Title
Conduct a public hearing and consider an ordinance approving a variance reducing the separation requirement from 300 feet to 100 feet between Towneast Food Mart and Mesquite Academy, a Mesquite Independent School serving 6th through 12th grades, located at 2704 Motley Drive, to allow the sale of beer and wine for off-premises consumption at a proposed service station and convenience store, located at 3225 North Town East Boulevard.
(No responses in favor or in opposition to the application have been received from property owners within the statutory notification area.)
Body
The City of Mesquite requires businesses selling beer or wine to be located a minimum of 300 feet from a public or private school. This distance is measured in a straight line from the school's property line to the property line of the place of business.
The applicant is requesting a variance from the 300-foot separation requirement to allow Towneast Food Mart to sell beer and wine at a proposed service station and convenience store that received zoning approval in January 2026. Based on the survey submitted by the applicant, the subject property is approximately 100 feet from the Mesquite Academy property line. However, the entrance to the proposed building at 3225 North Town East Boulevard is approximately 407 feet from the side entrance of Mesquite Academy and approximately 502 feet from the school's main entrance.
In December 2018, the City Council passed an ordinance establishing a variance process that could allow businesses that sell beer and wine to be less than 300 feet from churches and schools. The ordinance gives Council the authority to approve such variances on a case-by-case basis when a request is found to be "...not in the best interest of the public, constitutes waste or inefficient use of land or other resources, creates an undue hardship on an applicant for a license or permit, does not serve its intended purpose, or is not effective or necessary, or for any othe...
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