WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF A FRATERNITY MOVED IN NEXT DOOR?

This is happening right now in Green Haven Estates, a tiny, quiet neighborhood just outside the San Marcos city limits. We are only a few hundred yards outside the city limits, about two miles from downtown San Marcos. We aren't in some remote area out in the country. It's a sweet little neighborhood of roughly 20 ranch-style homes where people have lived for decades and many have come to retire.The homeowners immediately surrounding the fraternity house average close to 70 years old. These could be your parents or grandparents.

For more than a year, residents have dealt with fraternity events at 206 Booth Drive involving large crowds, DJs and amplified music, heavy traffic, speeding and reckless driving, intoxicated people wandering through the neighborhood and onto private property, trash and other disturbances. And for more than a year, we've been told the same thing: DOCUMENT IT!! So we did.

We documented the parties. We documented the traffic. We documented the noise and other disturbances. We took photos and videos. We called the Sheriff's Office. We contacted Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra and his office repeatedly. We contacted Texas State University Fraternity & Sorority Life. We sent emails. We made calls. We sent certified nuisance letters. How much more are homeowners supposed to document before somebody actually does something with the documentation? Because here's what's happening now:

SEPTEMBER 10

10 PM TO 2 AM

206 BOOTH DRIVE, SAN MARCOS TX

The fraternity is publicly promoting another late-night event at this residential address. They aren't hiding it. They're advertising it. And that's why every homeowner in unincorporated Hays County should pay attention. We are only a few hundred yards outside the San Marcos city limits, yet being on this side of that line can dramatically change what local protections and enforcement options are available. If you live outside the city limits, don't assume this could never happen in your neighborhood. Depending on your deed restrictions and circumstances, you may discover that stopping this from happening next door to you is far more difficult than you ever imagined. 

Judge Ruben Becerra, you've heard from residents about this repeatedly. Your office has promised follow-ups that didn't happen. The Sheriff's Office has repeatedly been called and nothing has been done or can be done.

Texas State has been contacted and well if you're FROM San Marcos you know why Frats aren't on campus anymore. They killed a few kids so they got kicked off campus. That was the best way the University could turn a blind eye to what they do.  

So enough with “document everything.” We've documented it for more than a year. The next event is being advertised right now, a full week in advance. There is your documentation. We're done quietly sending emails and making phone calls that go nowhere. 

We're asking Hays County residents, community advocates, activists, journalists and anyone who cares about protecting residential neighborhoods to make some noise with us. Share this. Tag your elected officials. Tag the media. Bring it to public meetings. Ask why elderly homeowners have spent more than a year documenting the same problem while another 2 AM fraternity event is openly advertised. And to the elected officials who are active on these community pages when they're criticized: Feel free to chime in. Tell everyone reading this what these homeowners are supposed to do now, because “document it” isn't an answer anymore. September 10 is already documented. COME ONE COME ALL.

PLEASE SHARE.