Alcohol awareness, or "sip and stroll"?
The Town proudly teaches kids about the dangers of alcohol. Its newest plan for the Lakefront wants people walking from one establishment to the next with drinks in hand. It told a hookah and coffee lounge it didn't fit the vision, then allowed a cigar lounge and a whiskey venue next to family homes. Which message is it?
One Town, two plans
Both quotes come from plans the Town Council adopted.
Comprehensive Plan, 2017
"All these programs act proactively to promote awareness among the residents and the kids about dangers involving alcohol..."
The programs it lists include Fatal Vision and a Simulated Impaired Driving Program, run by the Little Elm Police Department.
Little Elm Comprehensive Plan 2017, PDF page 210Lakefront District Area Plan, adopted Sept 2, 2025
"Local businesses and restaurants can be partners with the Town in the success of open container districts, such as at the Lawn, through 'sip and stroll' campaigns."
The goal, in the plan's words: "encouraging visitors to visit multiple businesses in a relaxed setting."
Lakefront District Area Plan, page 34 (adopted by Ordinance No. 1821)
The same 2017 plan sells the Lakefront with a "lakeside beer garden" and a "cooler friendly park." Is the message "know the dangers," or "bring your cooler"?
Little Elm Comprehensive Plan 2017, PDF page 22.
Businesses within one mile of Woodrow Circle that already sell alcohol: bars and taphouses, restaurants, a hotel rooftop bar, liquor stores and a wine shop.
Our own count from map listings, Dec 10, 2025. A few may have changed since.Twenty places to buy a drink within a mile of our homes. Did the Lakefront really need one more, right behind family backyards?
Drinks in hand, next to the water
The Lakefront plan wants people walking from one business to the next with drinks in hand, steps from Lewisville Lake. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers keeps a record of every death at the lake.
People who died at Lewisville Lake from 2000 to 2020, by the Corps' count. 88 of them drowned.
Deaths where alcohol was involved, out of the 56 where the record says either way. Half.
Of the 93 who wore a life jacket.
The Town teaches kids about the dangers of alcohol. Its newest plan puts open containers at the water's edge.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lewisville Lake drowning and fatality summary, 2000 to 2020, provided to us by the Corps' lake office. Lake-wide numbers, not only the Lakefront.
A hookah and coffee lounge didn't fit the vision
In November 2025 a hookah and coffee lounge applied to open at 305 E Eldorado Parkway, in the Lakefront Drive/Main Street area of the new plan. Town staff wrote:
Nov 20, 2025 · Bubble Hookah and Coffee
"Staff does not believe the proposed use aligns with the intent of the newly adopted Lakefront District Small Area Plan, as it does not support the long-term vision, goals, or desired character outlined for this area."
P&Z staff report, SUP-25-003292, Nov 20, 2025What the plan actually says
The plan never mentions smoking, hookah or tobacco. Its list of targeted uses for that exact area includes a "specialty coffee shop." And it lists microbreweries.
So what part of the vision did a coffee lounge go against?
Lakefront District Area Plan, Lakefront Drive/Main Street (Focus Area 2), page 61
Two weeks later, the Whiskey Blendery got "Smoking Establishment" by right, for a cigar lounge, next to family homes. Same Town, same months, different rules
Ordinance 1835, uses (PDF, 4.5 MB).
Kids next door. Do they count?
At the first Planning & Zoning hearing on December 4, 2025, seven neighbors spoke against the project, six more came without speaking, and seven sent emails. Two weeks later, twelve neighbors spoke. This is how the Town's own minutes sum up their concerns.
- "Proximity to children in neighborhood and nearby daycare."
- "Increased noise and rambunctious atmosphere as a result of alcoholic sales."
- "Semitrucks impeding access in/out of the neighborhood while delivering to the blendery."
- "Increased traffic caused by clientele."
- "Safety hazards such as the storage of highly flammable materials and released vapor from whiskey's evaporation rate."
- "The southward second-story patio providing a line of sight into nearby residential homes."
P&Z minutes, Dec 4, 2025, page 8 (PDF, 150 KB). The minutes list the speakers by name; we leave private names off this site.
Why the little school doesn't count
Near the site is a small preschool, with fewer than 100 children. Under state law, a city may ban alcohol sales within 300 feet of a school, and within 1,000 feet of a private school if the school asks. But a private school only counts if it teaches one or more grades from kindergarten through 12th grade and "has more than 100 students enrolled and attending courses at a single location."
A preschool with dozens of small children doesn't meet that test. Neither do the kids who live on our street.
The Town teaches kids about the dangers of alcohol. When it came to alcohol next to where they live and play, what protected them?
In 2024, before any public hearing, the EDC's director texted the developer: "You can go next to a school or church with no distance between you." The texts
Tex. Alcoholic Beverage Code Sec. 109.33(a) and (i).
To be fair
Alcohol is legal, and many Texas cities have bars, breweries and events with drinks. Open container areas exist elsewhere too. We are not asking the Town to ban anything. We are asking it to be consistent: if a coffee and hookah lounge doesn't fit the vision, explain why a whiskey venue with a cigar lounge does. And if the Town teaches kids about the dangers of alcohol, explain why it plans to put drinks in people's hands on the street.
Sources
- Town of Little Elm Comprehensive Plan, 2017, PDF pages 22 and 210.
- Lakefront District Area Plan, June 26, 2025 public review draft, pages 34 and 61; adopted by Council on Sept 2, 2025 (Ordinance No. 1821).
- Planning & Zoning staff report, Bubble Hookah and Coffee, SUP-25-003292, Nov 20, 2025.
- Ordinance 1835 and Development Agreement, as recorded (PDF, 4.5 MB).