Environmental groups, neighbors rally against proposed concert venue

Source: https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2022/12/environmental-groups-neighbors-rally-against-proposed-concert-venue/

A coalition of environmental groups last week announced its opposition to a proposed 5,000-seat concert venue at 14820 Fitzhugh Road, near Dripping Springs.

The coalition, Stop Fitzhugh Concert Venue, says it’s concerned about negative impacts the venue might bring to Barton Creek, as well as increased traffic on narrow country roads, drunk driving, and noise and light pollution members say would disrupt neighbors and harm wildlife.

Bob Ayres, co-owner of neighboring Shield Ranch, said in a press release that while Austin’s growth has brought many good things to the region, the concert venue would not be one of them. 

“No one is asking for this proposed venue,” Ayres said. “It’s unnecessary, poorly devised and threatens to significantly impact Barton Creek and the natural and human communities in the region.”

Coalition members include Shield Ranch, Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, Save Barton Creek Association, and Save Our Springs Alliance.

The concert venue is planned on a 22-acre property in Hays County, with California developer Blizexas LLC spearheading the proposal. According to reporting by KVUE, the developer plans to follow all state environmental guidelines and has a traffic management plan. Bill LeClerc with Blizexas said the venue could help create 200 jobs in the area.

Before any construction can begin, the venue needs a wastewater permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. On Nov. 29, TCEQ held a public hearing, at which around two dozen residents spoke against the project. 

Neighbors aired a variety of concerns, among them impacts to Barton Creek. Stop Fitzhugh Concert Venue claims that the buildings and activity associated with the venue, including parking for 2,000 cars, will significantly impact the water quality in the creek and ultimately Barton Springs. 

“The amount of proposed impervious cover will increase wastewater and stormwater runoff, causing erosion and delivery of sediment and pollutants to Barton Creek. These impacts will degrade water quality and be harmful to the environment and people recreating downstream,” the release stated. 

An analysis by the group also shows that noise and light pollution could affect neighbors for miles around. 

TCEQ is expected to issue a decision on the wastewater permit next year. Blizexas has not revealed detailed plans for the venue or when it might begin construction and open for concerts.

Dripping Springs residents to voice opinion on proposed concert venue at TCEQ meeting

Source: https://communityimpact.com/austin/southwest-austin-dripping-springs/development/2024/01/17/dripping-springs-residents-to-voice-opinion-on-proposed-concert-venue-at-tceq-meeting/

Community members concerned about a concert venue proposed for Fitzhugh Road are preparing for an opportunity to voice opinions to officials from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or TCEQ, as well as the developer.

The overview

Sen. Donna Campbell made the request to the TCEQ on behalf of concerned residents, including the Stop Fitzhugh Concert Venue coalition. Residents have been aware of the proposed venue for over a year.

The public meeting will be held at Dripping Springs Ranch Park, 1042 Event Center Drive, Dripping Springs, on Jan. 29 at 7 p.m.

A closer look

This is the second public meeting in regard to a wastewater permit filed by California-based company Blizexas that would serve a concert venue with up to 5,000 seats, according to the permit.

The permit, which is still pending approval and is the only one filed so far, would provide the development with its own municipal wastewater service. The concert venue would serve up to 5,000 people per day up to three times a week for up to six hours, according to the permit.

The project’s engineer, Erin Banks, estimates the venue would use 12,000 gallons of water per day averaged over a week, based on another event venue built by the company in California. The water use would come from a well installed on the site, Banks said.

The wastewater permit, if approved, would not allow for "a discharge of pollutants into water," according to TCEQ documents.

Mike Clifford, technical director for the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, said the amount of impervious cover, or features that block rainfall such as the parking lot, may cause runoff. This amount of impervious cover combined with small fields about half of an acre in size within the venue’s lot to irrigate treated sewage could result in runoff that is both stormwater and wastewater.

Additionally, the treated wastewater permit as proposed would not remove nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen from the wastewater that can pollute waterways when runoff occurs, Clifford said.

“A developer that can get that type of a permit that’s so loose does not need to spend very much on wastewater treatment,” Clifford said. “Whereas, a development like Headwaters that does that removal—that extra environmental protection—that's a much more expensive wastewater treatment plant. So, you can see what this developer has done is basically trying to make this thing as cheap as possible.”

Diving in deeper

Water is not the only concern for those in opposition to the project.

In July, Fitzhugh Neighbors, a grassroots organization part of the coalition, wrote a letter to 20 elected officials urging a re-evaluation of a traffic impact analysis, or TIA, submitted by the developer to Hays County officials in February 2022. In response, Hays County Precinct 4 Commissioner Walt Smith requested a third-party review of the TIA.

The letter emphasized the TIA fails to “account for significant public safety concerns.”

