Liberty Hill council approves Panda Express site plan, OKs two plats and budget changes; disapproves two replats

The Liberty Hill City Council on Tuesday approved a site plan and utility service for a proposed Panda Express restaurant at 12991 State Highway 29 and a minor plat for Whittlesley Landscape Supplies, adopted two budget amendments and disapproved two replat requests amid packet inconsistencies and requests for additional public review.

Staff member Mackenzie Hicks presented the Panda Express proposal — a roughly 2,400-square-foot restaurant with a double drive-through, new sidewalks and ties to an existing 8-inch water main in the Heritage Ridge subdivision. Michelle C., an architect with Heights Venture Architects representing the applicant, told the council Panda Express projects roughly $3,000,000 in gross annual sales for the location and estimated the store would create about 38 jobs with pay “between $15 to $20 per hour.”

Diane Williams, a councilmember, asked staff to correct the ordinance packet to include the applicant’s Exhibit A and to ensure the utility-evaluation form reflects the site’s status in the city’s preferred development area. After those corrections were added as conditions, Williams moved to approve ordinance 2025-O-047, the motion was seconded, and the council voted 5-0 to approve the site plan and authorize city water and wastewater service.

The council also approved a minor plat for Whittlesley Addition (Ordinance 2025-O-012) to create a lot for Whittlesley Landscape Supplies at approximately 14820 West State Highway 29. Applicant Blake Whittlesey described planned on-site reuse of a water well for outside operations and requested two LUEs of city water service; he projected first-year revenues in the $2 million–$4 million range and estimated about $150,000 annually in city tax revenue from the expanded operation. Council approved the minor plat and utility authorization 5-0 with corrections to the applicant exhibit and utility-evaluation details.

Two replat applications drew stronger pushback. John Teague, representing the owner of a Riverbend Oaks parcel at 15611 State Highway 29, said the replat would create Lot 27B (about 1.6 acres) and would require service of 1 LUE. Council members said rezoning and a public hearing were appropriate given the site’s proximity to residences; Elizabeth Brown moved to disapprove the replat as presented, the motion was seconded and passed 5-0.

A separate replat for Stonewall Commercial East — proposed to create space for a 1,800-square-foot Waffle House and a Take 5 oil-change center — was presented by representatives from Waffle House and Langan Engineering. Council members identified multiple inconsistencies between the packet and the presentations: different square-foot figures and LUE counts in the utility evaluation, a missing applicant exhibit A, and whether the site was marked as “preferred” or “priority” in the development matrix. Diane Williams said she could not approve the item until those discrepancies were reconciled; the council voted 5-0 to disapprove ordinance 2025-O-036.

Finance Director Joshua Armstrong presented two budget amendments. The end-of-year amendment for fiscal 2024–25 (ordinance 2025-O-048) reconciles revenues and expenses for the closed fiscal year; Armstrong said most funds ended in positive balance. The first current-year amendment (ordinance 2025-O-049) corrects position and software/admin expense lines after a data import to the city’s ClearGov system. Both measures were approved unanimously, 5-0.

At the close of the meeting, the city secretary read executive-session items that include consultations with the city attorney under Texas Government Code sections 551.071 and 551.087 and deliberations about real property under section 551.072, covering economic-development negotiations and pending litigation involving 4400 CR 277 Investments, LLC. The council voted 5-0 to postpone agenda item 7E to the next meeting and then adjourned at 8:05 p.m.

Votes at a glance

- Consent agenda: approved (motion by Diane Williams; second Elizabeth Brown); vote 5-0.
- Ordinance 2025-O-047 (Panda Express site plan and utility authorization): approved (motion by Diane Williams; seconded by council member recorded as speaker 10); vote 5-0.
- Ordinance 2025-O-012 (Whittlesley minor plat and utility authorization): approved (motion by Diane Williams; second speaker 10); vote 5-0.
- Ordinance 2025-O-037 (Riverbend Oaks replat): disapproved (motion to disapprove by Elizabeth Brown; second speaker 10); vote 5-0.
- Ordinance 2025-O-036 (Stonewall Commercial East Phase 1 replat — Waffle House/Take 5): disapproved (motion to disapprove by speaker 10; second by Mayor as recorded in the transcript); vote 5-0.
- Ordinance 2025-O-048 (End-of-year FY24–25 budget amendment): approved (motion by Diane Williams; second speaker 10); vote 5-0.
- Ordinance 2025-O-049 (Current-year FY25–26 budget amendment): approved (motion by Elizabeth Brown; seconded by speaker 14 as recorded); vote 5-0.
- Motion to postpone agenda item 7E: approved (motion by speaker 3; second speaker 5); vote 5-0.

What’s next

Council moved into executive session to discuss attorney consultations, economic-development negotiations and real-property deliberations; several items will return to a future meeting after closed-session discussions.