Commission allows Benny’s beer‑garden with an opaque wall and limits on amplified entertainment

The Laredo Planning & Zoning Commission voted to approve a conditional‑use permit for a proposed beer‑garden and food‑truck park at a commercial plaza on McPherson Road, but modified staff’s recommended conditions by striking a masonry‑wall requirement and replacing it with a requirement for an opaque 7‑foot wall made of approved materials.

Applicant Ricardo Benavides, who identified himself as an owner/operator of the proposed Benny’s beer garden, told the commission the project would occupy a long‑vacant suite and operate as a family‑oriented food‑truck park, not a nightclub. He asked the commission to allow on‑premises outdoor alcohol consumption and to permit outdoor televisions and ambient music, saying the plan includes limits on hours and decibel levels and that nearby residential areas are some distance from the proposed outdoor seating area.

City planning staff (presenting the item) described the property and the application and said a warning was issued on 04/29/2025 for operating a switching station in a zoning district where that use is not permitted (a separate item noted earlier in the agenda). For the beer‑garden proposal, staff said the principal concern voiced by neighbors was noise, and that enforcement of the city’s nuisance‑noise standard is difficult in practice. Staff told the commission that plywood, sheet metal and corrugated steel would be prohibited as wall materials and that an opaque wall of approved materials (masonry, stone, cement block, stucco or pressure‑treated lumber) would be acceptable under the land‑development code.

Commissioners asked about parking and hours. The applicant said the plaza has roughly 74 parking spaces but acknowledged staff had not completed a formal parking analysis. The applicant confirmed proposed hours that include evening service with later closing on select nights and said the operation would be hybrid (indoor bar sales in the suite with patrons able to take drinks to the outdoor seating area).

After discussion, a motion carried to approve the CUP with two changes: remove the masonry‑only requirement and replace it with an opaque 7‑foot wall built of approved materials, and remove the specific ban on outdoor televisions and ambient music, allowing such features so long as they comply with the city’s noise standards (the transcript does not record a numerical vote tally). The commission’s action includes the CUP conditions on hours and other operational limitations as amended.

The commission’s action resolves the application for the permit; staff and the applicant said they will follow up on the remaining technical items, including a parking analysis and compliance with decibel limits. The hearing record shows one opposing notice returned among the mailed responses for this item.