Cease and desist issued for Terry Black’s BBQ’s proposed wedding venue in Dripping Springs
Tag: Mark Black
Dripping Springs Century News: Parts of Mark Black Wedding Venue Put on Hold
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.
Crystal Creek and Sediment-Laden Discharge from Mark Black Wedding Venue (May 2019)
This PDF is a copy of the the PowerPoint created to document existing conditions in Crystal Creek. Unlike the PowerPoint file, none of the videos will “play” in this file:
CrystalCreekPollution_201905A.pdf
This PowerPoint file (174 MB) was created to document existing conditions in Crystal Creek. It has videos will “play” if you open the file in PowerPoint: CrystalCreekPollution_201905A.pptx
Hays Free Press: Dripping Springs wedding venue accused of causing pollution
May 15, 2019 Response from City of Dripping Springs Code Enforcement & Construction Inspector Aaron Reed
From: Aaron Reed <[email protected].
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,
KXAN: Venue owned by famous Texas BBQ family under investigation over construction runoff
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”
Hays Free Press: Violations force work to stop at Driftwood venue site
Hays Free Press: Bird ruffles feathers at wedding venue
Austin Chronicle, Letter to Editor: Black Market Investments, freedom and responsibility
https://www.austinchronicle.com/feedback/2018-05-08/2215898/
Responsibilities of Freedom
RECEIVED Tue., May 8, 2018
Dear Editor,
[In “‘Til Death Do Us Party,” News, April 27,] Kate [Groetzinger] pointed out Black Market Investments plans to build two 300-person wedding venues next to three long-established residential communities. She did not mention there are also three spiritual communities that will be impacted by this business venture.
A Meditation community and building, a Hindu temple, and a Native American spiritual center each share property lines on three sides with the proposed venues. These spiritual centers have 30- to 40-plus years in this location, many people have built their homes and lives around them, and now we are all concerned our ceremonies and prayers which, in most cases, are practiced on a daily basis, will no longer be possible. The loss of these places of worship should be tangible to everyone. It is difficult for me to imagine anyone taking vows before their creator and beginning the most significant relationship of their lives in such a place knowing they are ruining other families’ homes as well as destroying places of worship.
The property is part of one of the most significant Native American historical sites in Texas, and how it came to be owned by the Blacks has its own story. The longtime owner of the tract, mindful of its historic and cultural importance, as well as the sensitive nature of both its neighbors and geology, sold it to a developer after being promised he would build three or four estate homes there. The developer then flipped it to the Blacks after realizing the land had a 12% impervious cover limit due to being an integral part of the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone.
Lastly, yes, property rights are part of the freedom we enjoy, but freedom requires certain responsibilities, part of which is respect and consideration for each other. Otherwise, none of us can be free.
Thanks,
Bob Logan
Bob Logan
Dallas News: Nothing funny about carpetbaggers trying to run Dallas Comedy House out of Deep Ellum
by Robert Wilonsky, City Columnist, Dallas News
…. Frank had attached a lengthy Facebook post from Amanda Austin, owner of the Dallas Comedy House on Main Street, in which she detailed how the comedy club and improv workshop was getting the boot from her Deep Ellum digs by a carpetbagging landlord — Black Market Investments, out of Lockhart — wanting to sink yet another barbecue joint in the neighborhood. Austin would tell me later that she tried to keep the whole thing a secret, hoping it would be resolved to everyone’s benefit, till it became painfully clear her days were numbered….
Austin, who has two years left on her lease, has known for three months that her days on Main could be winding down. In mid-January she discovered her building had been bought by something called Black Market Investments — so named for Terry Black, a Lockhart CPA, and his children Christina, Michael and Mark Black. Michael and Mark also own Terry Black’s Barbecue in Austin, so named for their dad after a legal tussle with their uncle Ken left them unable to use the original Black’s Barbecue moniker made famous by their grandfather Edgar Clarence Black Jr.
The lengthy letter alleged she was violating the lease by holding shows there. And by hosting classes and workshops. And by serving food and drink. And so on. The new landlords also alleged the building was one giant code violation. Kane’s letter said Austin had 10 days to fix everything or else. And so began the back-and-forth between Black Market’s attorneys and Austin’s lawyers.
On March 2, J. Michael Ellis, who reps Austin, told Kane that Black Market might want to reconsider its attempts to oust Dallas Comedy House for a barbecue restaurant. Ellis wrote that the Lockhartites’ “contrived efforts to remove Dallas’s largest and longest continually-active comedy theater from its space are unlawful, in violation of the Lease and represent a malicious scheme that will certainly interest the Dallas courts, local publications and the Dallas community.” Read more…