A burger restaurant across Exchange Parkway from Allen High School wants to add pre-mixed margaritas to its menu, and the City Council is set to decide Tuesday, Oct. 13, whether to waive the city's school-distance rule to allow it.
Hat Creek Burger Company at 555 E. Exchange Pkwy. holds a state permit to sell beer and wine. To serve mixed drinks it needs a different permit from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, and Allen's code bars alcohol sales within 300 feet of a public school unless the council grants a variance.
How close it is
The city measures from property line to property line. By that measure, the restaurant's lot sits within 300 feet of an Allen ISD parcel that holds Eagle Stadium and other athletic fields, according to a staff report. The restaurant building is about 700 feet from the stadium and about 2,800 feet from the school building, staff wrote.
Staff recommends approval, and the item is on the consent agenda.
What the request says
In a Sept. 14 letter, Hat Creek's representative, Catherine Chamblee, wrote that the company only wants to add pre-mixed margaritas.
She wrote that the superintendent at the time signed a letter in 2018 saying he had no objection when the restaurant first applied for its beer and wine permit, and that Allen ISD emailed the city's planning department on June 25 saying it did not object to the margaritas.
