The Bee Cave Bee

This map shows just how inappropriate it is to put in a car dealership in right next to a residential neighborhood. The noise and light pollution will destroy the peaceful hill country atmosphere and the additional traffic will be a hazard on an already dangerous highway. This is completely irresponsible development.

#noCOVERTinbeecave

The only thing people like the Coverts understand is money. The best way for the citizens of Falconhead West to get the attention of the Coverts is to file a law suit against them. The suit should seek injunctive relief forcing the Coverts to cease and desist in their plans to build. Once the Covert group breaks ground and starts to spend money on engineer and architects they become dedicated and entrenched in their position.

We need to really consider the pros and cons of home rule, it may be a two headed monster with the powers eminent domain and other rights that come with Home Rule. I know whereof I speak. I can be contacted at my email address and phone number. IF ANYONE is listening.

Covert is silence because they know they're wrong. They don't know what to say to make things ok to move forward because nothing they say will be ok to move forward. They will be hurting their business instead of growing their business if they decide to move forward on this property.

This picture says it all...no one wants Covert to build here. How many Covert employees would approve of building in their own backyard? So don't build in ours. We welcome business's in our neighborhood, how about restaurants, but not an auto dealership which would kill the reason people moved to Bee Cave!

Covert is silent because there is nothing to say that supports their position in the least bit! Greed, unethical, bully, endangering lives of their own customers as well as anybody travelling on Hwy 71, bright at night, noisy, unsafe, destroying lives of all those homeowners.......where is the positive....oh yeh....they maybe make more money! A family business that SHOULD understand family life and hard earned dollars that purchased those peaceful homes where children play.

Did any of the home owners on Pyrenees look into what could be built on this piece of land before buying? Weren't houses there priced lower than Mont Blanc? That might tell you something...

I’m a firm believer in private property rights. Covert “Purchased” this 23 acres. That means it belongs to them and is theirs to do with as they see fit. If folks don’t want Covert to use the land as they intended when they purchased it, then they are free to negotiate with the Coverts to purchase the land and turn it into what they deem is an appropriate use. No one in the Falconhead West neighborhood cared when they developed that land and ruined the beautiful pristine habitat of many animals...and I was okay with that - the developer purchased the land. What is better about a neighborhood than a car lot? Neighborhoods with golf courses (i.e. Falconhead West, etc) use as much water as a city of 5000. Which is worse? Unfortunately, the City of Bee Cave will get their hands on it somehow and then yippeee - the government of Bee Cave (who we've all been so impressed with) can decide what happens with the land...oh I cannot WAIT!

At the City Council meeting the Covert representative said they intended to be "good neighbors", but when they were asked by the community to have a meeting a senior Covert himself relayed a message through a junior Covert that there would be no meeting! If that is their definition of "good neighbors", I would hate to see what they consider "bad neighbors". They know they are wrong!!!

As for the "Anonymous" comment - no due diligence would have shown anyone a car dealership being built in their backyards! The land was not posted for sale as it was a foreclosure and no car dealerships were a part of the Bee Cave community master-plan. Also, who would think someone would put one next to an existing swim center for children and land that had already been purchased and plans made for a family-oriented facility that included golfing? Never mind the plans for the new high school right across the street!

This whole transaction was done very underhanded and obviously greed overtook any consideration for the Hill Country land or the community! Shame on the Coverts or any other dealership considering the same thing!!!! Go build in your own backyards or maybe you aren't wanted there either - maybe that should tell you something!!!

The building of this car dealership will affect everyone in our neighborhood and the hill country! Not just those directly behind the monstrous 3 story garage, the bright lights on 24-7, loud speaker calling for sales people, the large fuel trucks coming to fill gas tank in the service area, and increased danger on hwy 71. Who is going to want to even look in a neighborhood where a car dealership sits at the entrance of it? Everyone will be affected, just wait til our houses go up for sale... And that loss is nothing compared to the loss of lives that could come from adding this dealership in an already dangerous road!
Covert, what are you thinking? Sell the land and move on! You are not welcome in Bee Cave!!

Yes, the proximity to some of the homes in startling, but the impact will be significant for all of Falconhead West and surrounding communities. If you're in Hutto or Bastrop, check out the Covert dealerships there. They are surrounded by commercial property or farmland. Their CHOICE to locate next to an existing residential community shows reckless disregard for the people and communities they foolishly expect to serve. But I won't even shop Covert, much less buy there.. and I'll do my best to convince everyone I know to join me in that pledge until or unless Covert reverses this ridiculous decision and finds a more suitable location! If you care about the future of this community, I'd encourage you to do the same.

Not surprising that they are silent. There is nothing they can say that will make their situation better here, except "we will build somewhere else". Responsible growth is to be expected but this monstrosity will have so much more negative impact on the area, than positive impact. The majority of residents of the surrounding area do not support this type of "neighbor" moving in. Covert, we urge you to move your dealership to a more appropriate area. Highway 71 is not built for the kind of traffic this will bring, and will be more hazardous than it already is.

