Council clears multiple land‑use items: hangar homes rezoning, commercial rezoning, drive‑through SUP and UDC tweaks

The McKinney City Council approved several land‑use items on March 3, including rezoning that would allow single‑family hangar homes in an airpark community, a commercial rezone at Virginia Parkway and South Jordan Road, a specific‑use permit for a drive‑through restaurant, and a series of Unified Development Code (UDC) and subdivision ordinance amendments.

Lucas Raley, director of planning, described the PD amendment allowing hangar‑home single‑family development as consistent with a nearby approval; the Planning & Zoning Commission recommended approval and council voted 6–0 to adopt the rezoning. The applicant said remaining lots are planned for single‑family hangar homes and described runway access via private streets.

In a separate item, the council rezoned about 6 acres at the southwest corner of Virginia Parkway and South Jordan Road from agricultural/PD to C2 (local commercial). Planning staff noted P&Z recommended approval 5–2 and that traffic impacts will be evaluated at the site‑plan stage. Didi Schultz, director of the Heritage Learning Center (S18), urged council to consider traffic safety and the potential oversaturation of childcare providers; the council closed the hearing and approved the rezoning 6–0.

The council also considered a specific‑use permit for a drive‑through restaurant requiring exceptions to minimum distances for drive‑through speaker boxes and a reduced landscape buffer. Staff recommended denial because the request did not meet the updated UDC requirements; the applicant said the design includes automatic volume control, a 12‑foot tree buffer, an existing 8‑foot masonry wall and restricted hours (10 a.m.–10 p.m.). After hearing the applicant, the council approved the SUP per the applicant’s request.

Finally, chief planner Caitlin Sheffield presented a set of UDC 'fine‑tuning' and procedural amendments — editorial corrections, procedural updates for tree permits and exhibits, adjustments to historic preservation review authority, allowances to consider traditional multifamily via SUP in C2, parking ratio changes and tree‑preservation clarifications — and council adopted the amendments. Council also approved proposed subdivision ordinance adjustments to allow one building permit for a single‑family building on an unplotted lot facing a dedicated street.

Next steps: applicants proceed to site‑plan review where traffic, landscaping and other engineering requirements will be evaluated; staff will implement adopted UDC and subdivision code changes.