Title
Conduct a Public Hearing to Consider/Discuss/Act on a Request to Rezone the Property from "PD" - Planned Development District and "REC" - Regional Employment Center Overlay District to "PD" - Planned Development District and "REC" - Regional Employment Center Overlay District, Generally to Allow for Single Family Detached Residential, Commercial, Office, Multi-Family Residential and Civic Uses, Located on the Southwest Corner of Collin McKinney Parkway and Alma Road, and Accompanying Ordinance
Summary
MEETING DATE: November 4, 2014
DEPARTMENT: Planning
CONTACT: Michael Quint, Director of Planning
Brandon Opiela, Planning Manager
Samantha Pickett, Planner II
RECOMMENDED CITY COUNCIL ACTION:
· Staff recommends denial of the proposed rezoning request due to lack of conformance with the City Council's goal of preserving and developing the non-residential tax base.
However, should the rezoning request be approved, the applicant is requesting approval of the following special ordinance provisions:
1. The use and development of the subject property shall develop in conformance with the "PD" - Planned Development District, and as amended, except as follows:
a. The subject property shall develop in accordance with the attached Development Regulations.
b. The subject property shall develop in accordance with the attached Regulating Plan.
In Staff's professional opinion, the proposed rezoning request should be approved as it outlines a more comprehensive development scheme which is reflective of current market and land use development trends.
ITEM SUMMARY:
· The applicant is requesting to rezone approximately 78.21 acres, from "PD" - Planned Development District and "REC" - Regional Employment Center Overlay District to "PD" - Planned Development District and "REC" - Regional Employment Center Overlay District, generally to allow for a mix of single family residential, commercial, office, and multi-family residential uses constructed in an interconnected manner.
· The applicant's rezoning request incorporates a significant amount of the remaining undeveloped parcels within an area typically referred to as the Craig Ranch Town Center. The Craig Ranch Town Center was originally zoned in 2001 as part of a larger request that incorporated multiple tracts of land (approximately 1,000 acres in total) that were centered around a planned, dense, high quality, urban-style mixed-use town center. A number of projects including, but not limited to, Times Square at Craig Ranch, Cooper Fitness Center, TPC at Craig Ranch, Texas Health Outpatient Center, have been developed over the years within the town center. More recently, the McKinney Corporate Center at Craig Ranch and the Parkside at Craig Ranch multi-family have begun development along the perimeter of the town center, on the adjacent properties to the south.
· The applicant has indicated that the increased employment opportunities in the area, increased demand for residential options, and the changing market for retail space have triggered the need to revisit the overall plan for the Craig Ranch Town Center. The applicant feels that the original plan for high density, urban mixed-use development spanning such a large area is no longer feasible within the changing market and has requested to modify the vision of the Craig Ranch Town Center to accommodate the development growth in the area over the past 13 years.
· More specifically, the establishment of the McKinney Corporate Center at Craig Ranch (approximately 137 acres of a larger 270 acre employment district set aside for corporate campus/headquarters) creates a significant need for additional housing options in the area to accommodate the influx of a highly skilled workforce that the corporate center attracts. The Parkside at Craig Ranch residential development (approximately 42 acres that will provide over 2,000 residential units) is strategically located to the east of the corporate center, and can help accommodate a large portion of the employment population moving to the area. Although a large portion of the planned high density residential uses within the Craig Ranch Town Center were repositioned to the Parkside at Craig Ranch development, the applicant has indicated that additional housing options including dense single family detached units and additional multi-family residences remain necessary for continued growth in the town center and surrounding areas.
· The applicant intends to maintain higher densities and building massing at the core of the town center, while providing a gradual and natural transition to the east by incorporating standards that reduce the density of development as properties are distanced from the core of the town center.
· The applicant has provided a regulating plan which divides the subject property into multiple character districts that stipulate the permitted uses and development standards that each character district must follow.
· At the October 14, 2014 Planning and Zoning Commission, four letters of support were handed out to the Commission, which have been attached.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
· Please see attached Planning and Zoning Commission meeting Staff report.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY:
· Please see attached Planning and Zoning Commission meeting Staff report.
BOARD OR COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION:
· On October 14, 2014, the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting voted 6-0-0 to recommend approval of the rezoning request.