04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 5 - Staff Report — original pdf

Backup

Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN AMENDMENT REVIEW SHEET NEIGHORHOOD PLAN: South Austin Combined (Westgate) CASE#: NPA-2025-0030.01 DATE FILED: August 21, 2025 PROJECT NAME: Ben White PC DATE: February 24, 2026 March 24, 2026 ADDRESS/ES: 2217 W Ben White Blvd SVRD EB DISTRICT AREA: 5 SITE AREA: 16,443 sq. ft. OWNER/APPLICANT: RPS Family Enterprises LP AGENT: Keepers Land Use Planning (Ricca Keepers) CASE MANAGER: Maureen Meredith PHONE: (512) 974-2695 STAFF EMAIL: Maureen.Meredith@austintexas.gov TYPE OF AMENDMENT: Change in Future Land Use Designation From: Neighborhood Node To: Mixed Use Activity HUB/Corridor Base District Zoning Change Related Zoning Case: C14-2025-0104 From: CS-NP To: CS-1-NP (building footprint) NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN ADOPTION DATE: November 6, 2014 CITY COUNCIL DATE: TBD ACTION: PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: March 24, 2026 – (action pending) 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 51 of 28Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 February 24, 2026 – Postponed to March 24, 2026 at the request of Staff on the consent agenda. [D. Skidmore – 1st; B. Bedrosian – 2nd] Vote: 12-0 [One vacancy on the dais]. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff supports the Applicant’s request for Mixed Use Activity HUB/Corridor. BASIS FOR STAFF’S RECOMMENDATION: Staff supports the Applicant’s request for the Mixed Use Activity HUB/Corridor character district because the property is located along E. Ben White Blvd highway where this land use is appropriate. The property is also located near the major highway interchange of W. Ben White Blvd and South Lamar Blvd. The applicant proposes to rezone the footprint of an existing building to CS-1 for the sale of alcoholic beverages that are primarily to-go and not for on-site consumption. Below are sections of the plan that staff believe supports the applicant’s request. 2 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 52 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 3 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 53 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 LAND USE DESCRIPTIONS: EXISTING LAND USE: Neighborhood Node - Neighborhood Node districts contain restaurants, shops, offices, and multi-family housing. The form of these areas is similar to Neighborhood Transition districts but with more commercial activity. Neighborhood Nodes have a 4 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 54 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 similar mix of uses as Mixed Use Hubs, but primarily serve residents in the neighborhood. Building heights range from one to two stories (although many locations are zoned for greater height). PROPOSED LAND USE: Mixed Use Activity HUB/Corridor - Located at the intersections of major roadways and along arterial roadways, Mixed-Use Activity Hubs/Corridors are the most urban areas of the neighborhood and serve the surrounding neighborhoods and the broader community. They consist of a mix of services and housing types at a more intensive scale than a Neighborhood Node. Yes Yes Imagine Austin Decision Guidelines Complete Community Measures Imagine Austin Growth Concept Map: Located within or adjacent to an Imagine Austin Activity Center, Imagine Austin Activity Corridor, or Imagine Austin Job Center as identified the Growth Concept Map. Name(s) of Activity Center/Activity Corridor/Job Center: • Near the Lamar & Ben White Redevelopment in Sensitive Environmental Area Activity Center Yes Mobility and Public Transit: Located within 0.25 miles of public transit stop and/or light rail station. Yes Mobility and Bike/Ped Access: Adjoins a public sidewalk, shared path, and/or bike lane. • Sidewalks are provided along E. Ben White Blvd Yes Connectivity, Good and Services, Employment: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles to goods and services, and/or employment center. • Various businesses along E. Ben White Blvd Yes Connectivity and Food Access: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles of a grocery store/farmers market. • 0.3 miles from Central Market No Connectivity and Education: Located within 0.50 miles from a public school or university. • 0.6 miles from Joslin Elem. School Yes Connectivity and Healthy Living: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles from a recreation area, park or walking trail. • 0.40 Joslin Neighborhood Park Yes Connectivity and Health: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles of health facility (ex: hospital, urgent care, doctor’s office, drugstore clinic, and/or specialized outpatient care.) • 0.4 miles from Texas Children's Urgent Care Westgate, 4477 S Lamar Blvd Suite 400, Austin, TX 78745 • 0.4 miles from Dr. Todd A. Canon, MD, 2555 Western Trails Blvd # 101, Austin, TX 78745 No Housing Affordability: Provides a minimum of 10% of units for workforce housing (80% MFI or less) and/or fee in lieu for affordable housing. No Housing Choice: Expands the number of units and housing choice that suits a variety of household sizes, incomes, and lifestyle needs of a diverse population (ex: apartments, triplex, granny flat, live/work units, cottage homes, and townhomes) in support of Imagine Austin and the Strategic Housing Blueprint. 