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
From the wildflowers that Lady Bird Johnson adored, to the dramatic rise and fall of tree-covered limestone hills in the Texas Hill Country, our country roads are a treasure. Texas Ranch to Market Roads 1826, 150 and 967 reward travelers with natural vistas, cool clear creeks, and wide open skies filled with stars, sunrises, and sunsets every day.
We the undersigned want to keep the Texas Hill Country SCENIC.
The increase in the number of motorists along our Ranch to Market roads has triggered a proliferation of billboards on our roads. Billboards are not mere eyesores: their lighting endangers human health and pollutes the night skies that are iconic to this region of Texas.
Further, healthy Texans are productive Texans. We need our nighttime dark. Light pollution has a direct negative bearing on human health and circadian rhythms: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2627884/
Last but not least, billboards may have a negative impact on property values of nearby homes and neighborhoods.
For these reasons, we ask the Texas Legislature to acknowledge the value of these roads we love by designating Texas Ranch to Market Roads 1826, 150 and 967 as “Scenic Highways” in Hays County.
We ask the 86th Legislature to help preserve the scenic beauty and character of Ranch to Market Roads 1826, 150 and 967 by supporting legislation that keeps the beauty of the Texas Hill Country intact.
The stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas. May they be so, forever.
Commissioners considered and approved the adoption of a resolution in support of Rep. Erin Zwiener’s House Bill 1303, which will add several highways in Hays County to a list of roadways where billboards will be prohibited.
The bill will add FM 1826, RM 150 and RM 967 to Section 391, Subchapter 1, of the Transportation Code, which lists certain state highways in Texas in which limitations on off-premise signage exist. …
DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas (KXAN) — The dispute continues between Hays County residents and one of the biggest names in Texas barbeque.
The Black family, behind Terry Black’s barbeque in Austin, has purchased property near Dripping Springs with the hopes of turning it into a large wedding venue. Neighbors have fought the project before, but now they have filed a lawsuit.
HAYS COUNTY, Texas — One day before Mark Black of Terry’s BBQ is reportedly set to appear before the Hays County Commissioners Court to discuss a wastewater permit, a Hays County subdivision is planning to appear to bring its pending lawsuit to light.
The board of trustees with the Radiance subdivision — a community of about 100 people approximately 20 miles southwest of downtown Austin — said they filed a lawsuit on Sept. 26 with the Hays County State District Court in regard to a road called Concord Circle.
Dear Mayor Todd Purcell, Dear Mayor Pro Tem Bill Foulds, Dear City Council Member Taline Manassian, Dear City Council Member Travis Crow, Dear City Council Member Wade King, Dear City Council Member John Kroll,
On Saturday, March 3, 2018, at 3 PM, Friendship Alliance (FA) conducted an organized live traffic study to assess the effects of vehicular traffic on Crystal Hills Dr. expected from the operation of the Mark Black Wedding Venue (MBWV). The study was conducted with 78 vehicles, which would correspond to approximately 50% and 25% of the vehicular traffic expected from the operation of 1 and 2 of the venues projected for the MBWV, respectively, without taking into account additional traffic due to vehicles to be used by staff, caterers, musicians, and other venue operators, competing weddings held at the Wizard Academy, or circumstances requiring.
However, the live traffic study serves for the important purpose of visualizing a partial projected impact of vehicular traffic on Crystal Hills Dr and confirms professional findings from the January, 2018 study.
Please take a look at the video and judge the traffic impact of the MBWV with your own eyes! Seeing is believing beyond the calculations.
What you see on the video should be multiplied by at least a factor of 2 to visualize what Crystal Hills Dr. would be like with the operation of one single wedding venue at the MBWV. Multiply that by 4 and then you can visualize the effect of two wedding venues in simultaneous operation (actually, a factor of 4 is a very conservative estimate because of the “choke” effect at FM 1826).
Some important observations:
Current time of travel from the MBWV entrance to FM 1826 is approximately 2 minutes without venue operations. Average travel time with one venue in operation = approximately 10 minutes. Average travel time with two venues in operation = approximately 20 minutes. These times are conservative estimates during the time window when MBWV clients will be entering and exiting the venue.
What does it mean to anyone driving on Crystal Hills Dr during Fridays or weekends?
