Dec 10, 2007 10:17 pm US/Central
Council To Review Deep Ellum Bar, Club Permits
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
In 36 hours Deep Ellum may never be the same.
Nearly every bar and club must appear before the Dallas City Council to have their specific use permits approved. Without them, the bars will be forced to shut down.
Specific use permits are not easy to get. All it takes is a few complaints about a certain bar or night club and the council can shoot them down.
That makes Kim Finch and Jill Sabeh "very nervous." They own the Double Wide bar in Deep Ellum and will have to appear before the council on Wednesday.
"People from out of town come here. We've gotten a lot of write-ups in the 'New York Times' and 'Travel and Leisure,'" said Finch. "They can take it away from you in just a second."
The two owners are hedging their bets with dozens of letters and nearly 600 signatures of support.
Other bar owners are also preparing to go in front of the council.
"We don't have the 911 call history that a lot of other bars [have]," said Sheldon Hubbard with the Amsterdam bar. "Personally, I think we're going to be alright. But we don't know what to expect."
Deep Ellum is in the process of changing its face. In June 2006, the city rezoned the area to turn the neighborhood into a residential and shopping district.
Critics say the new Deep Ellum will soon be just another West Village. But supporters say Deep Ellum will no longer be pushed around by the bar owners.
"What happened in the past was everyone came in and did their thing without any compassion for their neighbors, or the streets, or the neighborhood," said Barry Annino, Deep Ellum Improvement District.
The length of a specific use permit can range from one year to five years, depending on the number of complaints each bar receives.
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