The Victoria City Council is set to do a second and final reading for a downtown entertainment district ordinance amendment Tuesday during their regular meeting.
The amendment is designed to make event planning easier for downtown businesses, bring more people to the area and grow local businesses.
“The purpose of establishing an Entertainment District is to help promote the restaurants and bars, attract more clientele for the businesses and encourage customers to stay longer thus generating more revenue for the businesses. Designating a specific area will also be used a promotional tool to attract more restaurants and nightlife venues,” according to the agenda item.
The district will encompass an eight-block area with boundaries at Constitution, Juan Linn, South William and South Glass streets.
If passed, the amended ordinance will allow businesses to use public sidewalks for temporary merchandise placement, planters, chairs and sandwich board signs during the hours of operation. The amendment, if passed, will set the district’s amplified sound during hours of operation for businesses at 90 decibels at the property line.
Right now, many businesses have to go through additional steps to hold events. The hope is with this amendment ordinance that businesses downtown will be able to plan their events in a more streamlined manner, said Kate Garcia, Victoria Main Street Program director.
Not to be confused with the cultural district that the city is awaiting to hear approval from the Texas Commission on the Arts for final approval on the city’s most recent application, the entertainment district is expected to compliment and strength the cultural district in making the downtown area a destination, Garcia said.
In other notable business, the council is expected to vote on awarding a development contract to Cuero-based Irrigation by Jason Inc. for phase II improvements of the dog park. In addition, the council is expected to appoint four new members to the Parks and Recreation Commission and allocate funding to organizations from the Child Safety Fund and the Hotel Occupancy Tax Fund.
The council will also hear an update on local broadband internet improvement efforts.
Kyle Cotton was born and raised in San Antonio and graduated from San Antonio College and the University of Texas at Arlington. Cotton has covered economic development, health care, finance, government, technology, oil and gas and higher education.
