A Culver's restaurant is now the plan for the vacant southeast corner of Little Elm Parkway and East Eldorado Parkway, a site the town zoned last year for a Waffle House and a Swig drink shop.
The Planning and Zoning Commission holds a public hearing on the request Thursday, Oct. 15, and the Town Council is scheduled to take it up Nov. 17, according to the commission's agenda packet.
Two tenants out, one in
In 2025, property owner Rob Friend won approval of a planned development with light commercial zoning that split the 1.89 acres into two lots, one for each restaurant. Commissioners recommended it 7-0 and the council approved it 5-0, staff wrote. Both tenants have since withdrawn, and the owner has been working with Culver's, which filed its own application to amend the zoning.
Kimley-Horn and Associates is the applicant and DDR Little Elm LLC is listed as the owner.
The new plan combines the two lots into one. It shows a one-story building of about 4,418 square feet, an outdoor patio of roughly 700 square feet and a drive-thru with two ordering lanes that merge into a single line.
Only that one standalone drive-thru would be allowed, and a future drive-thru tenant that wanted to enlarge or turn the building or rework the lanes would have to go back through zoning, according to the staff report.
What Culver's wants changed
The request asks for a few departures from town standards:
- Parking stalls 9 feet wide instead of 10, with the 20-foot depth unchanged
- Two monument signs without the masonry bases the town normally requires, to match the chain's signs elsewhere
- Menu boards exempt from the rule that they match the building's front facade
- Exposed LED tube lighting along the roofline of the building's taller towers, steady with no flashing, a treatment staff said is generally not allowed in town outside the Lakefront District
Landscaping, screening and architecture would stay under the rules already approved for the site, which use enhanced landscaping rather than a masonry wall along the homes to the south. The fire, engineering and building departments found the plans acceptable for zoning purposes, and the use fits the town's future land use plan for retail and commercial development.
Staff did not make a formal recommendation. The report says the applicant tried to fit Culver's brand standards to town requirements and asks commissioners to weigh the request against the existing zoning, the land use plan and nearby property.
Also on the agenda
The commission will consider a replat dividing about 4.16 acres southwest of East Eldorado Parkway and Hillside Beach into three lots, along with a request to split a quarter-acre residential lot in Frisco Park Estates into two. The regular meeting starts at 6 p.m., after a 5:50 p.m. work session.
Sources
destinyhosted.com
destinyhosted.com