The proposed venue would be located off Fitzhugh Road near the intersection of Crumley Ranch and Trautwein Road. Fitzhugh Road is a two-lane road without shoulders with multiple low-water crossings. It intersects with RM 12, Hwy. 290 and Hamilton Pool Road.

Businesses, such as Jester King Brewery and Fitzhugh Brewing, in addition to community members' homes, sit off Fitzhugh Road.

“When a development that also has these impervious cover problems and wastewater problems happens to want to be on one of the most dangerous roads in Hays County, it creates a very egregious proposed development,” Clifford said.

The TIA concluded a need for several improvements to the road, including adding police or traffic personnel at the intersections of Crumley Ranch and Trautwein Road with Fitzhugh Road during events; new turning lanes at the intersection of the road with RM 12; and lastly, additional warning signs.

The TIA also conducted a site distance study, which determines how far a driver can see when stopped and looking down an intersection. The study looked at four driveways from the venue onto Fitzhugh.

It found three driveways met the Hays County minimum sight distance regulation, which is 350 feet for a road that has a speed limit of 35 miles per hour. A fourth driveway measured at 250 feet did not meet the regulation, which would be rectified with additional signage, according to the TIA.

Dripping Springs local Steve Warntjes has lived off Fitzhugh Road since 2015 and told Community Impact in July he’s concerned about safety on the road if the venue is built.

“I'm not against music,” Warntjes said. “What I am against is concerns about public safety and whether or not we're going to be able to handle this volume of traffic in a reasonable manner.”

Other concerns community members will likely express Jan. 29 include noise and light pollution.

Shield Ranch Barton Creek, 6,400 acres of sustainably managed land, sits nearby the site of the proposed venue. Marshall Bowen, a member of the Shield Ranch family and attorney with Butler Snow LLP, told Community Impact in February the renderings of the venue are “shocking” because of how it would transform the area.

“We have to be mindful of the decisions we're making now that are going to have impacts for generations of folks who will live in Austin, and the real impacts on our infrastructure, our water quality and our way of life," Bowen said.

In case you missed it

At a community forum called by Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra to discuss the proposed venue Oct. 2, Smith told the community the county is limited in its ability to regulate the development.

“Under state law, and especially the changes that happened in [the 88th legislative session], if a project meets regulatory standards then we have to place what's called a mandate for approval,” Smith said Oct. 2. “If we get certain materials submitted in a timely fashion, once we get the final submission, if they meet the standards, we have to approve those projects within 30 days under state law.”

Going forward

The wastewater permit has not been approved or denied by the TCEQ as of press time. Any community member can attend the public meeting Jan. 29.

“We plan to develop a world-class and well-run venue near Dripping Springs that is respectful of our neighbors, the land and the Hill Country’s unique character,” said Bill LeClerc, director of real estate developments and investments at Lexor Investments, in a previous statement to Community Impact. Lexor Investments is the parent company of Blizexas.

The renderings of the venue can be found here. For more information on the coalition, visit www.stopfitzhughconcertvenue.com. For more information on Fitzhugh Neighbors, visit www.fitzhughneighbors.org. For more information on permits submitted by Blizexas, visit www.tceq.texas.gov.

Proposed Amphitheater Near Dripping Springs Faces Neighbor Opposition

Traffic concerns clash with 5,000-capacity plans off Fitzhugh Road

https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/music/2023-01-06/proposed-amphitheater-near-dripping-springs-faces-neighbor-opposition/

A 5,000-capacity amphitheater proposed for a portion of Hays County just southwest of Austin is meeting stiff resistance from residents who say the project will greatly disrupt life along the rural Fitzhugh Road.

The Stop Fitzhugh Concert Venue group has worked since the spring to bring together concerned residents along the two-lane county road. The coalition argues that the outdoor music venue, planned on a 32-acre tract at 14820 Fitzhugh Road, would create several safety hazards with up to 2,000 vehicles entering and leaving the venue for each event.

You get a lump in your throat thinking about the traffic, the congestion. As it is… on an average day you really pray that there’s not some terrible accident with the many cyclists who are up and down Fitzhugh Road,” said Sue Munns, whose family lives across the street from the proposed venue site.

“There is no [musical act] that belongs at a venue the magnitude these people are proposing. It's ridiculous. It's completely unsafe. How anybody can think this is logical is really beyond me. And that's the same sentiment by almost everybody around here.”

The still-unnamed project is the work of California-based Lexor Investments Inc., which has a similar venue in Saratoga, California and does business in Texas as Blizexas LLC.

Munns and other residents weighed in on the proposed venue in late November during a public hearing in Dripping Springs held by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to discuss the wastewater permit needed for the site.

