Yesterday, we sent this letter to the mayor, city representatives, and other other El Paso leaders, expressing our desire to provide input when planning begins concerning the Police Headquarters, currently located in Five Points:
May 17, 2022
Dear ______________
As the second oldest El Paso neighborhood association, The Five Points Development Association is extremely concerned about the fate of the current El Paso Police Headquarters when the department moves out. The decision process must not be more of the City’s “business as usual” wherein City staff decides and presents the results to the neighborhood. This time the residents and businesses and the Five Points Development Association must be involved from the very, very beginning—not after preliminary plans are developed, and certainly not at the end of the process.
Already, we have seen the limited parking in the neighborhood reduced by El Paso City Council’s decision to replace the former parking structure with one of lesser capacity. The City has further compounded the parking shortage by increasing the proliferation of businesses without off-street parking and no City parking lots as provided for Downtown and Cincinnati Street.
The City’s economic development plan for Five Points seems to be focused on creating an entertainment district. The results of over 15 bars in the neighborhood are painfully evident: murder, shootings, stabbings and other violence. This is not our vision for our neighborhood.
In the words of the late Jim Erickson, our long-time president, “our goal and vision is that Five Points remains a retail destination for the surrounding neighborhood and the regional community. That will take business owners that provide value, variety and customer service. Walgreens, the Italian Kitchen, McDonalds, Good Coffee, Salt & Honey apparently provide that. We never envisioned, nor intended, that Five Points would be a knock-off of the Cincinnati Entertainment District or Austin’s 6th Street!” For a truly vital neighborhood, we need a grocery store, clothing and specialty stores, service businesses; in short, we need family-friendly businesses in our neighborhood, not more bars.
We have been for nearly 40 years the very vocal advocate for the betterment of the businesses and residents of El Paso’s first suburban neighborhood. We will continue in that role and work to see that the future use of the current EPPD Headquarters contributes to a family-friendly neighborhood, not an entertainment district. To that end, the City’s approach to the repurposing must be from the very beginning, one of inclusion of and cooperation with the Five Points Development Association. It’s not too early to start.