Pflugerville Council Rejects Wine Bar Zoning Next to Church

Pflugerville’s City Council on Nov. 10 unanimously rejected, on first reading, a zoning change that would have let a wine bar locate next to Parkway Bible Church, Community Impact reported two days later. The official final agenda for that regular meeting, posted for 7 p.m. at 1611 Pfennig Lane, listed the matter as item 6A, ordinance ORD-0905: a public hearing and first reading of an amendment to the Hill Country Bible Church Planned Unit Development.

Official minutes for the meeting had not been posted when this report was written. The unanimous result is taken from Community Impact’s account. A first-reading rejection means the amendment did not advance that night. It is not a citywide ban on wine bars or alcohol sales.

What the ordinance would have changed

The agenda describes the planned unit development as a tract of about 48.126 acres in Travis County, where East Pflugerville Parkway meets Wilke Ridge Lane, on the south side of the parkway. The district was approved in Ordinance 1581-23-02-28. The proposed amendment is identified in the agenda as the Hill Country Bible Church PUD Amendment, case 2026-00346.

Community Impact reported that the change would have cleared the way for The Three Legged Goat, a wine bar the paper said had just shut its doors, to set up inside that planned unit development. The paper placed the proposed location next to Parkway Bible Church, which it said runs an addiction-recovery ministry. The church named in the official PUD title and the church named by neighbors in the Community Impact account are not treated here as the same congregation; the paper distinguished Parkway Bible Church as the neighbor that opposed the bar.

Recovery ministry, noise, and a local business

Francisco Peralta, counseling director at Parkway Bible Church, told the council that recovery is a long and difficult process and that people in early recovery are taught to avoid the people, places and things that pull them back, Community Impact reported. “I’m concerned about having this type of establishment so close to a place where we treat people to stay away from,” he said, according to the paper. “Please don’t make relapse easier for those we treat.” The paper said other residents made the same point and also complained about traffic noise and about parking.

Council member Rudy Metayer, quoted by Community Impact, said his own connection to the church goes back more than 15 years and that the congregation has been a strong civic partner. He said he opposed any change to that planned unit development at this time.

Chris Hernandez spoke for Jim McDonald, the owner of The Three Legged Goat, the paper reported. Hernandez described the business as a locally owned gathering spot, not merely a wine bar, and said it had been meant as a room where neighbors could meet and form friendships. He said the owners had tried to keep the room welcoming and family-friendly, and he argued that a growing city should hold onto independent businesses that give it character. Those are his remarks as reported by Community Impact, not an independent review of the former bar.

The limits of this vote

Because official minutes were not available, this account does not list a roll call by name or report any other action from the same night.

The official agenda lists city property at 101 and 105 E. Pecan Street and at 100 E. Main Street and 100 W. Main Street, each with the city and ZIP “Pflugerville, TX 78660.” The meeting was held at 1611 Pfennig Lane.

Related reading: Pflugerville Weighs $922,000 to Restore an Old Pecan Street Building and Add Public Parking.