Save Our Springs Alliance Forced Into Bankruptcy

Save Our Springs Alliance, long-time advocate for Barton Springs and other environmentally-sensitive zones throughout Central Texas, issued a press release yesterday stating that it's being forced into bankruptcy by a court judgment won against it by Central Texas residential developers.

In 2004, SOS Alliance filed a lawsuit against Lazy Nine Municipal Utility District, seeking to prevent the district -- which is allegedly just a puppet-agent of Wilshire Homes and Forest City Properties of Cleveland, Ohio -- from breaking ground on the 1,700-home "Sweetwater Development." According to SOS, this development -- to be located in the Hill Country west of Austin along Highway 71 south of Lakeway -- would cause a large amount of environmental damage and waste. The outcome of this case: A judge held that the SOS Alliance had no standing to sue Lazy Nine and ordered SOS to pay Lazy Nine's attorney fees. The total judgment rendered against SOS was $294,000.

The Texas Supreme Court recently heard this case and decided to let the judgment against SOS stand. As a result, SOS has now filed for Chapter 13 protection from the judgment and will be forced to reorganize itself as a business entity.

SOS Alliance leaders state that, despite this setback, the SOS Alliance will stay in the fight for the waterways and aquifers of Central Texas.

To learn more about SOS Alliance's stance on the "Sweetwater Development," go here.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@austinist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By s in News on April 11, 2007 11:21 AM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

Beatrix Kiddo

Pardon, but I didn't say I'm not for clean water. The point is that a few people now control a group that used to be controlled by many and have run a good organization (and brand name) into bankruptcy and disgrace. That has hurt efforts to protect water quality for salamanders, fishies and people. Hopefully from the ashes there will arise a stronger more representative group.

ilse

Pardon, but since when does the protection of clean water in which salamanders, fishies and people wish to swim, become an issue of the past?

In Cleveland there is a river. The Cuyahoga, I think it's spelled. Anyhow, that river has caught fire several times in the past due to ner-do-wells lighting the trash and sludge that barges would leave behind. The fires got enough attention so that now the river is only a fraction of the waste dump it once was.

Oh yes, come to us Cleveland land developers. We soooooooo wanna be like you.

Beatrix Kiddo

Well, Bill Bunch finally had enough power, (Mitchell) money and hubris to run the group into the ground. It's really unfortunate that SOS became essentially a cult of personality based on the mythic lore of a few events that are now long in the past rather than a true grassroots organization that reflected the diversity of Austin. All the adults left the building a long time ago. A shame.