McKinney planning commission approves drive-through, parking-buffer changes and forwards amendment to council

The City of McKinney Planning and Zoning Commission on April 22, 2025 approved amendments to the Unified Development Code (Chapter 150, Section 205) that add distance requirements for drive-through restaurants and create a design-exception route to reduce residential-adjacent parking buffers. The measure passed by a 7-0 vote and will be forwarded to the City Council for final action in May 2025.

Staff said the amendments respond to direction from the City Council and a recent joint session. Cameron LeBeau, a planner for the City of McKinney, told the commission the main change would require a restaurant building and any speaker boxes to be at least 200 feet from any single-family residential use or zone. LeBeau said that distance could be reduced to 50 feet if a public right of way separated the restaurant from the residence, and that the requirement could be reduced or eliminated through a specific use permit subject to public hearings before the Planning and Zoning Commission and then Council.

LeBeau said staff identified about…