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 15 existing restaurants that were either within 200 feet of a single-family residential use or within a shorter distance across a right of way. He also explained that affected restaurants would operate as legal nonconforming uses: they could continue under existing entitlements, but a use that ceased for more than 12 months would lose that status and an operator could not expand the degree of nonconformity without obtaining a specific use permit.

The second part of the amendment, presented by Caitlin Sheffield, a planner with the City of McKinney, creates a design-exception path for parking areas that abut single-family residential uses. Under the current Unified Development Code those parking spaces must be set back by a minimum 20-foot buffer; the amendment would allow the Planning and Zoning Commission to grant a reduction to a minimum 10-foot buffer on a case-by-case basis if the proposal meets criteria such as consistency with adjacent development and a unified landscape design.

Staff said property owners and business operators impacted by the proposed drive-through distance change received mailed notice and that staff will re-mail notices, plus publish the required legal notice, before the City Council hearing. LeBeau noted that state law requires a conspicuous, mandated notice informing owners that a change could create legal nonconforming status.

One property owner, Robert Hernandez, owner of TC Shaved Ice at 812 S. McDonald Street, came to the microphone and said he had received notice but was unsure what the change would mean for his business. “I was given a notice by someone, to be I guess, we're y'all are gonna hold a meeting, pertaining to my particular property. Not really sure what it was going to entail. I'm here,” Hernandez said. Staff told him his operation would be treated as a legal nonconforming use and that the business would not be made illegal by the amendment.

Commissioner Woodard moved to approve staff recommendations for both the drive-through and parking-buffer amendments; Commissioner Buiter seconded. The motion passed 7 to 0. The commission closed the public hearing on the item earlier by motion of Commissioner Craig and a second from Commissioner Woodard.

What this means: If the City Council adopts the same amendments, new drive-through restaurants in affected commercial and industrial zones would need to meet the distance standard or apply for a specific use permit; existing restaurants inside the distance would likely remain in operation as legal nonconforming uses but would face limitations on expansion. New or existing developments seeking a reduced parking buffer would need to apply for a design exception and would be noticed and heard publicly.

The commission discussion also noted that the design-exception route does not grant automatic approval; it simply creates a procedurally available avenue for applicants to request a reduced buffer subject to commission discretion.

The council is scheduled to receive the amendment for a final decision in May 2025; staff said they will re-notice affected owners and publish required legal notice before that hearing.