Kia dealership zoning goes to the council Tuesday with a tax estimate of up to $94,000 a year for the city

A new Kia dealership on about 10 acres at Dallas Parkway and Cobb Street comes before the Celina City Council for a public hearing and vote on Tuesday, Nov. 10, with a revenue estimate attached that the planning commission asked about last month.

The land, on the northwest and southwest corners of the intersection, falls under Planned Development No. 80, a 2017 mixed-use zoning district that was amended in 2021 and 2023. That zoning does not allow car dealerships, so the applicant is asking the council to amend the planned development for the Kia of Celina project.

How the city treats dealerships

Celina allows new car sales by right only in industrial districts. Elsewhere a dealership needs a specific use permit or a planned development change. The site sits in the Suburban subzone of the Dallas North Tollway overlay, where that path is available; the city's future land use plan marks the area for a community mixed-use center.

The staff memo lays out the trade-offs. It says dealerships are generally not seen as visually appealing, but notes Celina's high design standards, the jobs and service a dealer brings, and that dealers are common along regional roads. Staff also point out that passenger vehicle sales do not produce local sales tax, while parts sales do, and that dealers pay property and inventory taxes.

The memo adds that the planning commission and council said in early summer 2025 that dealerships should stay out of the overlay's High-Rise subzone.

The revenue estimate

The Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-0 in October to recommend approval, and no one from the public spoke at its hearing. One commissioner asked how much sales tax the dealership would bring in, and the applicant answered after the meeting with an estimate prepared by CBRE, which is now in the council packet.

That estimate assumes 800 vehicles sold a year at an average of $37,000 and $4 million in taxable parts sales. On those figures, it projects:

• about $14,218 a year in city property tax on dealer inventory, and
• $60,000 to $80,000 a year in local sales tax on parts, depending on whether 1.5 or 2 cents of the local rate is counted.

Together that is $74,218 to $94,218 a year for Celina. The document calls the numbers illustrative and says they will change with actual sales, tax rates and appraisals. It says it used Denton County's tax rate as an assumption and should be checked with the Denton County appraisal district; the draft ordinance's property description cites Collin County records.

City staff recommend approving the zoning change as presented. The meeting begins at 4:30 p.m. at 112 N. Colorado St.

Sources

celinatx.api.civicclerk.com

celinatx.api.civicclerk.com