Zoning commission backs rezoning and special‑use permit for church at 1259 Jackson Keller Road

The Castle Hills Zoning Commission voted to forward a rezoning request and recommended approval of a special‑use permit that would allow a church to occupy 1259 Jackson Keller Road, sending both items to City Council for final action.

Applicant Richard M. Aguilar, who identified himself as a local pastor and resident, told the commission his congregation of about "45 to 50 people right now" has been renting roughly 6,000 square feet of retail space for nine years and would like a standalone facility to expand community outreach. "We want to be doing back to school drives, helping, handing out," Aguilar said, describing the change as a way to restore retail elsewhere while placing the congregation in a building that he said "was established as a church from the very beginning of its foundations." He said the property has roughly 97–98 parking spaces and projected sanctuary seating of about 100.

Opposition and written concerns focused on municipal revenue and the character of the corridor. Staff read two written comments into the record: one from Richard Keith of the Economic Development Committee urging denial on grounds that conversion would remove productive commercial property and reduce property‑tax revenue; another from Luke Harris calling the change a potential tax‑avoidance tactic and asking the commission to require an organization to build a dedicated church structure. Resident Elizabeth Montoya told the commission, "We are very short on revenue right now," and urged commissioners to weigh the city's limited commercial tax base when considering conversions to tax‑exempt uses.

City staff and the city attorney reviewed parking rules during questioning. The city attorney read section 50‑36(a) of the zoning code, which measures minimum parking for churches either as three spaces per 200 square feet of indoor church area or 0.2 spaces per church seat, whichever yields more spaces. Staff concluded the site's supply exceeds those requirements for the reported sanctuary size, but asked the applicant to bring detailed calculations to City Council.

After questions about neighborhood fit, safety, and overflow parking, the commission voted to forward the rezoning change to City Council (the first of a two‑step process). It then approved a resolution recommending the special‑use permit (resolution 20260804‑b) and will send that recommendation to the council. No final Council action occurred at the meeting.