The Leander Planning and Zoning Commission members approved an increase in the number of children allowed at in-home daycares in residential neighborhoods from five to six May 28, matching the regulations of neighboring cities.

Although this vote allows in-home daycares to look after an additional child, the commission rejected a motion that would have allowed in-home daycares to earn a permit to care for six additional children after school.

In a nutshell: While the state passed Senate Bill 599 in September to provide regulatory uniformity across in-home daycares, differences still exist between cities. By allowing up to six children to be cared for at an in-home daycare, Leander now matches the base number of children allowed at residential daycares in surrounding cities like Cedar Park, Georgetown, Round Rock, Taylor and Hutto.

However, the commission voted 5-1 against a proposed ordinance that would have allowed daycares to look after six children under the age of 14 as well as six additional children between the ages of 5 and 13, provided the daycare met the city’s regulations.

Adult beverage retailer Starbeam Liquor is expanding with a new location coming soon to Leander.

The details: The company's website states its inventory is focused on "fine wines, seltzers and premium spirits." The new storefront will be the eighth location for Starbeam Liquor, joining locations in Austin, Hutto, Kyle and Georgetown. A representative of the company told Community Impact he expects the Leander location to open in late June.

• 305 Sonny Drive, Ste. 100, Leander

A Sprouts Farmers Market, East 51st Street improvements and a new museum building are among the five most expensive projects filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in the Austin metro this week.

1. Deposition Technology ($27 million): This project at the semiconductor support and manufacturing company consists of a cleanroom expansion and renovation.

2. East 51st Street ($17 million): This project involves the revitalization of East 51st Street from I-35 to Berkman Drive.

3. Sprouts Farmers Market ($4.8 Million): A new location for the grocery store is coming to Hutto.

4. UT Dinosaur Trackways ($4.2 million): The building is a 2,100-square-foot single-story museum, which aims to conserve and house some of Texas’ most renowned fossilized footprints made 113 million years ago by a sauropod and a theropod near Glen Rose.

5. Texas State University: Student Success Commons at the Albert B. Alkek Library ($3.5 million): This project involves the interior renovation of approximately 38,000 square feet of the sixth floor of Alkek Library to add staff offices and study spaces.

In smaller communities and cities around the Greater Austin area, demand for health care specialists has risen at a rate unmatched by access to professionals, said Ashley Price, Austin Regional Clinic's vice president of operations.

Austin Regional Clinic, or ARC, is expanding its specialty services both north and south of Austin to provide unique care to residents in the surrounding cities.

Current situation: Access to health care specialists in Central Texas can be a barrier for residents seeking medical care, Price said. While cities neighboring Austin are growing rapidly, the nation faces a shortage of both primary care physicians and specialists.

Specialists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants with ARC travel to multiple clinic locations to meet patients where there is a need, so they are not required to journey into Austin for care.

The specifics: ARC is further expanding with the opening of a Lockhart clinic on June 15, and ARC South Specialty in South Austin, opening in phases beginning June 1.

ARC also opened the Greenlawn Specialty clinic in Round Rock on Jan. 19.