McKinney | Zoning Districts

McKinney Zoning Districts: Which Districts Allow Duplexes, Quadplexes and Apartments

McKinney zones all land inside its city limits. The zoning district of a lot decides how many homes it can hold, and the rules are in Article 2 of the City's Unified Development Code (UDC), Chapter 150 of the Code of Ordinances. The City Council adopted the UDC on November 15, 2022 and restated Article 2 in full on March 3, 2026, by Ordinance No. 2026-03-027. This page lists the districts, what each one allows, and how a rezoning or a protest works. The McKinney overview gives the short version.

Where the Zoning Rules Are

The UDC brings the City's development rules into one chapter. Sec. 102 says it "consolidates development-related regulations, including zoning, subdivision, signage, fencing, and stormwater standards." Article 2 holds zoning, Article 3 subdivisions, Article 4 trees, Article 7 fences, Article 8 stormwater and floodplains, and Article 9 the definitions.

The copy of the Code of Ordinances on municode, the online code library the City uses, is labeled "Supplement 37 archive" and is codified through Ordinance No. 2022-12-145 of December 20, 2022. Its Chapter 150 page is empty. For that reason VanPlex read the zoning text from the adopted ordinance itself. Ordinance No. 2026-03-027 says Article 2 "is hereby amended and shall read as indicated in Exhibit 'B'," and that exhibit is the whole article.

Sec. 103 sets the tie-breaker when two rules conflict: "the provision that is more restrictive or particular shall govern." Sec. 105 says the code does not repeal private deed restrictions, and that a deed restriction does not excuse a failure to meet the code. It also says the City has no duty to monitor or enforce private covenants.

The Ten Residential Districts

Table 2-1 in Sec. 204B lists the districts. The ten residential ones are in the table below, with the smallest lot area each allows and the homes it permits. A placetype, which each district's purpose statement mentions, is a land use category in the City's ONE McKinney 2040 Comprehensive Plan, the long-range plan the Council uses when it weighs a rezoning.

Source: McKinney UDC Secs. 204B and 204D to 204M, Tables 2-1 and 2-3 to 2-12, and Table 2-26, as adopted by Ordinance No. 2026-03-027.

The other districts are commercial and office (C1, C2, C3, O1, O2), Agriculture (AG), Airport (AP), Light and Heavy Industrial (I1, I2), Government Complex (GC), McKinney Town Center (MTC) and Planned Development (PD). On top of these sit three overlay districts, which add rules to the base district without replacing it: the H Historic Overlay, the HC Highway Commercial Overlay and the TMN Traditional McKinney Neighborhood Overlay. Sec. 204B.2 says an overlay rule applies "regardless of whether they are more or less restrictive than the base zoning district," except in the HC Overlay.

Sec. 204C says the Official Zoning Map is kept by the Planning Department, and the Director of Planning decides where a boundary falls when the map is unclear. A person who says the map is wrong "bears the burden of providing proof," including the ordinances that were left off.

Old District Names Still on Older Papers

The 2022 code renamed districts instead of moving lines on the map. Sec. 204B.3 says the UDC "does not rezone property" and that the earlier districts were consolidated and "collectively renamed." A lot zoned under an old name now follows the rules of the new district. This matters when a plat, a deed or an old zoning letter uses a name the current code no longer prints:

• R12: SF12 and RS 120.
• R8: SF10, SF8 and RS 84.
• R6: SF7.2, RS 72 and RS 60.
• R5: SF5. R3 has no older match.
• TR1.8: TH Townhome, RS 45, RD 30 and DR Duplex, and RG 27.
• MR: RG 25 and RG15 [18] General Residence.
• MF36: MF-1, MF-2 and MF-3, and MF30.

MF36 is the newest name. The City staff presentation for the September 2025 amendments, agenda item 25-0004M2, proposed to change "MF-30" to "MF-36," and said the change was "Required to allow a maximum density of 36 dwelling units per acre," the floor SB 840 set for apartments. The March 2026 Table 2-1 lists MF36.

