McKinney | Plats, Permits and Fees

McKinney Plats, Permits and Fees: Plat Types, Deadlines and What the City Charges

A McKinney project passes through a plat, the recorded map that divides land into lots, under Article 3 of the Unified Development Code (UDC), and a building permit. Along the way the City charges application fees, park fees under Sec. 309, and impact fees under Chapter 130. Article 3 was restated on March 3, 2026, and the zoning and plat fees changed on October 5, 2026. The McKinney overview gives the short version.

When a Plat Is Required

Article 3 applies inside the city and in its extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), the unincorporated land outside the city limits where the City applies its plat rules, whenever an owner "desires to subdivide the land into two or more parts." Sec. 301C.1 requires a plat or replat before any of these steps:

• dividing a tract into parts when any part is five acres or less, or when any part over five acres lacks access;
• connecting to a public utility or roadway, or building streets, utilities or drainage;
• the City issuing a permit for any building on the tract; and
• additions, alterations or repairs on unplatted property that exceed 50 percent of the building's value within 12 months.

Two exemptions apply. In the ETJ, since September 5, 2017, no plat is needed to build or remodel one house and its accessory buildings on a single undivided tract that is not being split off. Inside the city, Sec. 301C.2.b, put back by the March 2026 amendments, allows a permit for one house on an unplatted lot that faces a dedicated street and was owned in that shape before the subdivision rules or annexation. Article 3 also says that land inside the city must have permanent zoning before a plat is filed for recording.

Plat Types and How Long Approval Lasts

Source: McKinney UDC Sec. 305A to 305F, as adopted by Ordinance No. 2026-03-028, March 3, 2026.

The five-year limit has an exception: a final plat's approval "shall remain valid indefinitely as long as consistent progress toward the filing of the final plat is demonstrated," and it ends if no progress is shown for 180 days after the five years. Minor plats, replats and amending plats follow the same rule. Sec. 301D.2 lets the Planning and Zoning Commission grant one extension of up to a year for good cause, asked for in writing at least 30 days before the approval runs out.

Each residential plat for houses, duplexes, triplexes or quadplexes includes a setback exhibit, a separate plan at the same scale showing the setback lines, and a table of every lot's size. Plats with SB 15 small lots carry a printed note. Apartment and commercial projects inside the city need an approved site plan before a preliminary, final or minor plat can be filed. Before recording, the City needs a certificate from the county tax assessor-collector that taxes are paid, and the public improvements must be built and accepted, or covered by a facilities agreement.

Who Decides, and the 30-Day Rule

Sec. 301B says that "In accordance with TLGC §212.0065, the City Council delegates authority to the Director of Planning to approve, approve with conditions, or disapprove a plat," and that the Director "may, for any reason, elect to present the plat to the municipal authority for action." Sec. 303C has the Director act under Local Government Code 212.009, 212.0091, 212.0093 and 212.0095.

Section 212.009 requires a decision "within 30 days after the date the plat is filed," and "A plat is approved by the municipal authority unless it is disapproved within that period." McKinney sets the filing date in Sec. 303B as "the date on which a full and complete application is received by the City," with all documents and fees. An incomplete application is returned with no action, and Sec. 303B says a staff check for completeness does not vest rights under Local Government Code chapter 245, the state law that freezes the rules in force when a complete application is filed.

If the Director conditions or disapproves a plat, the conditions or reasons go in a letter, and the applicant may answer in writing. Under Section 212.0095 the City then has 15 days to decide. Sec. 306A lets an applicant whose plat staff disapproved appeal to the City Council "within 21 days of the denial," and says the appeal is not a new filing under chapter 212, so the Council is not held to the 30-day or 15-day deadlines. A variance from Article 3 goes to the City Council, or to the Planning and Zoning Commission when no Council meeting falls within the state deadline; "Pecuniary interests standing alone shall not be justification" for one.

Replats in Residential Areas

A replat divides land that is already platted. Sec. 305D follows Local Government Code 212.015, which applies when, in the last five years, the land was zoned for no more than two homes per lot, or deed restrictions limited any lot in the earlier plat to two homes. A replat of such land that needs a variance must have a public hearing, with notice published and mailed to owners in the original subdivision within 200 feet before the 15th day before the hearing. Owners of 20 percent of that land may protest, and the replat then needs three-fourths of the members present. A replat with no variance needs no hearing, and the City mails notice of the approval to owners within 200 feet no later than 15 days after approval.

McKinney's text names "each lot owner of record within 200 feet" for the approval notice. Section 212.015(f) names owners "in the original subdivision" within 200 feet, and Section 212.015(g) requires the notice to state the new zoning and a phone number and email for questions. The City's wording reaches more owners, and the statute sets the notice contents.

Zoning and Plat Fees From October 5, 2026

Sec. 109 of the UDC sends all fees to Appendix A, the Schedule of Fees in the Code of Ordinances, and says they are paid when an application is filed, "regardless of the action taken." Ordinance No. 2026-10-112, passed October 5, 2026 and "effective immediately upon passage," replaced the zoning and plat fee sections, 150-203A and 150-303C.

