be in place before the state laws take effect on Sept. 1.