McKinney ISD approached the McKinney Zoning Board of Adjustment this week to request a reduction in the required parking spaces. Whoa! That was the single biggest argument for needing a huge multi-million dollar stadium. How did they come up with that rationale?
I was asleep at the wheel and didn’t notice this item on the ZBA agenda until I passed the bulletin board while in city hall yesterday. I assume it passed, but I could not confirm.
Later I read the agenda item and the explanation provided by MISD to the ZBA. I’m not a very smart person, but I do have to rely on my 7th grade math. Also, I am haunted by physics, the time and space stuff.
First the requirement for 3,000 spaces comes from a 12,000 stadium capacity adjusted for at 1:4 parking space requirement. That would mean in gross terms that a stadium filled with 12,000 people all driving in cars would have to have 4 people per vehicle. My logic tells me that there will be many cars with 4 people, but it sure won’t be the average.
But that’s gross. Mathematical gross, not ugly gross. That comes later.
MISD points out that the 42 bus parking spots are not taken into account. I agree. About taking buses into consideration.
Yet here is where it gets ugly gross. MISD wants to subtract 3,402 seats that will be filled by people coming on buses. In my mind, 42 buses seems like a lot, but I’ll take them at their word.
Now here comes the interesting arithmetic. MISD is assuming that each of the 42 buses will have 81 people on it!
Wow! That seems like a lot even if the seats were filled by elementary kids. But football players, band members and equipment as well as cheerleaders and drill team with all of their accoutrements?
How many people can fit into a phone booth? The number for a college fraternity initiation and for the normal use are way different.
Did the ZBA ask any questions or do any kind of logic test on this pitch? I don’t know yet. I wasn’t there, and that is all my fault. Mea culpa again. I hope the ZBA minutes will reflect the Q&A.
Here is what I would like to know. In this particular case, I don’t care squat about any other school districts. We’ve got real life data right here in McKinney.
- What is the average number of people per parking space at the McKinney high school games right now?
- What is a real close estimate of the number of people on MISD school buses when we go out of town to a football game? Do we take 21 buses at 81 people per bus? What is the most we have ever packed on to buses and what is the largest number of buses we have ever taken to a football game?
- BTW, why is this being brought up six days before the election?
- If the ZBA let this one get by without heavily questioning the data, what else do they approve without scrutiny?
- Did the MISD Sheep-Board get briefed on this item, the timing and, if so, what comments did they have? Did any of them attend the ZBA meeting?
- Did the McKinney City Council have any level of curiosity at all and ask any questions? Did any of them attend the ZBA meeting?
- Also, where is any kind of staff recommendation like is usually found in Council and P&Z agenda packets? LFM
Let's Talk About It, Lewis! 