5 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 55 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 No Mixed use: Provides a mix of residential and non-industrial uses. No Culture and Creative Economy: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles of a cultural resource (ex: library, theater, museum, cultural center). • 1.3 miles from Austin Public Library - Menchaca Road Branch, 5500 Menchaca Rd, Austin, TX 78745 No Culture and Historic Preservation: Preserves or enhances a historically and/or culturally significant site. No Creative Economy: Expands Austin’s creative economy (ex: live music venue, art studio, film, digital, theater.) No Workforce Development, the Economy and Education: Expands the economic base by creating permanent jobs, especially in industries that are currently not represented in particular area or that promotes a new technology, and/or promotes educational opportunities and workforce development training. Industrial Land: Preserves or enhances industrial land. No Yes Not located over Edwards Aquifer Contributing Zone or Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone 8 Number of “Yeses” Proximity to Imagine Austin Activity Centers and Corridor 6 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 56 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 Proximity to Public Transportation 7 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 57 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 Proximity to Public Parks IMAGINE AUSTIN GROWTH CONCEPT MAP Definitions Neighborhood Centers - The smallest and least intense of the three mixed-use centers are neighborhood centers. As with the regional and town centers, neighborhood centers are walkable, bikable, and supported by transit. The greatest density of people and activities in neighborhood centers will likely be concentrated on several blocks or around one or two intersections. However, depending on localized conditions, different neighborhood centers can be very different places. If a neighborhood center is designated on an existing commercial area, such as a shopping center or mall, it could represent redevelopment or the addition of housing. A new neighborhood center may be focused on a dense, mixed-use core surrounded by a mix of housing. In other instances, new or redevelopment may occur incrementally and concentrate people and activities along several blocks or around one or two intersections. Neighborhood centers will be more locally focused than either a regional or a town center. Businesses and services—grocery and department stores, doctors and dentists, shops, branch libraries, dry cleaners, hair salons, schools, restaurants, and other small and local businesses—will generally serve the center and surrounding neighborhoods. Town Centers - Although less intense than regional centers, town centers are also where many people will live and work. Town centers will have large and small employers, although 8 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 58 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 fewer than in regional centers. These employers will have regional customer and employee bases, and provide goods and services for the center as well as the surrounding areas. The buildings found in a town center will range in size from one-to three-story houses, duplexes, townhouses, and rowhouses, to low-to midrise apartments, mixed use buildings, and office buildings. These centers will also be important hubs in the transit system. Regional Centers - Regional centers are the most urban places in the region. These centers are and will become the retail, cultural, recreational, and entertainment destinations for Central Texas. These are the places where the greatest density of people and jobs and the tallest buildings in the region will be located. Housing in regional centers will mostly consist of low to high-rise apartments, mixed use buildings, row houses, and townhouses. However, other housing types, such as single-family units, may be included depending on the location and character of the center. The densities, buildings heights, and overall character of a center will depend on its location. Activity Centers for Redevelopment in Sensitive Environmental Areas - Five centers are located over the recharge or contributing zones of the Barton Springs Zone of the Edwards Aquifer or within water-supply watersheds. These centers are located on already developed areas and, in some instances, provide opportunities to address long-standing water quality issues and provide walkable areas in and near existing neighborhoods. State-of-the-art development practices will be required of any redevelopment to improve stormwater retention and the water quality flowing into the aquifer or other drinking water sources. These centers should also be carefully evaluated to fit within their infrastructural and environmental context. Job Centers - Job centers accommodate those businesses not well-suited for residential or environmentally- sensitive areas. These centers take advantage of existing transportation infrastructure such as arterial roadways, freeways, or the Austin-Bergstrom International airport. Job centers will mostly contain office parks, manufacturing, warehouses, logistics, and other businesses with similar demands and operating characteristics. They should nevertheless become more pedestrian and bicycle friendly, in part by better accommodating services for the people who work in those centers. While many of these centers are currently best served by car, the growth Concept map offers transportation choices such as light