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Downtown Austin bar owners reacts to city's Safer 6th Street Plan

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Published  March 3, 2022 9:52pm CST
Downtown
FOX 7 Austin

AUSTIN, Texas - Nine months following the mass shooting on 6th street, which left one person dead and 14 injured, Austin City Council passed the second phase of the Safer 6th Street Plan.

The resolution directs the city to:

  • Provide Council with options for taking legal action against establishments with records of repeated violent incidents
  • Work with 6th Street bar owners to encourage written safety plans
  • Initiate a comprehensive lighting survey and encourage owners to add lighting to private properties
  • Create an entertainment permit to strengthen staff training and communication with public safety professionals
  • Update Council on progress toward establishing an Emergency Medical Services staging area on 6th Street
  • Provide information and recommendations about potentially re-establishing a gun buyback program
  • Propose a pilot program to make loans or grants to historic buildings along 6th Street for kitchen additions
  • Communicate any possible new recommendations after Spring Festival 2022

FOX 7 Austin spoke with bar owner Bob Woody about the city's safety plan. 

"We should protect this little jewel that we have which is our historic district and give it lots of attention. We should treat it as something to bring people into Austin," said Woody. 

While he said the city is finally taking action he doesn't agree with all of it.

This was his response about the city potentially going after bar owners. 

"I really believe our council and our federal government say this is an idea that makes sense and here is one that doesn't so let’s do that one. That’s the way I think they think."

Austin Police create plan to make East 6th street safer

The Safer Sixth Street Initiative is a plan to make the popular entertainment district in Austin safer.

Overall, he said his biggest concern with this plan is how the city never reached out to him for input. 

"I'm not hard to get in touch with it's very easy my phone number is there call me up, and I’ll be happy to tell you how to fix it."

Woody feels what would help the area is reopening the convention center and returning police levels to 6th Street to how they were before the pandemic.

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MORE HEADLINES: 
Austin Police Department shares details on Safer 6th Street Initiative

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