Residents and business owners urge Pflugerville to expedite reopening of longtime nursery; council later amends TCO fee schedule

Dozens of residents and business owners used the public-comment period at the Feb. 24 Pflugerville City Council meeting to press the council to help reopen a longtime independent nursery after the new operator said he could not locate the property's wastewater hookup and was facing mounting fines.

William Glenn, who identified himself as the new owner of Green State Nursery at 601 West Pecan Street, told the council he had built a restroom to meet code but could not "locate the wastewater lines" using maps provided by city engineering. Glenn said the business was at risk because the temporary certificate of occupancy fees had been accumulating and staff had not completed the final hookup: "We are at a horrific impasse ... We probably won't make it through the weekend," he said.

Several neighbors and former owners — Richard Halpin, Becky Halpin, Liz Pfluger and Rhonda Pfluger — supported Glenn and described the nursery as a 49-year community fixture that draws buyers from across Central Texas. Rhonda Pfluger said city engineering initially gave directions for the hookup but later could not locate the connection; she said the right-of-way for the sewer was fenced off by a neighbor and that the neighbor had been "uninterested in helping." She asked the council to consider expedited review so the nursery could open for spring planting.

Mayor (speaker 1) emphasized that council cannot deliberate on matters not on the posted agenda during public comment but said staff could provide factual information. He noted the council had previously approved some flexibility in the TCO fee structure. Later in the meeting, after executive session, council approved an ordinance amending the city's master fee schedule related to temporary certificates of occupancy (item 4e). The council did not tie the ordinance to any single business in public remarks but staff indicated they had updated fee policy earlier in the year and would follow up with commenters.

The public commenters asked staff to confirm whether the city could make a hookup without neighbor approval if the sewer lay in a public right-of-way; staff noted they would examine the issue and follow up with the speakers. The council did not take separate action specifically on Greensleeves during the meeting beyond approving the broader fee-schedule amendment.

The city did not provide a timetable for staff follow-up on the hookup location or any specific temporary occupancy waiver for the nursery during the meeting.