rail and bus rapid transit to increase commuter options. Corridors - Activity corridors have a dual nature. They are the connections that link activity centers and other key destinations to one another and allow people to travel throughout the city and region by bicycle, transit, or automobile. Corridors are also characterized by a variety of activities and types of buildings located along the roadway — shopping, restaurants and cafés, parks, schools, single-family houses, apartments, public buildings, houses of worship, mixed-use buildings, and offices. Along many corridors, there will be both large and small redevelopment sites. These redevelopment opportunities may be continuous along stretches of the corridor. There may also be a series of small neighborhood centers, connected by the roadway. Other corridors may have fewer redevelopment opportunities, but already have a mixture of uses, and could provide critical transportation connections. As a corridor evolves, sites that do not redevelop may transition from one use to 9 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 59 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 another, such as a service station becoming a restaurant or a large retail space being divided into several storefronts. To improve mobility along an activity corridor, new and redevelopment should reduce per capita car use and increase walking, bicycling, and transit use. Intensity of land use should correspond to the availability of quality transit, public space, and walkable destinations. Site design should use building arrangement and open space to reduce walking distance to transit and destinations, achieve safety and comfort, and draw people outdoors. BACKGROUND: The applicant proposes to change the land use on the future land use map from Neighborhood Node to Mixed Use Activity HUB/Corridor. The applicant proposes to change the zoning on the property from CS-NP (General Commercial Services district – Neighborhood Plan) to CS-1-NP (Commercial Liquor Sales district- Neighborhood Plan) on the building footprint for alcohol sales. For more information on the proposed zoning request, please see zoning case report C14-2025-0104. PUBLIC MEETINGS: The ordinance-required community meeting was virtually held on November 18, 2025. The recorded meeting can be found here: https://publicinput.com/neighborhoodplanamendmentcases. Approximately 140 meeting notices were mailed to people who have utility accounts or own property within 500 feet of the subject tract, in addition to neighborhood and environmental groups who requested notification for the area. Three city staff members attended, Maureen Meredith, Mark Walters and Chase Gonsoulin from Austin Planning. Ricca Keepers from Keepers Land Planning attended along with the property owner Zach Stanke. Three people from the neighborhood attended. Below are highlights from Ricca Keepers’ presentation: • We are just rezoning the building to CS-1. The building is not going to change. • The business will be 100% to-go drinks. • The business is owned by a father and son. • The hours of operation are weekdays Monday – Thursday from 11 am – 11 pm with extended hours on Friday and Saturday. • We met with neighborhood representatives from the Western Trails Neighborhood Association and we discussed the easement on the property. Most of the traffic flows from W. Ben White Blvd. We can put a gate up on the easement, although most traffic will exit on Ben White. There is no indoor seating, so people will be using the drive-through. If we put a gate on the easement, we will need to talk to Transportation Department. Another idea would be a right turn only. Q: What are the ingress and egress points? A: Most traffic comes off Ben White. The easement is for parking because you can’t really access from there. Q: The building was built for Daiquiris-To-Go. Is it wine now? 10 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 510 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 A: Yes, we are selling just wine. We do not sell food. We want the rezoning to sell more than just wine. Q: Will there be verbiage in the ordinance if you can change the access to the easement? A: I don’t think the City would allow that, but will need to be a private agreement. We can talk more offline on how to do this. A: Is it possible to install a permanent fixture to have right turn only because people could just turn left anyway? Q: I will need to work with City Staff on this. Q: We are dealing with people who are into drugs and now we have Daiquiris-To-Go. Are you only serving people who drive up in cars? A: We predominately serve people in the drive-through, but people are able to park and walk inside to be served. Before we bought the property, it was vacant and fenced off and we had problems with homeless people, but now we don’t have problems because we improved the lighting. Most of the traffic is in the drive-through. Q: What kind of TABC License do you have? A: Now we are off-premises wine and malt beverage, it’s not a liquor mixed-beverage license. That is why we serve wine-based, not liquor-based daiquiris. 