Source: McKinney Ordinance No. 2026-10-112, Sections 3 and 4, amending Appendix A Secs. 150-203A and 150-303C. The county clerk's recording fee is added when a plat or facilities agreement is recorded.

By VanPlex arithmetic, a final plat for 10 townhome lots costs $325 plus $150, or $475, and a replat that splits one platted lot into two costs $355. The fee list names preliminary, final, conveyance and amending plats and replats, with no separate line for a minor plat, so ask the Planning Department which line it uses for one.

Building Permit Fees and Deadlines

Building permit fees are in Appendix A, Sec. 122-29. VanPlex read them in the Supplement 37 archive on municode, where the section was last amended by Ordinance No. 2022-11-131. The City's yearly fee ordinances of September 2023, September 2024 and September 2025, and the draft for 2026, list the sections they change, and Sec. 122-29 is not among them.

Source: McKinney Code of Ordinances, Appendix A, Sec. 122-29, Supplement 37 archive. The single-family line reads "detached and attached, including duplex and townhome."

By VanPlex arithmetic, a 3,600 square foot duplex comes to $2,448 plus the $100 plan review. The single-family line does not name a triplex or fourplex, so ask the Building Inspections Department which schedule applies. Under the commercial and multi-family schedule, which is based on the cost of the work, $800,000 of work comes to $3,233.75 plus 300 times $4.75, or $4,658.75. Reinspections cost $50, $75 and then $100. Sec. 302B.2 of Article 3 says permits expire two years after issue, or two years after application if none is issued, unless the work shows continuous progress.

Local Government Code 214.904 gives the City until the 45th day after a permit application to grant or deny it, give written reasons why it cannot yet decide, or agree on a deadline in writing. After written reasons, it has 30 more days. A city that misses the deadline "may not collect any permit fees associated with the application" and must refund those it collected.

Park Land and Park Development Fees

Sec. 309 applies to every new residential development inside the city, with exemptions for the ETJ, remodels that add no homes, assisted living, and the McKinney Town Center district. Each project owes two things. The first is parkland: "One acre outside of floodplain per 37 Units," with three acres of floodplain counting as one acre and no more than 20 percent of a park site in a floodplain, or a fee in place of land equal to the market value of the acres owed. The City "generally will not accept dedications of land for parks that are less than 10 acres." The fee uses the land value per acre in the latest Collin Central Appraisal District appraisal, and in the Historic Neighborhood Improvement Zone that value is capped at $300,000 per acre for infill homes under Ordinance No. 2026-09-111.

The second is a park development fee. Table 3-2 sets the full amount at $1,993 per single-family home and $1,631 per multi-family home, with a City Council discount schedule: $1,400 and $1,600 for "2026 and beyond," unless the Council changes it. Both are due "at the time of plat recordation for single-family and duplex residential units, and prior to the issuance of any building permits for all other residential development."

By VanPlex arithmetic, 4 houses on land the appraisal district values at $400,000 per acre owe 4/37 of an acre, or $43,243 in place of land, plus $5,600 in park development fees. A developer who builds private park amenities may get credit for up to 50 percent of the development fee. Mixed-use residential buildings get a 25 percent cut in the land requirement. Homes for households at or below 120 percent of Area Median Income get a 50 percent cut in land and owe no development fee, with a recorded covenant of at least 50 years. Fees not spent within 15 years may be refunded on written request.

Impact Fees

An impact fee is a one-time charge on new development that pays for the added public pipes and roads the development needs, under Local Government Code chapter 395. McKinney has two sets in Chapter 130. Article II sets water and wastewater fees by meter. Its service unit is "a ¾-inch water meter which is the typical water meter used for a single-family detached living unit." Article III sets roadway fees, where a service unit is "one vehicle mile of travel in the afternoon peak hour of traffic," counted by land use.

The dollar amounts sit in schedules attached to Ordinance Nos. 2020-12-091 (roads) and 2020-12-092 (water and wastewater) and are not printed in the code. VanPlex could not open those schedules as adopted, so this page gives no amounts. The rate a project pays depends on when its final plat was recorded, with tables for plats before September 1, 2003 and for each later period. Water and wastewater fees are collected with the building permit or the utility connection, whichever comes first (Sec. 130-28), and roadway fees with the building permit (Sec. 130-110). Ask the Engineering Department for the fee for your meter size and land use.

The fees are under review. A City presentation to the City Council and the Capital Improvements Advisory Committee, filed on Legistar as "McKinney Impact Fees 101 - 06-09-2026," says impact fees "Must be updated at least every five (5) years" and presents draft land use assumptions, the growth forecast an update starts from. Ordinance No. 2026-05-061, adopted May 19, 2026, set the Capital Improvements Advisory Committee at seven members, at least half of them from the real estate, development and building industries.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the McKinney overview, how Texas zoning works, and Texas property tax.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)