Problems float to San Marcos River

AUSTIN(KXAN) – It’s the law of unintended consequences. After one city bans cans to keep its rivers clean, another has to pick up the pieces.

Earlier this year, New Braunfels City Council outlawed river-goers from bringing disposable containers to the Comal and Guadalupe rivers.

Now the business has shifted to the San Marcos River causing homeowners lot of headaches.

Tubers looking to have a good time on the river while homeowners are looking for peace and quiet, it’s a combination that people in the Spring River Estates neighborhood in Martindale says brings a laundry list of problems.

“Screaming, yelling, peeing and, defecating on people’s private property, trespassing, burglaries, rude and obnoxious behavior,  assaults, we have faced it all,” said Jeff Heller, a homeowner in the community for 14 years.

After the influx of tubers on the San Marcos River, The Texas State Tubing Company, decided to open their doors right in the middle of the neighborhood.

For Heller, his once quiet neighborhood has now turned into a party. He says there are at least a thousand cars that go up and down his street on any given weekend.

“Where we had a very quiet, peaceful, and pleasant place to live now a number of people are already voting with their feet and have put their house on the market,” said Heller.

With only one road that leads to their business, The Texas State Tubing Company says they are working with the community to help in any way possible. They are looking at making a new road to detour traffic.

“The logistics of operating around the neighborhood is difficult because of the fact that we don’t want to impose on them,” said Rocco Moses, co-owner of the tubing company.

But homeowners say its coming at cost that is driving down their property values.  They’re concerns that have the neighborhood looking to install speed bumps to slow down drivers as well.

“once we figure out a better exiting system and implementing speed cushions in the neighborhood I believe we will come to the point where everybody is satisfied,” said Moses.

Heller is concerned that with summer tubing season just kicking off things may get worse before they get better.

“Some day we may look back on three dollar a gallon gas and say we had it really good then,” said Heller. “We may look back and say when we had a thousand or two thousand cars a weekend things weren’t so bad.”

A resolution to add speed bumps to the neighborhood will go before county commissioners on June 11.

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