Plano | May 2026

State law aects Plano apartment growth and city decisions From the cover

Two-minute impact

SB 840 impacted areas

Commercial zoning subject to new residential units Commercial zoning with 45- foot height limit Town Square 2 Watermere 3 Mapleshade 4 Heritage Creekside 1 Lincoln at

The law allows multifamily development in all commercial and mixed-use zoning areas.

Plano is starting to see the eects of a recently approved state law meant to boost apartment development. Senate Bill 840 was approved last legislative session and went into eect Sept. 1. It allows multifamily residential developments in all nonresidential zoning districts by right. There are currently three planned multifamily developments under SB 840 submitted to the city, Plano Director of Planning Christina Day said, accounting for 827 incoming apartment units. Two of the developments are on the north and south sides of Mapleshade Drive, while the third is located in northwest Plano. Other multifamily developments, including Heritage Creekside and a planned Watermere independent living facility, have also been impacted by the legislation. Day said SB 840 supersedes the city’s comprehensive zoning planning, adding “uncertainty” to the future of development in Plano. She added that the law establishes a uniform set of development standards, with most

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sizes and types,” she said. “That’s driven by the planning principles of trying to be a full-life-cycle community—where we want to have housing that ts people at all stages of life.”

related inquiries “wanting to do four- or ve-story products.” “One of the priorities for Plano neighborhoods is to encourage a variety of housing, heights,

The approach

constructed at this site if we decline this proposal would likely be much more dense and objection- able,” council member Steve Lavine said. Similar concerns arose when council approved an update to Heritage Creekside’s development plan March 23. Developers nixed plans for more than 1.2 million square feet of oce and retail space in favor of 700 additional apartments at the east Plano mixed-use development.

City ocials are also factoring SB 840 into other development decisions. City Council approved a 250-unit independent living facility set for the former Plano Athletic Club at the corner of Park Boulevard and Ohio Drive on April 13. Five council members noted concerns about a possible SB 840 development at the site as a reason for approving the plan. “Under SB 840, what could potentially be

“SB 840 continues to erode local control, stripping authority from the city and our residents here.” BOB KEHR, COUNCIL MEMBER

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