Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor:

As a longtime resident, I know Greater Austin offers something for everyone. Whether you want to make an escape for the water, go on an adventurous hike or try the newest brewery, there is no shortage of year-round activities that fill bucket lists. Live music is, of course, a staple of many of those lists—and rightfully so.

Music venues have served as a catalyst for businesses and people from around the world coming to Austin, boosting the entertainment ecosystem, and in turn, bringing a spotlight to Dripping Springs, the Gateway to the Hill Country.

Living southwest of downtown Austin, I enjoy a quiet escape. I get to experience the beauty of the Texas Hill Country in a more peaceful environment, while being just a short drive away from the city. It’s truly the best of both worlds.

However, this same development that has transformed Austin, is now threatening to harm my community. When I found out last year that an out-of-state developer announced intentions to build a 5,000-seat outdoor concert venue, I was floored. Through a schematic released a few months later, it was revealed just how massive this venue would be. It looked like a baseball stadium! It is simply wrong to think this is an appropriate location for that.

Living near Fitzhugh Road, which is windy, narrow and has low-water crossings, already presents a myriad of traffic and safety concerns—making it more difficult to run every day errands and have emergency services reach your home. If this proposed concert venue were to come to the community, it would only escalate these traffic and safety issues.

Adding potentially thousands of concert-goers— many of whom will likely have been drinking alcohol—exponentially increases the risk for catastrophe. The 2,000 proposed parking spaces at this venue would likely cause an overflow of parking at nearby businesses and add to traffic on the already busy Hamilton Pool, Trautwein and Crumley Ranch Roads, which also have low-water crossings. With this heavy increase in traffic, how are our emergency services going to respond to the additional needs that will inevitably arise in a timely, safe manner?

I was relieved to learn that neighbors have joined together to form the Stop Fitzhugh Concert Venue coalition to educate and galvanize our community to oppose this project.

I have been an active member, and recently signed a petition to ask the Hays County Commissioners Court to require the developers to produce a Road Safety Audit and revise their Traffic Impact Analysis to more adequately meet the needs of our community.

If you haven’t already, I urge you to join us. Simply visit Stop-FitzhughConcertVenue. com and follow @Stop-FitzhughConcertVenue on social media platforms to get the latest, real-time updates.

This simply isn’t a safe or reasonable location for a concert venue. It is imperative that we be smart with development to ensure a healthy and thriving future. —Steve McCreary Stop Fitzhugh Concert Venue Coalition Member