El Paso proposes nightlife changes, plans rideshare hub in entertainment district

EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — El Paso’s City Council heard several recommendations on Tuesday about changes to how nightlife is organized and policed in the city.

The recommendations were presented to the City Council by the El Paso Police Department’s Director of Code Enforcement Steve Alvarado.

One change would create a rideshare hub in the Cincinnati Entertainment District for apps like Uber and Lyft to drop off and pick up customers.

“I think that’s amazing. I think that’s really good. Clear up some traffic,” said Raul Castaneda, manager of Church Bar.

“More responsible and easier to find, faster for all the traffic over here, less chaotic,” said Luis Ramirez, the manager of a bar in the District.

Many bar managers KFOX14/CBS4 spoke with said they’re supportive of many of the recommendations made by the city, especially for the safety of any customers who have overindulged.

However, they are concerned about another recommendation that was made — the enforcement of noise pollution limits.

“I guess we [would] like to be a higher limit, because we have a lot of bars in the same places, and people like music,” Ramirez said. “They like to have fun.”

Alvarado said they had solicited feedback from several parts of the community.

“So as part of our Sociable City Assessment which began in July 2023, we held a total of, I believe, 41 meetings; community meetings, teams meetings, with members of the community, bar owners, neighborhood associations, residents, business owners, etc,” Alvarado said.

Many businesses said they’re fine with the changes, as long as the city improves communication.

Just communicate better. Just actually come down to our bar, sit down and talk with us, so we could figure something out,” Castaneda said.”Instead of trying to catch each other slipping kind of thing — trying to catch each other when the other one’s not looking, kind of Tom and Jerry kind of thing. It’s getting old. It’s getting annoying. It’s tiresome, and everyone’s tired of it.

Alvarado estimated it would take 30 to 60 days before the recommendations go into effect.

The changes would allow stricter enforcement of parking violations at night, including the ability to tow any illegally parked vehicles by parking enforcement at night.

View the full Sociable City Assessment Plan below;

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