Covert, leave Bee Cave alone! I'm writing this post today as a Resident of the City of Bee Cave and a Resident and Home Owner in Falconhead West, not as a Realtor. As a Realtor, I believe in development of all kinds. However, I also believe there is a place for some development and places where some developments shouldn't be. As a Home Owner in Bee Cave and Falconhead West, specifically, I believe the Covert Family is completely WRONG in wanting to open a Covert Car Dealership in my community.
You might be thinking, "it's not in the community," but it is. Look at some of the pictures below. My house is the green spot I made on the map. You'll see that Covert's plan is to place their facility "in" the backyards of several homeowners. What a lovely view! These people came out to The Hill Country to enjoy views and trees and actually be able to see the stars at night because there aren't many city lights, and what will they see instead? They'll be looking directly at the Covert service bay... They'll be looking at a 3-story parking garage... They'll be looking at a Fueling station...
One home owner will be a mere 80 feet from the fueling station. Another home owner will be about 120 feet from the edge of the building. These are not far distances. To put things into perspective, the lot sizes throughout Falconhead West are 60, 70 and 80 feet apart, depending on the section you live in. For the home owner to be 80 feet away, that's only 1 house away. There's always the joke about how close houses are because you can reach out and touch your neighbor. The Covert Dealership is one neighbor no one wants to reach out and touch.
As a Home Owner in Falconhead West, this effects me as well as everyone else in the area as it's not just the immediate home owners backing to the facility it effects. There will be constant noise. The last time I was at a car dealership, at least every minute, there was someone on the loud speaker wanting this or that. "Joe to the Service Bay!" "Bob to Financing!" "Manager, Line 2!"
There is a fueling station planned. Look at the picture below. Isn't it a beautiful? The pumps that run those are not quiet. The trucks that have to come and refill the fuel station are not quiet. The sounds of the equipment to service cars are not quiet. There will be constant noises all day, throughout the day. Noises carry and that's why it effects more than just the neighboring property owners, but the entire community... but also not just Falconhead West. This will effect all the communities in the area from The Homestead to Spillman Ranch/Falconhead to Ladera to Lake Pointe to Spanish Oaks, and all the communities in between.
Covert, we don't want you here!!
Some might say, "But they'll be bringing in a nice tax benefit to the City of Bee Cave..." This property is located within the ETJ, Extra Terrestrial Jurisdiction. This is not within the city limits of Bee Cave so there will be no city tax collected. They don't have to abide by any zoning rules. They can basically do whatever they want. They know this. Did you know that Covert first approached the City of Bee Cave and asked them to build a dealership within the city limits? Bee Cave said NO! So, instead of listening to what the city would want and what the residents and home owners would want, they go to this ETJ area where there's no control, and try to bully their way in.
That's exactly what Covert is right now, a BULLY! What Covert doesn't get is that there are many Covert customers in Falconhead West as well as in the entire Bee Cave and Lakeway area. Covert has several brands they sell from Ford to Cadillac. They will be losing all those customers. What person in their right mind would oppose this project and then go buy a car from those same people? They are going to lose a lot of repeat customers and potential new customers.
Everyone knows a business grows best by word of mouth. If the word of mouth about Covert portrays an image about how cold and callus this company is, who is going to trust them to buy a car from them? People will think they are just Bullies and who wants to buy something from a Bully? When the story goes wide-spread in the entire Austin area, do you think the home owners in other areas might go to other dealerships for their next car? Their bad image will be wide-spread throughout, and not just in our small city of Bee Cave.
For everyone interested, there is a Facebook page you can join that is called No Covert in Bee Cave. There is also a Yahoo group with the same name. You will be able to get as much information as is available. You will be able to see what efforts are being used to help make Covert go away. There is also a petition going around that you can sign.
If you have any clout in the area, like you know a celebrity that could help spread the word, please let us know. We need all the help we can get. Covert isn't "thinking" about buying this property. They already own it, and now we need to stop them from invading our neighborhood.
**Are You Packed Yet?**
Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com
austin-texas-homes-for-sale.com
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Copyright© 2012 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* No Covert in Bee Cave - Falconhead West Doesn't Want You Here! * was first published on donnahomesblog.com.
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