McKinney Historic Board Reviews Three Demolition Requests in Historic Neighborhoods

The owner of a 1950s ranch house at 803 Largent Street is asking McKinney's Historic Preservation Advisory Board for permission to tear it down. He argues the home has deteriorated past the point where repair makes financial sense. City staff disagree. The board will take up the request Thursday, Nov. 5, along with two smaller demolition requests for a detached garage on Tucker Street and a metal shed on Cole Street. Staff recommend approving those two.

All three properties are in McKinney's historic preservation overlay district. Under the city's zoning rules, an owner there needs a certificate of appropriateness before demolishing any exterior feature that can be seen from a public street. According to city staff, the board evaluates these requests by weighing the federal Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation against each property's preservation priority rating. Those ratings of high, medium or low come from the city's 2023 Historic Resource Survey. All three properties on Thursday's agenda are rated medium priority.

According to the staff report, the Largent Street home was built around 1950. It has an inset porch between the house and its attached garage, exposed rafter tails and paired one-over-one windows. The city's 2015 survey rated the home low priority. A 2023 survey raised it to medium. Staff say the change reflects the property's greater age and the significance of its architectural style.