In July, Bee Cave City Council voted 2-2 against providing a site plan for the multi-use venue since the plan did not provide secondary vehicular access to Hwy. 71. The Backyard, located at 13891 Bee Cave Parkway, Bee Cave, includes a music venue, a hotel, offices, data storage centers and a distributed energy center to power the project.
The proposed amended agreement changes the size of the music venue to 1,900 from 3,410 attendees through limited ticket sales “until such time as access to Hwy. 71 through adjacent property is constructed to the project,” according to internal city correspondence.
City staff said the project engineer anticipates maintaining the original requirements for parking. Other proposed changes to the development include:
- removing the recording studio;
- permission for an accessory ‘medical clinic’ inside the venue during events; and
- making minor height and square footage changes to some support buildings.
Amanda Couch Brown, a development planner working with Milam, described the medial clinic in an email to city staff as a first-aid station that will be staffed with a nurse during large events.
“If there is a situation in the amphitheater that requires immediate medical attention, the onsite personnel will be able to respond quickly and coordinate with emergency services if that is required,” the email read.
Speaking to Community Impact Newspaper Wednesday, Milam said there are bound to be some delays given the size of the project but remained optimistic construction would begin soon.
“Everybody’s fully committed and we’re looking forward to starting construction shortly," he said. "It’s going to be a fantastic project. We’re looking forward to getting going after the holidays.”
Christopher Milam, a co-developer of The Backyard multi-use development in Bee Cave and shown here during a July 25 Bee Cave City Council meeting, responded to a lawsuit filed last month by the alleged creator of the project's distributed energy center.[/caption]Last December, council members approved the first planned development district for The Backyard and required Milam and investor John Paul DeJoria to obtain an access road to the project off West Hwy. 71 in addition to the access road planned for Bee Cave Parkway.
At the time, City Council said the traffic impact to Bee Cave Parkway would not be sustainable once the project is underway and told the developers the city would not issue a certificate of occupancy to any part of the project unless the requirement was met.
The developers broke ground on the project June 24. Milam has said he has spent $50M on the project.
Bee Cave Mayor Pro Tem Bill Goodwin said The Backyard project has always been a nonstarter for him.
“I’ve been a big skeptic of the project when it was first proposed. I don’t believe the uses will ever be realized and [indeed] they were changed,” he said.
The developer earlier made substantial changes to a planned development agreement council approved in Dec. 2014. Including a trade-off of four movie/sound stages in favor of the two data and centers and energy center.
“This [latest plan amendment] was easy to see coming. To have endless discussions of amended planned development agreements, it’s wearing me out,” said Goodwin.
The original Backyard opened in 1993 on West Hwy. 71—an iconic, outdoor amphitheater known for jazz, country, classical and rock concerts. It closed after relocating within Bee Cave.
