DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas — It's called the Fitzhugh Concert Venue.
Back in November 2022, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) held its initial public hearing on a permit for wastewater disposal. Now, more than a year later, the TCEQ is hearing from the people in the community again.
Residents in the area are worried about traffic and noise from the proposed venue along Fitzhugh Road, as well as wastewater and the environmental impacts of the project.
“It came out to just over 5,000 people that live in Dripping Springs, and this is a 5,000-person concert venue. So we’re sitting here imagining every single person in Dripping Springs leaving their home at the same time on a narrow two-lane road," Cailyn Sincavage said.
The California-based developer filed a permit to provide the development with its own municipal wastewater service facility along Fitzhugh Road. The project's engineer said the water for the venue would come from a well installed on the site and would not contaminate the nearby water at Barton Creek.
But people from the Stop Fitzhugh Concert Venue Coalition are skeptical about those plans. They say the proposed facility is in the drainage basin of Barton Creek, and they worry it will harm the creek's water quality. However, TCEQ representatives say they are not allowing for any runoff or pollution to be allowed from the developer.
The developer's representatives also say that when it comes to the wastewater treatment plant plan, they have followed all of the rules outlined for them in the permit.
“It's pretty much in the center of their property. There's ... [a] 150-foot buffer zone around the treatment facilities to the property boundary. And they have met all of those requirements," Erin Banks said.
"I hope that the TCEQ panel is able to listen to us and see us not just as a community that doesn't want traffic, but sees us as a community that wants whatever goes in there – because something will eventually – that whatever goes in there is safe for the entire neighborhood," said Ann Clearkin with the Stop Fitzhugh Concert Venue Coalition.
"It's significantly important because this is now – we have to bring the comments up ... Everyone's human. Sometimes, people miss something. And so, our comments and the things we've looked into and found need to be researched and looked into," Clearkin added.
Back in July, the group also wrote letters to elected leaders asking them to take another look at the traffic impacts that could come with the venue.
State Sen. Donna Campbell, who represents the area where the venue is proposed, requested Monday night's TCEQ meeting after she said she received many messages from concerned residents.
“We have endangered Golden-cheeked warblers nesting two-tenths of a mile from the venue site. And there's increasing research to document the impacts of noise and light on wildlife of all sorts," said Bob Ayres, another member of the Stop Fitzhugh Concert Venue Coalition.
The public hearing had an informal discussion portion and then a formal comment period. Formal comments will go into the official record. Then the executive director of the TCEQ will give a written response to the relevant comments.
Big issues that come from the public hearing could result in a contested case for the permit, where the people who bring up the issues could have a meeting with the venue's attorneys to address their concerns.
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