At a Dec. 9 meeting the board heard testimony from members of the church who think the amphitheater should be allowed to continue to operate as well as from area residents who think noise from worship concerts there is a nuisance.
From left: Attorney Robert Kleeman and LifeAustin Church board member Dennis Broughton listen as Greg Guernsey, director of the city’s Planning and Zoning Department, speaks to the city's Board of Adjustment about the decision to approve the construction of LifeAustin's controversial amphitheatre. Kleeman represents local neighborhood associations that oppose amplified sound at the amphitheatre, which began hosting events in mid-2015.[/caption]The board voted unanimously to postpone action on the case until Feb. 8.
Board member Michael Von Ohlen urged residents and church representatives to come up with a compromise outside the scope of governmental interference.
“In my 12 years of sitting on this dais, this is the hardest case, the most convoluted case, the most confusing case I’ve ever seen,” he said.
History
The church was formed in 2005 and started with about 80 members, said Dennis Broughton, LifeAustin Church board member. Now about 2,000 people worship at the church on Sunday mornings.
Local neighborhood groups, including the Hill Country Estates Homeowners Association and the Covered Bridge Property Owners Association, have fought the amphitheater's construction for years. The two groups sued both the city and Greg Guernsey, the city’s planning and zoning department director, who approved the construction of the amphitheater. In May the Court of Appeals directed the city to forward the residents' appeal to the Board of Adjustment.
The amphitheater began hosting events in mid-2015.
“Specifically, our desire in building an amphitheater was to create a worship venue [for] people who might be somewhat reluctant to enter the doors of a traditional church but would be willing to come to an amphitheater worship center and allow us to begin to engage them in a conversation that we hope would awaken them spiritually,” Broughton said.
A few residents argued the use of the amphitheater—hosting Christian bands before large crowds—should not be considered religious assembly.
Broughton said the facility consists of 750 permanent seats, about 200 additional chairs that can be brought in, and a grassy area where visitors can sit on blankets.
Members of LifeAustin Church show their support for the church's amphitheatre at a Board of Adjustment meeting Dec. 9.[/caption]“The church is absolutely not in the business of commercial activity,” Broughton said. “These are religious ceremonies.”
At the hearing, members of the church donned gold shirts bearing the phrase “LifeAustin Amphitheatre” while the residents who oppose the amphitheater wore red. Board Member William Burkhardt commented that the gold shirts did not read “LifeAustin Church.”
“The message is not a worship message; it is a commercial message,” Burkhardt said.
Many residents said they simply want the amplified sound to be less loud.
Mike Kirk, president of the Covered Bridge Property Owners Association, said residents fear the amphitheater is negatively affecting their property values.
“It’s a travesty that we have been fighting this for seven years and we are only now being heard. We are in no way opposed to religion, worship or religious assembly but we are opposed to amplified sound invading and degrading our lives and our home values,” he said.
Some board members said they were uncomfortable with the idea of deciding what is considered religious assembly and what is entertainment, and emphasized that the BOA's task is not to decide that nor make a ruling regarding amplified sound but to examine the codes in place at the time the site plan was approved and determine how Guernsey made his decision to approve construction of the amphitheater.
Board Member Melissa Neslund said based on the facts of the case, she would have a hard time overturning it.
Amplified sound
LifeAustin Business Pastor John Capezzuti said the church purchased state-of-the-art sound monitoring equipment to keep track of sound emanating from the amphitheater.
“We have never been in violation of the 75-decibel limit at the property line [set by the city], ever,” he said.
At a city of Austin Board of Adjustment meeting Dec. 9, residents came to show their support and opposition for reversal of permits granted to LifeAustin Church to build an amphitheater on its property in Southwest Austin.[/caption]Guernsey said the amphitheater is used for religious assembly and occupies less than three percent of the site’s 53 acres at 8901 W. Hwy. 71.
Still, some residents said they can hear concerts from the amphitheater not only in their backyards but inside their homes.
Oak Hill resident Alan Watts said hearing noise from the amphitheater from his property on Thomas Springs Road motivated him to establish www.lifeaustinnoise.org to help record noise complaints from other residents.
Residents appealing to the BOA asked the board to reverse the land use determinations that outdoor religious assembly is a principal use under religious assembly in the area’s zoning district, said Robert Kleeman, attorney with Sneed, Vine & Perry P.C., who represented the Hill Country Estates and Covered Bridge neighborhood associations at the hearing.
“We also ask that you reverse the site plan … as it pertains to the outdoor amphitheater only,” he said.
Additionally, the group wants the board to reverse the determination that an outdoor amphitheater is a principal use under religious assembly, and that musical and theatrical performances benefits, festivals and other similar ticketed events, are part of religious assembly use.
Church member Allen Harrison said the amphitheater is an expression of what the church’s members have been called to be.
“I realize that it can seem a little bit unconventional to have an amphitheater as part of a church worship service and part of a church ministry, but it really shouldn’t,” he said. “Jesus did some of his best work outside.”
Next steps
The board of adjustment meeting Feb. 8 will take place at City Hall.
Darryl Pruett, president of the Oak Hill Association of Neighborhoods, noted OHAN has adopted three resolutions regarding the amphitheater dating back to 2008.
“This is a regional problem that affects numerous neighborhoods and numerous individuals,” he said.
Von Ohlen said regardless of any decision made by the board, the amphitheater is already constructed.
"There’s going to have to be some kind of compromise here, because it can’t be undone," Von Ohlen said. "What’s done is done."
