Council OKs city’s long-term master plan

Vote on proposed alcohol measure slated for April 9

The Texarkana, Texas, City Council has approved a new master plan for the city.

During a regular meeting Monday, the council voted unanimously to accept the blueprint— known as the city’s Comprehensive Plan—for the Texas side’s future land use, transportation, downtown development and more.

“We’re excited to get started on the plan,” said David Orr, city director of planning and community development. Staff have developed an implementation schedule for the plan, and work on enacting it now can begin, Orr said.

The city and a consulting firm spent 18 months developing the plan under the guidance of a Citizen Steering Committee and input from citizens through interviews, social media outreach, a project website, three public workshops and community outreach events.

The council heard a second reading of a proposed ordinance that would allow restaurants

with the proper state permit to serve alcohol until 2 a.m., two hours past the current cutoff time of midnight. An analysis of Texarkana, Texas, Police Department data indicates doing so probably would not result in more police service calls, Assistant Chief Charles Kreidler told the council. “We found no data that would indicate an increased incidence of crime due to the extended hours,” Kreidler said. “We took the year 2017. We looked at all of our calls between 10 p.m. and midnight at restaurants in Texarkana that sell alcohol, and we found 11 instances out of 38,000 calls where we went to disturbances that may have involved alcohol.” City Manager Shirley Jaster reported that 36 Texas-side restaurants could potentially be affected by the change. City staff have spoken with some restaurant owners who said they may not want to pay for two extra hours of wages for their employees, Jaster said. The change would be optional and require a special late-hours permit from Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Tusks-N-Horns Bar and Grill, which recently opened at The Wyndham Garden Hotel on North State Line Avenue, requested that the city establish a late-hours alcohol ordinance. Tusks-N-Horns’ owners have said they would only stay open until 2 a.m. occasionally, but on those nights they want to retain the bar revenues now traveling across the state line into Arkansas after midnight. A vote on the matter is planned for the council’s next meeting, which is scheduled for April 9.