What Each District Allows

Table 2-26 in Sec. 205B is the table of uses. Its letters mean: P, permitted by right; C, permitted by right if the use meets extra conditions in Sec. 205; S, allowed only with a specific use permit from the City Council; A, allowed only as an accessory use, meaning one that sits beside a main use on the same lot. Sec. 205B.1 says "A blank cell indicates that the use is prohibited."

Source: McKinney UDC Table 2-26, as adopted March 3, 2026. VanPlex read the cells by the position of each letter on the PDF page.

Sec. 205D defines the building types. A duplex is "A single structure designed and constructed with two dwelling units under a single roof" on one lot; a triplex has three and a quadplex four. A single-family attached home, often called a townhome, sits on its own platted lot and is joined to the next home by a party wall, the shared wall between two homes. Cottage multi-family is a lot with three or more homes where "Each individual building shall contain no more than eight dwelling units." Traditional multi-family is a lot of five or more homes, with "No less than five dwelling units" in each building.

Two group homes appear in every house district with conditions. A community care home is limited to six residents with disabilities and two staff, and a new one may not open within a half-mile of another group living use (Sec. 205E.2). The backyard cottages and duplexes page and the townhomes and multifamily page give the size rules for each type.

Apartments on Commercial Land and SB 840

SB 840 added chapter 218 to the Local Government Code. Section 218.101 requires a covered city to allow multifamily housing "in a zoning classification that allows office, commercial, retail, warehouse, or mixed-use use," and bars the city from requiring a rezoning, variance or "special use permit" first. Land within 3,000 feet of an airport and classifications that allow heavy industrial use are left out.

McKinney wrote its response into Table 2-26 in September 2025. Each "C" cell for apartments in a commercial or office district points to the same conditions: "The use is permitted by operation of law pursuant to TLGC §218," and the site must meet the design standards in Sec. 206G.6. Those standards cap density at 36 homes per acre and height at 45 feet in C1, C2 and O1, 55 feet in C3 and 75 feet in O2.

One cell conflicts with the statute. The March 3, 2026 amendments made traditional multi-family a use that needs a specific use permit in C2, Local Commercial. The City's own presentation for that amendment, agenda item 26-0001M, lists the change as "Added as a use requiring a specific use permit in C2." C2 allows commercial and retail uses, and Section 218.101(b) names a "special use permit" as an approval a city may not require. Where they conflict, the statute controls. Cottage multi-family and mixed-use residential are already allowed with conditions in C2. Table 2-26 also leaves apartments blank in I1 Light Industrial, where warehouses are permitted. Chapter 218 does not reach a classification that allows heavy industrial use, and VanPlex could not tell from the code whether the City treats I1 that way, so ask the Planning Department.

Planned Development Districts

Many McKinney subdivisions are zoned PD, a Planned Development district. Sec. 204X says a PD exists "to accommodate new and imaginative concepts in urban design" and offers "flexibility in design in exchange for substantial added benefit to the City." An approved PD ordinance counts as an amendment to the code and the zoning map, and "where specific standards are not stated in the PD ordinance, the standards of the zoning ordinance shall prevail."

Sec. 203C.2 limits when the City uses a PD. The code bars a PD when a standard district "could achieve a similar result," "Solely to reduce the costs of development," or to change rules outside Article 2. A PD request must explain why a standard district cannot meet the project's needs. Sec. 203G.1 adds that a design exception, a Planning and Zoning Commission waiver of a listed standard, may not change a standard that a PD ordinance sets for itself.

How a Rezoning Works

Sec. 203C.2 calls a rezoning a "Zoning Change." Only the property owner or an authorized agent may apply, and the application includes a letter of intent, a zoning exhibit with the bearings and distances of the boundary, and a legal description. The fee is in Appendix A of the Code of Ordinances; Ordinance No. 2026-10-112 of October 5, 2026 set it at $1,000 for a standard rezoning and $3,000 plus $10 per acre for a PD.