11 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 511 of 28 Ricca Keepers’ Follow-Up from Virtual Community Meeting Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 From: Ricca Keepers < > Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2026 3:56 PM To: Meredith, Maureen <Maureen.Meredith@austintexas.gov>; Danielle Lipford < >; Estrada, Nancy <Nancy.Estrada@austintexas.gov> Cc: Brandon Gonzales < >; Karl Burkett < >; Zach Stanke <zach@ > Subject: Re: Case NPA-2025-0030.01 Danielle and All, Please see the pictures showing the gate is being installed as we speak. They are waiting for the concrete to dry timeframe for gate install is tomorrow. Please refer to the enclosed pictures. All the best, Ricca Keepers, MUP Keepers Land Planning Celebrating 10 years! Founder, Owner, and Land Planner Assistant (512) 550-6508 Cell (512) 999-0690 KeepersLandPlanning.com 12 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 512 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 13 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 513 of 28 Applicant Summary Letter from Application Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 14 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 514 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 Letter of Recommendation from Westgate Neighborhood Plan Contact Team (No letter as of March 17, 2026) From: Meredith, Maureen Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2026 3:55 PM Cc: Estrada, Nancy <Nancy.Estrada@austintexas.gov> Subject: Westgate NPCT Ltr Rec?: NPA-2025-0030.01_2217 W Ben White Blvd Importance: High Dear Westgate NPCT and Interested Parties: I wanted to give you a “head’s up" that cases NPA-2025-0030.01 and C14-2025-0104_2217 W Ben White Blvd cases will be ready for PC action at the March 24th PC hearing. If you would like to have a letter of recommendation included in our staff case reports, please email it to me and Nancy Estrada, the zoning case manager, no later than Tuesday, March 17th by 4:30 pm. If we get the letter after this date and time, we will submit it as late material to the Planning Commissioners, but it will not be in our staff reports. The virtual community meeting was held on November 18, 2025 and the recorded meeting can be found here: https://publicinput.com/b16504 if you were unable to attend and would like to hear the discussion about the cases. On Friday, March 20th, I will email to you the speaker registration link so people can register to speak at the Tuesday, March 24th Planning Commission hearing. The public hearing begins at 6:00 pm at City Hall, 301 W. 2nd Street. You will be able to speak virtually by phone or in-person. Here’s the link to the Planning Commission website where the agenda and staff reports will be posted no later than Friday, March 20th. Please let me know if you have any questions. Maureen Maureen Meredith (she/her) Senior Planner Austin Planning 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Dr. Austin, TX 78752 512-974-2695 maureen.meredith@austintexas.gov 15 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 515 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 Site 16 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 516 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 17 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 517 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 18 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 518 of 28 Ricca Keepers’ Presentation at the Virtual Community Meeting Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 19 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 519 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 Correspondence Received From: Cynthia Wigley Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2026 4:57 PM To: Meredith, Maureen <Maureen.Meredith@austintexas.gov> Subject: Today's Public Hearing 2/24/26 Planning Commission Case #: NPA-2025- 0030.01 Case Number: NPA-2025-0030.01 Public Hearing:Feb 24,2026- Planning Commission I Object Cynthia Garza 4509 Pack Saddle Pass 78745 2/24/26 I object to the rezoning proposed by RPS Family Enterprises, LP and Keepers Land Planning Case C14-2025-0104. The current Neighborhood Node is affected by the Homeless Center provided by Sunrise Church at the corner of Redd St. and Menchaca, across from Joslin Elementary School. Primarily the men Sunrise Church services spill over to Joslin Park, down Pack Saddle Pass and from Western Trails/Ben White access road to Pack Saddle Pass. Current businesses have fences around their perimeter and hurricane shutters to minimize the damage, vandalism and threatening behavior of the homeless. Residents find their yards littered and camped on. Joslin Elementary students no longer have use of their school park due to hyperdermic needles left behind by the Sunrise population. All this without a Drive Thru liquor store. A mixed use activity hub/corridor would further erode the Western Trails Neighborhood. ABC Bank clients, Pain Care patients, Midas Customers and Pet Hospital clients deserve clean and safe parking lots free from people drinking curbside and leaving trash on the streets. Please assist the Western Trails Neighborhood to regain the beauty of clean streets by not amending our Neighborhood plan. Thank you, Cynthia Garza 4509 Pack Saddle Pass 78745. 