That state-level regulation could be the only possible check on the project, since it is located outside the jurisdiction of Dripping Springs and state law doesn’t give zoning authority to counties. The state has not reached a decision on the permit for the subsurface drip dispersal system, which would keep wastewater contained to the site.

Walt Smith, Hays County commissioner for Precinct 4, has called into question Blizexas’ traffic study, which claims 80 percent of traffic to the venue would come from the East along Fitzhugh Road. He says other neighboring county roads are likely to experience heavy traffic and safety issues that the county will have to pay to address, unless the developer volunteers to make needed safety improvements.

“The developer has voluntarily stepped up to do a number of improvements along the property where they're at on Fitzhugh Road,” said Smith. “If they were building this facility within a city limits or on a state roadway, the state of Texas or the city of Austin or Dripping Springs could say, ‘Here are the traffic improvements that we are going to make you pay for in order to open this facility on a county roadway.’ Counties don't have that same ability, so any improvements that happen, we have to pay for them as a county.”

The 5,000-capacity project is one of three large venues being proposed for the Hill Country surrounding Austin. The 20,000-capacity Violet Crown Amphitheater is part of a development off Highway 71 in Southeast Austin, and has attracted similar opposition from nearby residents. And a development known as the Backyard, proposed for Bee Cave Parkway near Highway 71, has plans for two music venues including an amphitheater.

Bill LeClerc, director of real estate development and investments for Lexor, said the venue will fit with the eventual expansion plans to turn Fitzhugh into a four-lane road, with the company paying for a center turn lane from the west and a right-hand turn for eastbound traffic. If other surrounding roads require improvements due to safety issues caused by venue traffic, he said “we would be open to discussions” with county officials.

As to Lexor’s amphitheater possibly joining two others in roughly the same region southwest of Austin, he said differences in capacity and the area’s overall growth would prevent them from cannibalizing each other.

“We would not view the 20,000-seat venue as competition by any means, because there would be a much different talent pool for a place that size,” he said. “At [a 5,000 capacity], there’d be a much different kind of artist we’d be booking, and we feel there’s plenty of room in the market for an outdoor facility to the west of Austin.”

Coalition Fighting Another Proposed Amphitheater Near Dripping Springs

Environmental groups call on TCEQ to reject wastewater permit

Source: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2023-03-03/title-coalition-fighting-another-proposed-amphitheater-near-dripping-springs/

Nearly a year after community pushback slowed progress on the planned Violet Crown Amphitheater in Southwest Austin to a crawl, another mammoth music venue is trying its luck, this time with a proposed 5,000-capacity amphitheater on Fitzhugh Road (about 25% the size of the Violet Crown proposal). Stop Fitzhugh Concert Venue, a coalition of neighbors and environmental advocates, has been organizing against the plan since last spring, arguing that it would unsustainably increase noise and light pollution, traffic along the rural two-lane road, and runoff that may affect water quality; the land lies in the Edwards Aquifer Contributing Zone and includes habitat for the endangered golden-cheeked warbler. California-based Lexor Invest­ments Inc. – Blizexas LLC in Texas – says it is willing to pay for road improvements to reduce traffic congestion and has asked for a wastewater irrigation permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the only regulator with control of the project as it it lies outside both Dripping Springs' and Austin's extraterritorial jurisdictions.

Two weeks ago, the developer released a schematic, doing nothing to assuage community concerns. The Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance's subsequent letter of dissent cites the proposed 66.45% impervious cover, which "will likely degrade Barton Creek and local groundwater quality in violation of the Clean Water Act and state law." GEAA worries particularly about 1,823 parking spots and asphalt road surfaces from which auto pollutants can migrate into runoff, and that the temporary detention ponds proposed for the construction phase won't prevent runoff from traveling the half mile to Barton Creek. A mile away, within the city of Austin ETJ, impervious cover in the contributing zone is capped at 20% by the Save Our Springs Ordinance; in the Dripping Springs ETJ, the limit is 35%.

The letter also points to TCEQ's failure to maintain detention ponds at this scale: "During the past eighteen years we have seen numerous stormwater detention plans that were never fully implemented or that failed to function properly coupled with a failure on the part of TCEQ staff to make sure approved plans were adhered to and functional through follow-up. Given the budgetary and staff shortages of this agency, we urge caution in approving high-maintenance plans such as this one."

Though GEAA would prefer no development at all on the site, it offers alternatives with less impervious cover, such as structured parking or a "park and ride" model with remote garages and shuttles. Save Barton Creek Association points to other amphitheatres built in "more sensible locations," such as the Grove at Southpark Mead­ows next to I-35, or Circuit of the Americas next to SH 71, instead of "next to a pair of winding two-lane roads." TCEQ has not yet issued a decision on the permit, and Blizexas has yet to release a timeline for the construction or opening of the venue.