Cease and desist issued for Terry Black’s BBQ’s proposed wedding venue in Dripping Springs
Neighbors in North Hays County, Tx, working to ensure water quality, protect aquifers, open spaces, rural character, and our children's access to public education
https://www.drippingspringsnews.com/news/parts-mark-black-wedding-venue-put-hold
On Jun. 3, the City of Dripping Springs put a stop work order on a portion of the Mark Black wedding venue, which is being built at 130 W. Concord Circle in Driftwood. The stop order was issued by a city inspector after he and a city engineer determined “the work being done did not match the approved site plan,” during a visit to the property.
From: Aaron Reed <areed@cityofdrippingsprings.
Date: May 15, 2019 at 8:42:06 AM CDT
Mr. Torres-Verdin,
I visited the site at Mark Black Wedding Venue yesterday afternoon. I arrived shortly after James Slone of TCEQ had left. TCEQ has put a stop to the dewatering of the foundation excavation which was leading to sediment leaving the site. The contractor is to submit a dewatering plan to TCEQ and it must be approved by TCEQ before any dewatering can continue. TCEQ will also be requiring the contractor to clean up the creek. I am not sure what the schedule is for that cleanup. For that information you will need to contact TCEQ.
If you have any other questions regarding this matter please feel free to email or call me at City Hall 512-858-4725.
Please understand that any citizen complaints must be directed through City Hall via email or phone so records can be kept.
Thank you,
DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas (KXAN) — One of the biggest names in Texas barbeque is facing a new challenge.
The Black family’s planned wedding venue is under investigation by the city of Dripping Springs and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Neighbors of “Black Ranch” say construction run-off has flowed into a nearby creek. Some have been against the project from the start.
Continue reading “KXAN: Venue owned by famous Texas BBQ family under investigation over construction runoff”
No rainfall today.
And yet:
Photo credits:
All photos taken by Dr. Carlos Torres-Verdin in the morning, Tuesday May 14, 2019, as he stood on his property, looking into the creek that runs between the Mark Black Wedding Venue project and Ila Creek.
If you’d like to let TCEQ know what you think, or to ask simply “what is going on with our creek? what is in that water? why is this the second time this is happening?” etc. then:
_____________
Upstream photo below, taken 11:35am on May 14, 2019, by Jeanine Christensen, while standing in the Radiance community greenbelt:
https://haysfreepress.com/2018/04/25/development-over-recharge-zone-draws-concern/
Anxieties over the impact a proposed masterplanned development along FM 967 near Buda could have on neighbors and the Edwards Aquifer is steadily rising.
According to community organizers, the development, located in Dripping Springs’ extraterritorial jurisdiction, calls for 1,200 homes to be built out on almost 800 acres of land. The development is located over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone.
However, variance requests outlined in the proposed development agreement with Dripping Springs have left neighbors concerned about what the growth could mean for them.
Jannine Inbody, who lives downhill from the proposed development site, organized a town hall meeting April 19 at Southern Hills Church of Christ in Buda, where about 60 of her fellow neighbors discussed their concerns and the actions they can take….
All Gregory George wanted was some peace and quiet. In 2013, the 41-year-old former Texas General Land Office agent and his wife Staci bought a 10.8-acre plot just outside of Dripping Springs, in a development protected by residential-only deed restrictions. Their plan was to build their dream home and start a family. But that dream turned into a nightmare, George said, when his neighbors decided to open up a wedding venue right next to his new home. Now, he spends his days meeting with lawyers, and nights canvassing his property line with a sound meter.
According to George, his neighbor Jani Saliga came over three days before he poured the foundation for his house and told him she was planning to turn her existing home into a wedding venue. George was surprised: His property came with a neighborhood covenant that prohibited commercial business, and he was told by his real estate agent and his title company that it applied to the properties on both sides of his lot. Saliga, however, says she was unaware of any deed restrictions on her property. George went ahead and built his home adjacent to Saliga’s, on the highest point on his lot, sure the covenant would work. Saliga and her husband also proceeded with their plan, turning their home into what is now the Garden Grove Wedding and Event Venue.
When they began to host weddings in April of 2016, tensions escalated between the Georges and the Saligas. The weddings, which George claims sometimes include live bands that play until midnight, occur about 250 feet from his back porch. George and the neighbors who live on the opposite side of the Saligas’ property filed a lawsuit against them and Garden Grove to enforce the residential-only covenant in June of 2016.
By Chris Davis
HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) – The owners of more than 12 acres of land in Hays County, who were recently sued by their neighbors over their occasional use of the house they built as a wedding venue, filed a lawsuit of their own this month against those same neighbors.
A judge ruled last October that Jani and Shon Saliga were allowed to keep renting out their home between Buda and Dripping Springs to host weddings. The couple filed a lawsuit this month against the neighboring property owners who sued them, alleging the neighbors are intentionally disrupting weddings held there.
Jani Saliga told KXAN she originally bought the land and built the home for her and her husband to retire to, and it wasn’t until real estate agents suggested it could be a venue that the pair turned it into Garden Grove. Read more…
“I’m just waiting to be served any day,” said the homeowner.Controversy has filled the air in the wedding capital of Texas.Homeowners in Dripping Springs are fighting a back-and-forth legal battle with a well-known wedding venue off FM 967.