20 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 520 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 21 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 521 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 From: Danielle Lipford < Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2026 10:57 AM To: Meredith, Maureen <Maureen.Meredith@austintexas.gov>; Estrada, Nancy <Nancy.Estrada@austintexas.gov> Cc: Ricca Keepers < >; Brandon Gonzales < >; Karl Burkett < > Subject: Case NPA-2025-0030.01 To Whom It May Concern, On behalf of Western Trails Medical Center (WTMC), I am writing this letter regarding case NPA-2025-0030.01. We oppose the rezoning at 2217 W Ben White BLVD. The applicant’s business proposal will increase the traffic on WTMC’s property by exiting their customers onto WTMC’s roadway. During the case hearing on November 18, 2025, Ricca Keepers proposed two potential solutions to prevent wear and tear to the road; putting up a gate to block off the easement or putting up a sign that says "Right Turn Only." On February 4, 2026, Ricca informed us that the owner was planning on putting up a gate to the road owned by WTMC to prevent their customers from using WTMC’s roadway. As of March 17, 2026, there is no progress being made to fulfilling that request. We therefore oppose the zoning change. We are looking forward to discussing this in depth at the hearing on March 24th. Sincerely, Danielle Lipford Danielle Lipford Office Coordinator | Maldonado-Burkett, LLP 2312 Western Trails Blvd., Suite C-303, Austin, TX 78745 O: 512-916-1386 | D: 830-515-4651 www.maldonado-burkett.com 22 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 522 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 23 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 523 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 24 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 524 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 25 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 525 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 From: Andy Joshi <AndyJ@paincaretx.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2026 4:58 PM To: Estrada, Nancy <Nancy.Estrada@austintexas.gov> Cc: Meredith, Maureen <Maureen.Meredith@austintexas.gov> Subject: FW: Western Trails Neighborhood Concerns External Email - Exercise Caution 26 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 526 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 From: Dale Herron < Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2026 9:11 AM To: Ryan Alter <ryan.alter@austintexas.gov> Cc: Krista M Weatherford <KristaM.Weatherford@austintexas.gov>; Ben Leffler <ben.leffler@austintexas.gov>; Meenah Hulsen < >; Scott Parker < > Subject: Western Trails Neighborhood Concerns Hi Ryan, I hope you’re doing well. Thank you for your continued support of District 5 neighborhoods. We appreciate the accessibility and responsiveness of your office when issues arise. There are a few matters affecting the Western Trails neighborhood on which we would value your guidance. If possible, I would appreciate the opportunity to speak briefly with you to discuss the best path forward and how our neighborhood can engage constructively with the City. 1. Harrell Funeral Home Crematorium Proposal Residents have recently learned about the proposed crematory associated with Harrell Funeral Home, located at 2302 Western Trails Blvd. The project is currently under review through Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Air Permit Application No. 182940 (RN112241229). Given the proximity to homes, schools, and neighborhood amenities, many residents have questions about emissions, operational impacts, and the role the City can play in reviewing or commenting on the permit. We would appreciate any guidance on how the neighborhood can appropriately engage in this process and whether your office is able to provide input or advocacy. 2. Proposed Daiquiris-To-Go Zoning / Land Use Change Another issue generating significant neighborhood concern is the proposal for a drive-through daiquiris-to-go business at 2217 W. Ben White Blvd. (service road). This request involves Neighborhood Plan Amendment Case NPA-2025-0030.01, which seeks to change the Future Land Use Map designation from Neighborhood Node to Mixed-Use Activity Hub / Corridor in the South Austin Combined Neighborhood Plan area. The case is currently scheduled for a Planning Commission public hearing on March 24, 2026. Neighbors are concerned that this use could encourage impaired driving along Ben White and potentially spill into nearby residential streets. We would appreciate your perspective on this case and any guidance on how the neighborhood should best communicate its concerns ahead of the hearing. Our request is that you work with Council to deny this amendment request. 27 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 527 of 28 Planning Commission: March 24, 2026 3. Sunrise Navigation Center (Menchaca Location) Finally, the neighborhood would appreciate clarification on the next steps regarding the Sunrise Navigation Center at the Menchaca location. As you know, this issue has been a major concern for Western Trails and surrounding neighborhoods for some time. Residents would like to better understand the City’s current and future plans and to ensure that the Menchaca location is not used for navigation services under any circumstances going forward. We also request clear contract language, particularly if Sunrise is selected, stating that any services outside the City-funded location are expressly prohibited. Clear expectations and enforceable boundaries on this point are very important to the neighborhood. If you have availability for a short conversation, I would welcome the opportunity to speak with you and determine how we can move forward in a constructive and collaborative way. Thank you again for your time and for your service to District 5. Best regards, Dale Western Trails Neighborhood Association Sent from my iPhone 28 04 NPA-2025-0030.01 - Ben White; District 528 of 28