The Albertson's on Highway 71 in Oak Hill has sat vacant since it closed in February.
Redeveloping has been a challenge because it sits in the Barton Springs Recharge Zone, where development has to meet the standards of the Save Our Springs (S.O.S.) Ordinance. Some say the building continues to produce pollution.
"These are older and outdated uses that have no water quality controls and every time it rains they are pouring more pollutants right in to the aquifer," Dwain Rogers of the Oak Hill Association of Neighborhoods said.
The S.O.S. Ordinance was designed to limit the amount of impervious cover a development can have in the Barton Springs Zone to 15 or 25 percent. Impervious cover is anything that doesn't allow water to penetrate into the ground. The goal is to reduce pollution that flows into the Edwards Aquifer.
And the Alberston's was built long before the S.O.S ordinance passed in 1992. It has 83 percent of impervious cover.
That's why Austin City Council member Lee Leffingwell is proposing an amendment that will allow some buildings to be redeveloped to less strict standards, as long as they put water quality controls in place.
"That's the primary objective, to retrofit these preexisting sites that have no water quality control on them with new water quality control. So it will remove the pollution that is coming from the sites now," Leffingwell said.
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S.O.S. Oridinance
Lee Leffingwell wants to lighten to water restrictions to buildings undergoing redevelopment.
 
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Jeff Jack is with the Austin Neighborhoods Council, one of many groups, including the Save Our Springs Alliance, that believe Leffingwell's proposal may open the door for more new construction and eventually more pollution.
"We have got to look at the total impact on the aquifer. Listen to the conservation groups that are working to protect Barton Springs and the essential elements of the S.O.S. Ordinance," Jack said.
As it stands, any redevelopment project that does not meet S.O.S. standards has to win six out of seven city council votes.
Some believe an amendment to the ordinance to would cut out the public's input on development projects.
Leffingwell counters that there has already been one amendment to the S.O.S. Ordinance to make way for the Nordstrom's at Barton Creek Square Mall.
