Council reopens public hearing and tables Murphy gas-station rezoning after residents voice safety and traffic concerns

The City Council on March 31 reopened the public hearing and tabled action to April 15 on a rezoning request for 500 West University Drive that would permit a Murphy USA fueling station, after planning staff recommended denial and dozens of nearby residents urged the council to reject the proposal.

Kate Strickland, the city's planning manager, told council staff was not supportive of the requested rezoning from BG (General Business) to a Planned Development for a fuel station because the applicant proposed to reduce required street-buffer and residential-adjacency landscape dimensions and to allow fuel pumps and fueling infrastructure closer to nearby houses than the city's legacy requirement.

Strickland said the Unified Development Code includes a legacy 250-foot requirement that fuel pumps be 250 feet from residential uses; the applicant requested an encroachment, including reducing a 20-foot required street buffer down to roughly 5.85 feet at a corner segment and a 16-foot buffer between the station structure and adjacent residential property. Staff also noted that several of the nearest green areas shown on site exhibits are public right-of-way and may be reserved for future turn lanes.

Murphy USA representatives said they had worked with engineering and fire staff on a site plan that accommodates fire access and circulation, proposed a masonry-clad convenience store, a masonry trash enclosure, and a six-dispenser canopy with cross-access to an adjacent restaurant. Jeff Tucker, Murphy USA, described corporate operational standards, including interior and exterior cameras and employee training, and engineer Alan Perez presented site dimensions and dispenser-to-property-line distances. The applicant's representatives said some existing fueling stations in McKinney have comparable distances from dispensers to property lines.

Dozens of residents spoke in opposition, citing existing traffic congestion on U.S. 380, narrow neighborhood streets used as cut-throughs, safety concerns for children and pets, increased loitering and impacts from delivery trucks. Several speakers said the neighborhood already has many fueling stations along the 380 corridor. The public also submitted a petition (the applicant and staff later discussed the petition's geographic composition and whether signatures were within notification distance); an organizer said the petition included 76 signatures.

Planning & Zoning had voted 4-3 in favor of the request; Strickland said staff recommended denial based on the requested departures from buffer and pump-distance standards. After extended council discussion and legal clarification about tabling procedure, the council voted to reopen the public hearing and table the item to the April 15 meeting to allow additional discussions between the applicant and nearby residents. The council asked that both sides prepare spokespersons to summarize any meetings for the April 15 hearing.