(1) You will be significantly delayed if you happen to drive during the time windows of ingress and egress of invitees of the MBWV. (2) The safety of Crystal Hills Dr. will be significantly degraded because of the excess vehicular traffic during ingress and egress of clients of the MBWV. The video shows that sharp curves and blind curves become alarmingly unsafe with the excess vehicular traffic. (3) The traffic already generated by Wizard Academy compounds the safety problems because of the narrow and sharp ingress and egress of cars into that facility. The possibility of MBWV clients egressing under the influence of alcohol consumption compounds the problems even more. (4) You won’t be able to walk, jog, or bicycle on Crystal Hills Dr. during ingress or egress of clients of the MBWV because of the deteriorated road safety conditions. (5) The intersection of Crystal Hills Dr. and FM 1826 will become a serious “choke” point that will also affect residents of Rim Rock. (6) You will not be able to safely evacuate in the event of fire because Crystal Hills Rd. will become a long, static parking lot with the traffic generated by guests of the MBWV and neighbors attempting to evacuate.
What are the solutions to the above problems?
(1) Reduce the size of the MBWV so that Crystal Hills Dr. is safe to drive during ingress and egress of their invitees with the current road conditions. (2) Improve and widen Crystal Hills Dr. before the MBWV starts its operations. However, this will only be a partial solution because of the “choke” point at FM 1826. (3) Widen and improve the bridge on Crystal Hills Dr. at the intersection of FM 1826 before the MBWV starts operations. The northbound turn into Crystal Hills Dr. is too sharp and becomes too dangerous with the excess vehicular traffic. (4) Place a traffic light at the intersection of Crystal Hills Dr. and FM 1826 to partially alleviate the “choke” traffic point at that intersection.
Conclusion
It is highly irresponsible to allow operations of the MBWV with the current design of Crystal Hills Dr. The MBWV needs to be resized to be consistent with the level of service and safety standards of Crystal Hills Dr. Business operations of the MBWV should not start until Crystal Hills Dr. is safe and enables expedient evacuation of neighbors and MBWV guests in the event of fire. Who will be responsible and accountable for accidents and loss of life if the current design of the MBWV is approved by the City of Dripping Springs, by Hays County, and by the State of Texas?
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all the neighbors who participated in the live traffic study; they made a great difference in perception. Mike Dunmire and Carlos Torres-Verdin coordinated the preparation and execution of the live traffic study. Laurel Treviño organized and tabulated the times of travel submitted by most of the drivers in the study and measured the baseline times used in the calculations. Thanks to all!
Dr. Ardekani reviewed data (professionally gathered by GRAM Traffic Counting, Inc. ) and wrote this Traffic Impact Report which was the basis for his presentation to the Commissioners, as below:
Cristian Granucci, City of Los Angeles Fire Captain and a resident of Goldenwood subdivision, spoke to the City of Dripping Springs Planning & Zoning commissioners on January 23, 2018 about evacuation logistics and fire safety as impacted by the proposed Mark Black Wedding Venue project. The project accommodates up to 600 wedding guest in two buildings. Hundreds of families already resident rely on a single 20-foot wide unlit winding county road as a sole lifeline to RR1826 in the event of an emergency evacuation.
Cristian Granucci has served 28 years in the fire department, with deep experience fighting wild land fires. As a resident who lives close to the proposed project, he has seen the dense fuel loads, including juniper trees, as well as the size and condition of existing roads that serve hundreds of residents.
His analysis of current conditions is certainly sobering.
The City Council should inform FA of any feedback given to the mayor and councilmembers by the City Engineer concerning the FA technical/engineering comments, in the same way the City informs the Applicant of comments received by FA. This communication should take place well before the City Council meeting on March 13, 2018.
The City Council should allow public comments about the MBWV on March 13, 2018 because the Applicant has systematically failed to abide by city ordinances and professional engineering code. As long as unresolved issues continue to be unaddressed, the public and especially all affected residents should be allowed to freely express their views about the design of the MBWV and its impact on the neighborhoods and the neighbors who live there now, some of whom have lived in for up to 35 years.
The City Council should allow public comments on March 13 about the MBWV by the recognized professional engineering experts who provided their feedback to FA.
Health and safety issues re emergency egress on an inadequate road as shown by FA’s traffic engineer expert have yet to be resolved by the Applicant.
The size (600-guest total capacity) and design of the MBWV are not consistent with Crystal Hills Drive and the spiritual makeup of the surrounding existing neighborhoods.
The Applicant has not made any written commitments / concessions to neighbors concerns, despite the fact that his project will overload Crystal Hills Drive beyond accepted levels of vehicular traffic service, will impair any fire evacuation efforts, and will forever disrupt the peaceful and spiritual communities around his property.
Friendship Alliance engaged 
Cristian Granucci, City of Los Angeles Fire Captain and a resident of 
