Commissioners press developer over K Avenue rezoning for 49 attached homes; no action taken

Plano staff presented a rezoning request to convert a 6.6-acre parcel on the west side of K Avenue from corridor commercial to single-family residence attached, proposing 49 attached homes.

Staff said the site lies within a local small-area plan (referred to in the staff presentation as the area plan) and that the requested change is not fully consistent with the plan’s current guidance for corridor commercial uses. The planner noted portions of the site fall within an environmental health area and that the proposed residential use could impose new restrictions on adjacent commercial properties, including requirements tied to setback buffers and screening.

Commissioners asked detailed technical questions about access, shared driveways, median openings on K Avenue and emergency response routing. "If this property's developed with residential as proposed, then this site will no longer have access to the median opening and require additional unsafe u-turn movements to access and go northbound from that site," the planner said in response to questions about driveway spacing and median openings.

A cell-tower setback was a recurring concern: staff said the city’s formula yields a required setback of approximately 161 feet from the tower, while the tower height was described in the presentation as about 90 feet. Commissioners also raised concerns about the site’s adjacency to an existing mobile-home park zoned corridor commercial, potential air-quality/odor impacts from nearby industrial and landscaping businesses, and whether the homeowners association would be required and capable of maintaining mitigation measures such as masonry screening walls.

The applicant, identified in the public record as Noor Nordine, answered questions about access options, site layouts and mitigation. Nordine said the design team had produced multiple site plans and indicated a willingness to provide masonry screening, and noted the developer had recently met with a neighboring property owner about shared access. "We were willing to put masonry screening if needed," Nordine said.

Commissioners asked whether certain residential types are allowed in corridor commercial and whether a specific-use permit could allow some residential formats; staff noted that several residential uses require a specific-use permit or additional review, and that the subdivision ordinance requires an HOA when open-space lots are proposed.

After an extended exchange of technical questions and public testimony from the applicant, the commission did not take a final vote on the rezoning at this meeting.

Key quantitative points discussed during the hearing include: the site size (about 6.6 acres), the applicant's proposal for 49 attached residences, an applicant-reported cell-tower height of 90 feet and a setback calculation of approximately 161 feet, and staff statements that portions of the site lie in an environmental health area. Commissioners and staff requested additional coordination on shared access, driveway spacing, buffer enforcement and potential mitigation measures before a final decision.