You know that funky little area that's most likely in your city's downtown district? The one with all the bars, clubs and tattoo parlors? Imagine plopping a new charter school right in the middle of that.
Dallas bar and club owners are trying to stop new plans to build a school in the Deep Ellum district. Uplift Education is about to close on a building that would house a charter school for 960 students in grades six through 12.
“Why would you pick to do it where you have nine other bars within feet of school property?” bar owner Josh Bridges asked KTXA. “It just doesn’t make sense to me."
Bars and nightclubs in Dallas cannot operate within 300 feet of a school. But there's good news for all the existing establishments: They'll be grandfathered in.
But what about new businesses? Bar and club owners are afraid that if someone goes out of business, city codes will prevent a new bar or nightclub from opening up in its place, leaving the building vacant. They're also worried old businesses may not be able to renew their permits.
And if you thought the school might have some reservations about students being able to walk off campus and straight into happy hour... well it looks like they’ve done this kind of thing before.
“We’re used to serving students in high-need areas,” Uplift’s C.E.O. Yasmin Bhatia told KTXA. “We know that sometimes there are establishments like bars or strip clubs that are near us. In fact, one of our campuses is a quarter of a mile away from a strip club."
Tell us what you think: Should the school find another location? Or do they gotta do what they gotta do to meet the demands of this high-need area?
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