The Oak Hill Association of Neighborhoods has sent a resolution to Mayor Steve Adler and all Austin City Council members regarding local organization LifeAustin Church's proposed outdoor amphitheater, OHAN President Darryl Pruett said.

“LifeAustin church has applied for an outdoor music venue sound permit, and we oppose that,” Pruett said, adding the resolution approved by OHAN also urges the city of Austin to revoke the administratively approved site development permit for the amphitheater.

Neighborhood representatives voted on the resolution during OHAN's May 13 meeting, Pruett said.

Background

In 2011, the Hill Country Estates HOA filed an appeal to the Austin Board of Adjustment, which hears variance requests related to zoning issues, about the administrative approval of a site development permit for the construction of an outdoor amphitheater on land that was zoned for rural residential use.

The church, located at 8901 Hwy. 71, opened in 2005.

Hill Country Estates and the Covered Bridge neighborhood are located near the development on West Hwy. 71, Pruett said.

John Capezzuti, LifeAustin’s business pastor, said the church filed its application April 8 as a condition of being able to use amplified sound in its Outdoor Worship Center.

The center will be used for religious assembly, including music, and will occasionally be used for civic events and fundraising for nonprofits, Capezzuti said.

LifeAustin also plans to build a chapel on the property, he said.

Resolution

Pruett said the resolution urges the city to forward the appeal that Hill Country Estates made regarding the site development permit approval to the Board of Adjustment. The Board of Adjustment determines who has standing to appear before the board and not city staff, Pruett said.

“As an umbrella organization whose membership is composed of [local homeowners] associations, the interest that OHAN has is promoting those interests and really making Southwest Austin a better place to live,” Pruett said.

LifeAustin aims to develop a campus that Oak Hill residents and the surrounding areas can frequently use for events, Capezzuti said.

“We have listened to their concerns and have taken extensive actions to provide state-of-the-art sound mitigation design, monitoring and management,” Capezzuti said via email. “We recently hosted a tour of the Outdoor Worship Center and held a meeting in our main building in order to continue the dialogue with our neighbors.”

Capezzuti noted the center along with the church’s disc golf course, jogging trails, sand volleyball court and dog park are open to the public.

More information about OHAN, including a copy of the resolution, is available at www.ohan.org.