TEXARKANA, Texas - During a regular meeting Monday, the City Council will conduct a public hearing and vote on establishing a downtown entertainment district where outdoor drinking would be allowed.
The idea is to mirror a similar district created in 2019 in Texarkana, Arkansas, with the intent to promote development and attract visitors downtown.
If the ordinance creating the district passes, people will be allowed to have open, non-glass containers of alcoholic beverages outdoors, with the exception of Sundays between 2:15 a.m. and noon and other days between 2:15 a.m. and 7 a.m.
The district would, for the most part, coincide with the downtown Arts and Historic District and include the Perot Theatre, Texarkana Regional Arts Center, the Art Park, the Kress Gap, the Ace of Clubs House, Pecan Point and Silvermoon on Broad, but not the Bi-State Justice Building.
The ordinance prohibits the use of glass containers for any liquid on public streets, sidewalks or alleys, and it does not conflict with already existing ordinances pertaining to noise. State law concerning alcohol, including the need for permits to sell alcohol and the prohibition of open containers in vehicles, would remain in effect.
If the ordinance is approved, city staff will evaluate the need for additional waste receptacles and garbage collection.
Rezoning, permits
The Council will also conduct hearings and vote on a number of rezoning and permitting requests:
n Rezoning a vacant tract of land north of 100 Gazola St. to allow multi-family housing to be built there. The land's owner is considering donating it to the Mt. Sinai House of Prayer Church, which has proposed several multi-family building projects in the immediate area.
n Rezoning and granting a special use permit to allow a double-wide manufactured home at 302 Daniels St.
n Approving a site plan for a Panda Express restaurant to be built at 3100 St. Michael Drive.
n Rezoning 605 Ward Ave. and granting a special use permit to allow a double-wide manufactured home there.
An additional pair of hearings and votes concern applications for grants from the Texas Department of Transportation to fund improvements to pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.
If the Council approves the applications, the city will request $1.8 million to build sidewalks along Kennedy Lane and $800,000 for sidewalks along Leopard Lane.
The city would apply to two different TxDOT funding programs, Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside, or TASA, and Safe Routes to School-Infrastructure, or SRTS.
SRTS grants do not require matching funds, but TASA grants require a 20% match, which the city would pay with a combination of in-kind labor and cash. Federal transportation development credits could cover the match expenditures.
The Council will hear first briefings on three measures related to federal Community Development Block Grants. Public hearings and votes will follow during the Council's next scheduled meeting, on July 12.
One would amend the city budget to account for more than $293,000 in CDBG funding received as a result of the COVID-relief CARES Act. The second would reallocate $163,000 from an inactive loan fund to another fund from which CDBG-guaranteed loans are repaid. The third would approve the city's 2021 action plan for CDBG funds.
The agenda includes an open forum during which residents may address the Council on any topic for up to five minutes each.
The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 220 Texas Blvd. A live video stream will be available through the city's website, ci.texarkana.tx.us.