The request needs four kinds of notice: mailed, internet, posted and published (Sec. 203C.2.c). For the posted notice, Sec. 203A.4 has the applicant put signs on the property "at least ten days prior to the date of the public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission." The code sets the sign size at "approximately four feet by four feet," and signs may be no more than 200 feet apart along the street frontage, unless the frontage is shorter than 250 feet. The applicant sends a signed affidavit and time-stamped photos 10 to 12 days before the meeting. A late sign postpones the case.

The Planning and Zoning Commission holds a hearing and recommends, and the City Council decides. The Council weighs whether the request fits the Comprehensive Plan, whether it harms the character of nearby property, whether it would put too many of one use in one area, and whether it supports the Council's strategic goals. If the Council denies a request, the City will not accept the same or a similar request for that property "within one calendar year of the date of denial." A specific use permit follows the same hearings and expires five years after approval if no building permit is issued (Sec. 203C.3).

Protests Under HB 24

HB 24 changed the protest rule in Local Government Code 211.0061 on September 1, 2025. McKinney's Sec. 203D sets two tracks. When a change "allows more residential development than the existing zoning" and adds no commercial or industrial use beyond a ground-floor share of up to 35 percent, owners of at least 60 percent of the land may protest, and approval then needs "a majority of all members of the City Council." For every other change, owners of 20 percent may protest, and approval needs three-fourths of all members.

The Charter sets a Council of "a Mayor and six (6) Council Members," seven in all. By VanPlex arithmetic a majority of all members is four votes, and three-fourths is six, since three-fourths of seven is 5.25. A protest must be filed with the City Secretary before 5:00 p.m. on the fourth working day before the Council hearing, and every signature must be notarized or witnessed, with an exception for land owned by a corporation or by several people jointly.

The McKinney text differs from the statute in one place. Sec. 203D.1.a counts 60 percent of the land "either covered by the proposed change or located immediately adjoining." The statute applies the 60 percent figure to the adjoining land only. Section 211.0061(b)(1) still lets owners of 20 percent of the land covered by the change protest, and that protest needs three-fourths of all members. The City's 2025 staff presentation drew the rule the statute's way: its slide gives owners of 20 percent of the subject property the right to force the larger vote. Where the code and the statute differ, the statute controls.

The Board of Adjustment

The Board of Adjustment hears variances, special exceptions and appeals of staff decisions. A variance is permission to depart from a zoning rule because of a hardship that comes from the land, such as an odd lot shape. Sec. 203G.3 requires "A concurring vote of seventy-five percent (75%) or more members" to approve one, and the Board must decide no later than 60 days after its hearing. A variance may not be granted "solely for the purpose of mitigating a financial hardship," or for a hardship the owner caused, and it expires after two years if the owner shows no progress on the permits.

Sec. 110B sets the limit: the Board "may not change the zoning district designation of any land" and may not allow a use the district does not allow. An appeal of a staff decision must be filed within 20 days, and the Board must decide it within 60 days of filing (Sec. 203F.1).

Where the Code Disagrees With Itself or State Law

• Traditional apartments need a specific use permit in C2 under Table 2-26, while Local Government Code 218.101(b) bars a city from requiring one on land zoned for commercial use. The statute controls.
• Sec. 203D.1.a applies the 60 percent protest rule to the land covered by the change, while Section 211.0061(b)(1) keeps 20 percent and a three-fourths vote for that land. The statute controls.
• Table 2-1 cites Sec. 204V for both AG Agricultural and PD Planned Development; the PD rules are in Sec. 204X.
• Sec. 203C.3 refers to "Table 2-, Table of Allowed Uses"; the table of uses is Table 2-26.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the McKinney overview, how Texas zoning works, and the HB 24 zoning protests page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)