Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert announcing that the nighttime entertainment team will be housed under the Office of Cultural Affairs. Photo by Victoria Hernandez.
The City of Dallas Code Compliance Department has recently increased code enforcement in entertainment districts across the city, including the Bishop Arts District and Deep Ellum.
“This additional enforcement that’s happening in the evenings includes cracking down on venues that charge a music fee to support live performances and enforcing the City’s noise ordinance, which prohibits sound from traveling beyond a property line, even in entertainment districts designed for live music and night life,” District 1 City Council member Chad West said.
While enforcement has targeted existing codes, it has made it harder for businesses to thrive, West said.
That is where the new Hospitality and Nightlife Task Force comes in – to help with outreach and updates for the city’s code.
The 14-member task force, chaired by former Dallas Water Utilities Director Terry Lowery, has three main objectives: reviewing the music fee issue, reexamining the city’s noise ordinance and exploring the creation of a new entertainment permit that supports innovation and flexibility.
“We don’t run away from our problems, we run to the problem and we want to make sure that we’re addressing this head-on. I truly believe that that’s what good governance looks like,” Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert said.
The nighttime entertainment team will be housed under the Office of Cultural Affairs, Tolbert said. Code Compliance will remain responsible for enforcement with management activities and the outreach components in the Office of Arts and Culture.
“How we shape the nighttime experience in the City of Dallas matters,” Quality of Life Committee Chair and District 3 City Council member Zarin Gracey said. “How we shape the culture that people experience, whether they’re in Bishop Arts or Southern Dallas or Lower Greenville, that experience we want to make sure that’s the same experience, and that’s one that people remember not because of a bad experience, but because of the restaurants and the culture that they experience there.”
