New noise and crime strategy to be reviewed by city council for entertainment districts

EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — City council will receive a list of recommendations on how they should handle loud noise and crime in entertainment districts across El Paso.

This comes after the city council hired a third-party company to conduct an assessment on how the city should move forward to enhance entertainment areas and decide what to do with their noise ordinance moving forward.

City council hired the Responsible Hospitality Institute in 2022 to conduct this assessment.

Responsible Hospitality Institute (RHI) is a non-profit company founded in 1983 that provides consulting services on events, resources, nightlife, and social economy.

They focused on the Downtown Management District, Cincinnati area, and other city-wide locations for their assessment.

As part of the assessment the RHI met and collaborated with:

• Multiple City of El Paso departments
• County Attorney’s office
• Texas Alcoholic Beverage
• Commission
• US Army at Fort Bliss
• Texas Restaurant Association
• Business Improvement District (DMD)
• Neighborhood Association (Kern
• Place)
• Hospitality industry staff
• Music and Culture advocates
• Realtors, property owners, local DJ, and many more

Part of the recommendations include governance actions, planning for people actions, public safety, and enhancing vibrancy within these entertainment districts.

Some of the recommendations include introducing a specialized hospitality unit that would patrol social clusters, creating a bar protocol checklist for police when they get involved in situations, or even revising the city’s current noise ordinance.

RELATED:El Paso noise ordinance solution delayed while residents’ frustration grows

CBS4 asked some people about what they think about this some of these recommendations and the city’s plan to handle the noise ordinance in these entertainment districts in the future and one person thinks these efforts may not be worth it.

“I don’t think the music has anything to do with it really. I think that efforts may be put there, but will it be solved? Probably not,” said Rowan Dortha.

Yet another person CBS4 spoke with says he appreciates this effort made by city council.

“I mean at least they’re trying to do something about it. It’s because I’m in between, you know, it could work and it could be like the same, because it depends on people,” shared one El Paso resident.

City council will be presented with the recommendations on Tuesday, however, no decisions will be made just yet.

City council will then take the recommendations and speak with city departments on what to do next.

To see city council’s full agenda you can find it here.

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