Travis County was named as an affected party in a preliminary hearing before the State Office of Administrative Hearings on Oct. 27, regarding a contested wastewater permit for the White Rocks mixed-use development near Bee Cave.
The overview
The preliminary contested case hearing for the wastewater permit began on Oct. 27 before the State Office of Administrative Hearings.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality initially granted contested case hearings to Save Our Springs Alliance, The Nature Conservancy and some nearby homeowners on July 15 in response to the opposition.
Yet others in opposition, including Travis County, were also named as affected parties at the preliminary hearing by the administrative law judge.
The Travis County Commissioners Court formally opposed the permit on July 14, citing calculations from the Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources Department that found that the estimated amount of daily wastewater at the development may be larger than 120,000 gallons due to the size of the project.
Attorneys representing White Rocks objected to admitting Travis County as an affected party, stating that the county did not satisfy statutory requirements to be an affected party; however, this was overruled by the judge.
Limestone 40 LLC, a neighboring business with property next to the proposed development, and the nearby HOA were also named as affected parties despite objections from the applicant.
What’s next
The hearing process will now enter mediation, a confidential alternative to a traditional hearing in which a neutral third party will help all parties in resolving the dispute.
This process is expected to begin in late January to early February and last for three days.
Once completed, the judge will have until April 25 to issue a recommendation of approval or denial to the TCEQ.
