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Texarkana leaders, downtown businesses clash over proposed Entertainment District restrictions
Summary
City officials, police and downtown business owners spent the bulk of the Nov. meeting debating proposed changes to the Entertainment District — including an outside-alcohol ban and earlier street restrictions — with police citing recent fights and firearms, and business owners warning about unclear language and enforcement costs.
Texarkana Mayor Brown and members of the city’s Board of Directors spent the evening debating a proposed rewrite of the city’s Entertainment District rules after several weeks of workshops and video evidence presented by police.
Police and planning staff said public-safety problems downtown have increased and recommended tighter controls. "Public safety is the number one concern," the police chief told the board, describing recent weekends when officers wrote citations, made arrests and in one chase recovered a firearm. Staff said the department has been assigning overtime officers to downtown shifts and that properly enforcing a change will require continued staffing and expense.
Business owners and downtown residents urged caution. William Nielsen, who works at Eagle Bourbon Bar and lives downtown, told the board the draft ordinance (referred to in testimony as “28‑82”) was "too ambiguous about where the…
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