Wedding Venue Site Faces Erosion Control Violations

The city of Dripping Springs, Texas, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) issued environmental violations at the construction site of the Mark Black Wedding Venue. The site faces several violations relating to lack of proper erosion control best management practices and lack of construction permits.

According to The Hays Free Press, the violations include the failure to provide proof of deed recordation within 60-days of receiving written approval from the Edwards Aquifer Protection Plan and a failure to submit construction notification no later than 48-hours prior to the commencement of regulatory activity.

Drone footage recorded Jan. 26 revealed construction had began on the site and trees and stumps were cleared. The drone footage also did not show sediment or erosion control measures installed on the construction site.

“In my experience, earth-moving equipment must be used to pull the stumps from the soil, and once the soil is disturbed, soil erosion is possible,” said Jeanine Christensen, secretary for the Friendship Alliance, a neighborhood watch group.

After the neighborhood watch group notified the city of the unauthorized clearing at the construction site, the site was visited by Aaron Reed, a code enforcement and construction inspector for the city of Dripping Spring, and a stop work order was issued, reported The Hays Free Press.

“The contractor had not contacted the city for an inspection of temporary erosion control devices prior to construction,” Reed said. “When the city’s construction inspector visited the site on Jan. 31, it was determined that erosion and sedimentation control devices had not been installed per the approved site development plan.”

Construction at the wedding venue site has halted until the company installs erosion and sediment control devices in compliance.