Title
Consider/Discuss/Act on a Resolution Supporting the Approval of the Site Plan and Design Exceptions to a Site Plan for for the Airport Services Terminal Facilitiesan Airport Terminal (McKinney National Airport), Located at 1915 FM 546
Summary
COUNCIL GOAL: Maximize the Development Potential of McKinney National Airport
(3A: Implement initiatives and strategies, including public-private partnerships, to attract and expand corporate and commercial aviation including the viability of passenger service.)
MEETING DATE: January 7, 2025
DEPARTMENT: Airport
CONTACT: Ken Carley, Airport Director
Barry Shelton, Assistant City Manager
RECOMMENDED CITY COUNCIL ACTION:
• Staff recommends approval of the resolution.
ITEM SUMMARY:
• The City of McKinney is proposing to construct a 48,000 square foot airport terminal (McKinney National Airport) on 38.65 acres at the 1915 FM 546.
• On January 14, 2025, the Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing to consider/discuss/act on a site plan for The City of McKinney’s proposed construction of a 48,000 square foot airport terminal (McKinney National Airport) on 38.65 acres at 1915 FM 546.
• The applicant is requesting the following design exceptions for the proposed site plan:
1. A Design Exception to Section 206A.5.c. to reduce the required tree planting ratio within the street buffer.
2. A Design Exception to Section 206A.5.c. to reduce the required tree planting ratio within the parking area.
• Approval of this resolution will express the City Council’s support for the Planning and Zoning Commission’s approval of the proposed site plan and requested design exceptions.
LANDSCAPING REQUIREMENTS: The applicant has requested Design Exceptions to Section 206A.5.c. to reduce the required tree planting ratios within the street buffer and the parking area.
Airfields (commonly known as the "air side" of an airport's perimeter boundary fence or wall) which accommodate fixed-wing aircraft on a concrete runway with a length of at least 5,000 feet and allow for the operation of rotary-wing aircraft shall be exempt from the landscape requirements of Section 206A.5.c.
Trees serve as attractants to birds and other wildlife as potential habitats, which can be dangerous with the project’s location immediately adjacent to an airport runway. While the proposed parking area and street buffer are not considered to be on the “air side” of the airport’s perimeter boundary fence, Staff understands the concern of providing trees this close to the airport runway.
The subject property is included as part of the McKinney National Airport Master Plan, and the proposed terminal is Phase 1 of the airport’s eastside improvements. Future phases have the potential to develop within the proposed parking area shown with this site plan package, which would ultimately remove the required trees as development occurs.
In lieu of street buffer trees, the applicant proposes to provide berms with additional shrubs and other plantings to help screen the parking lot and airport improvements from parts of the adjacent rights-of-way. The applicant has also worked with Staff to preserve trees on and near the subject property that would otherwise be removed with development of the tract.
Given the location of the subject property immediately adjacent to the existing McKinney National Airport runway, future phases included within the Master Plan, additional landscaping features proposed, and the preservation of additional trees, Staff recommends approval of the requested Design Exception.