Scaled-down Violet Crown development near Bee Cave under consideration again

The embattled Violet Crown Amphitheater – a planned development including condos and offices off Highway 71 in Southwest Austin that was successfully beaten down in 2022 by angry neighbors – looks to be back, now under a new name: White Rocks Austin.

A few years ago, Violet Crown was dubbed “Austin’s answer to Red Rocks” by its developers, International Development Management Co., and included plans for a 20,000-plus-capacity music venue. Now, it has scaled the proposed amphitheater down to half of its original size (10,000 seats) after Austin’s Environmental Commission rejected the plan unanimously in 2022 and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality denied a permit for wastewater. But the plan may keep changing: At an April 8 TCEQ meeting regarding a request for a new wastewater permit, Community Impact reports that the developer denied an amphitheater being involved at all with the new project.

Whatever the new scaled-down plan includes, it’s the location that angers environmental groups like the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance (GEAA). The site is surrounded on three sides by the Barton Creek Habitat Preserve and the creek itself on the fourth side. 

The current plan consists of six high-rise condo buildings, a 150-room hotel, a distillery, a spa and wellness center, a ballroom, two fine dining restaurants, three bars, a private club and a rooftop swimming pool. To support all these luxury amenities, the developer also includes plans for a wastewater treatment plant processing 120,000 gallons per day of sewage, to be dispersed into a field directly upward from Barton Creek. 

TCEQ has already approved the changed development’s draft Texas Land Application Permit, which GEAA says “is the among the most lax Texas wastewater permits ever, with minimal pollution limits and no Phosphorus or Nitrogen removal required.” Nitrogen and phosphorus are two nutrients found in polluted water that lead to toxic algae production.

After the original water/wastewater permits were rejected by Austin and the TCEQ, the developer released the tract from Austin’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), using a new law passed in the state’s 2023 legislative session, SB 2038. Many municipalities including Austin opposed the bill before it was passed, concerned for the lack of environmental regulations in unincorporated Travis County. 

The city of Austin Watershed Protection Department has filed comments in opposition to the TCEQ permit, echoing GEAA’s concerns about runoff and pointing to the Environmental Commission’s previous denial of the developer’s request.

“Partially treated effluent has the potential to impact surface waters. … (These) areas likely drain into tributaries of Barton Creek within the Contributing Zone of the Barton Springs Segment of the Edwards Aquifer (BSEA) with groundwater flow to Barton Springs,” wrote Liz Johnston, interim environmental officer with Watershed Protection. Barton Springs has already experienced the proliferation of toxic algae throughout Central Texas waterways, though not yet at a level dangerous to humans. 

Though the new wastewater permit is already under consideration, it’s unclear where the developer plans to get its water. GEAA said in its press release that Austin Water “likely would not extend such large water lines to a developer who has voluntarily released themselves from the city’s ETJ and is not following city code.” The city of Bee Cave, just west of the site, is similarly disgruntled with the developers and passed a resolution publicly opposing White Rocks at a meeting March 25 on the grounds of light pollution and inadequate road infrastructure to support the increased traffic, plus environmental concerns.

Johnston’s comments suggest tweaks to the permit – but GEAA’s call for the rejection of the permit outright and point out TCEQ’s pattern of granting lax permits to developments within this environmentally sensitive area.

“Excessive algae proliferation and toxic algae proliferation in the Highland Lakes as well as area waterways such as Barton Creek are strong evidence that TCEQ’s leniency on numerous wastewater permits previously issued is having a dire effect on Texans’ water,” wrote GEAA Executive Director Annalisa Peace, referencing similar draft permits with no nutrient limits for the Fitzhugh Music Venue, Hays Commons and Mirasol Springs, all within several miles of each other. The first received impassioned opposition from neighbors and local elected officials, though Hays Commons won support from the Parks and Recreation Board last year, and Mirasol Springs recently traded water service from the West Travis County Public Utility Agency in exchange for not accessing groundwater through wells or surface water from the Pedernales River.

“Lax wastewater permits go against TCEQ’s charter and mandate to protect the quality of Texans’ water,” Peace argued.

TCEQ’s next move will come after a 45- to 60-day period, wherein all formal comments submitted online and in person will receive a response – then, the agency will evaluate whether a contested case hearing is needed.

Photo by stickywikit, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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