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Controversial McKinney concrete plant moving forward after council vote

The city council approved an annexation request that paves the way for the facility.

McKinney is moving ahead with a planned concrete recycling facility that has generated controversy in recent weeks.

McKinney City Council voted unanimously last night in favor of an annexing request that paves the way for the plant, which would be operated by Frisco-based North Texas Natural Select Materials.

Two weeks ago, the issue was tabled at a city council meeting so that members could have more time to study the impact of the plant. On Oct. 4, a standing-room-only crowd of residents and soccer parents spoke out against the proposed facility, which would be located adjacent to Fairview Soccer Park and one mile from the Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary.

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“We are concerned of any possible environmental impact on the sanctuary itself, watershed impact and impacts to animal movement along the Wilson Creek wildlife corridor,” Sy Shahid, executive director of the Heard, wrote in an email to The Dallas Morning News.

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At Tuesday night’s meeting, speakers continued to advocate against the plant, which they said would cause environmental problems.

One year ago, the city began moving forward with plans to close its two other concrete plants, CowTown Redi-Mix and Martin Marietta, which operate along Highway 5, due to zoning non-compliance issues. McKinney is currently involved in lawsuits with the plants, which are both still operating, according to the city’s communications and media manager, Denise Lessard.

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The applicant for the new project, Lessard said, was initially interested in operating a concrete batch plant. It later revised its request to “light industrial,” she said, meaning it intends to operate solely a concrete recycling operation, where it would crush, sort and reuse concrete materials for use in future roadway construction projects.

North Texas Natural Select Materials operates a similar facility on the south side of U.S. 380 in Frisco, just east of Preston Road.

The applicant also has added a six-foot-tall berm and cedar trees along the southern boundary of its property, Lessard said.

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At the meeting, Mayor George Fuller said the scope of the project has offered the city leverage in that the facility would not be manufacturing concrete.

“When we’re making this decision not just on whether there’s a facility or not. It’s far more complicated than that,” Fuller said. “We’re thinking in terms of what alternatives there are and could be.”