DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas — Travis County Commissioners gave preliminary approval in a 4-to-1 vote Tuesday to allow construction of an RV park near Hamilton Pool. Although, there could be a chance the project won't happen.
There are more steps for the final approval of the RV park, Buddy's Backyard. The builders have to finish a groundwater availability study that will look at the impact the RV park will have on the aquifer – one of many concerns residents have.
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"We really had to fight to get our concerns brought before the commission and heard and the question right now is whether or not they really heard that," said Chris Stewart, a Dripping Springs resident and Save Hamilton Pool member.
The neighbors in the area have made it clear that they do not want the park built near them for many reasons.
In the Save Hamilton petition, which is signed by more the 23,000 people, they state the risks they believe the park causes:
- Groundwater contamination from large septic systems upstream from Hamilton Pool
- Groundwater pumping that can reduce flows into Hamilton Pool
- Surface runoff into Hamilton Pool (oil, gas, chemicals)
- Loss of habitat for the federally endangered Golden-Cheeked Warbler
- Increased traffic, light and noise pollution
- Complications to emergency services access
"The water formation that we all pull our drinking water supply from, we know that that's in steady decline. The county has even commissioned studies that show that that's the case," Stewart said. “We’ve had concerns about the septic system, too, that they’re proposing, but the issues that kind of filter to the top or came to the top really centered around the groundwater availability and the traffic impact.”
Stewart also worries it will create safety hazards if there was a wildfire in the area or even contamination to Hamilton Pool. Commissioner Brigid Shea feels the same.
"I’ve had concerns about safety. I feel like I can’t support this. I know we’ve tried to do as much as we can to improve it," Commissioner Shea said. “I still don’t want to put people in harm's way and it feels to me like we are in this project, so I won’t be able to vote for it today.”
"If you take into account the vehicles involved in an RV park and how they're supposed to move in and out in a substandard road and not create a log jam if there was an emergency evacuation, I don't know how anybody can reasonably come to the conclusion that that's going to be okay," Stewart said.
The proposed park would be at the corner of Hamilton Pool Road and Stagecoach Ranch Road. The developer has applied for a permit with Travis County for 10 acres.
BenTree Builders owner Kristy Petree said she plans on having 84 RVs fit on the plot of land. In a previous interview with KVUE, Petree said she was surprised when she received push-back from the community.
“We’re not building some rinky-dink, cheap, cheesy RV park,” Petree said. “We're building a nice, upscale RV resort that we're going to be proud of and people are going to want to come and stay and visit the Hill Country and enjoy.”
The project will come back to the commissioner's court when the water availability study is finished, but it's not known exactly when that will happen.
You can watch the full commissioners meeting here.
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