Have all of you who oppose this ever thought that there may have been some people that didn't want you here either! You destroyed they quiet "hill country" atmosphere by having a golf course and homes that were close to each other, streets, schools, stores, etc. Are we in a communist country or the United States with property rights? These people knowingly bought homes up against a potential commercial property. What did they think they would get?

As previous poster said they own the land and its in the etj. End of story. The dealership will happen so get over it. At the end of the day the area needs the dealership and the coverts are pioneers by beating a competitor to the punch. Every car you see in our affluent area is an escalade, Tahoe, suburban, or Denali. Growth happens and I for one welcome additional growth, jobs, and tax dollars for our community.

I am tired of you pathetic whiners that are complaining about this. Whatever happened to personal responsibility? Before you bought these homes did you do your due diligence? Did you research the surrounding land to see what could happen? Grow up and do your homework. Your momma can't hold your hand forever.

It's true that those in Falconhead West COULD have chosen to buy elsewhere.. as in someplace not along 71.. and have avoided economic damage due to the Covert plans. However, the issue is not that there is development happening on this land. It's the type of development that is at issue. None of us would/could have anticipated this. If someone jaywalks, even though they are breaking the law, that doesn't give a driver who hits them a free pass. If the driver had the opportunity to avoid the accident, then they have partial, if not primary responsibility. Similarly, Covert KNEW they were not wanted in this community. Bee Cave had already made that clear. They didn't bother to talk to residents of Falconhead West because they knew how we would have responded. So, they waived the last chance to avoid this "crash" and plowed on ahead with no concern for the consequences. IF they build, there is no upside for the community. Closer proximity to warranty service or a shorter drive to shop for cars?.. Yeah, sure. Increased tax dollars.. for who? Not Bee Cave. It's in the ETJ, remember? Sure, it may be annexed eventually, but no time soon.. That would open the door to other dealerships in Bee Cave and the city doesn't want that. This isn't the boonies where I grew up. There were no limits on what a property owner could do there, but the nearest neighbor was half a mile or more away. Here, we're talking about neighbors being less than 100 feet away. When what a property owner does with his property negatively affects the property values of all the others in the vicinity, that's a problem. If the law doesn't say so, then it's time to explore other legal options. That's why we are exercising our right to free speech as a way to encourage legal protest against this move. That includes calling for people to make this a terrible move for the Coverts by refusing to do business with them. That's not whining. That's exercising our rights. Get over THAT if it bothers you.

Since this will happen, the City of Bee Caves and its residents should tell no demand Covert - if you want to build it - you have to build a new fire station for us. We need it in that area. It is only fair that growth participtes in the community and NOT put the burden on those few that pay the taxes.

I imagine some of the Covert family or friends are posting (anonymously) in support of the dealership based on a few of the comments above. I suppose that is inevitable, but they are attempting to spread misinformation about this issue. I also am a firm believer in property rights. But not everything that is legal is ethical. Virtually anything could be built on that land because it is not subject to zoning laws. Slaughterhouse? Sewage plant? Strip club? Gun range? Perhaps all legal, but in my opinion none should be built next to an existing neighborhood. I would make the same argument if I lived no where near this location. There are other businesses going in and those make sense. Most people who object to this do not want zero growth, but rather want growth that fits with the master plan. I spoke up at the City Council meeting in support of a new athletic facility in the area. I would welcome that facility next to our neighborhood. My understanding is that other landowners in the ETJ would not sell to the Coverts - they only got this piece of land through bankruptcy. Exploiting loopholes may be legal but it isn't ethical. I think everyone knows the difference. At the end of the day, our objective as community residents is to make the Coverts understand this dealership will do more to hurt their business and their reputation than help it. It is a rational business decision on their part - go someplace else and make more or go here and lose money. It is as simple as that.

I moved to the Village of Bee Cave in 1990 to get away from the crud in South Austin and the City Council made a point of bringing the crud out here. Now that it's here everyone is finally waking-up to say "wait - not this"! Too late! You should have thought about this before you tore all the trees down and built the Galleria monstrosity.

I too purchased a home that backs up to a vacant 70 acre tract in Bee Cave. And before my option period was out I looked into who owned it, how it was zoned, what the city's history of changing this type of zoning was, what the topography and access would support, etc. I discussed all of this with the selling agent and determined I was getting a good deal on my purchase because of the possibility that this could be a retail center or a high school or a subdivision or a MLB sports stadium. I'm not really understanding why anyone thinks they have the right to complain about what a person does with land they own within the regulations that govern that property. I'm really confused. We live in an area that is growing which means our property values are going up. With that comes development and taxes to widen roads and add red lights. Natural progression. Why is this even a discussion?