{"id":31958,"date":"2025-11-02T14:02:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T14:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/31958\/"},"modified":"2025-11-02T14:02:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T14:02:15","slug":"lawsuits-and-code-violations-fly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/31958\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawsuits and Code Violations Fly"},"content":{"rendered":"

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While there wasn\u2019t much going on at Dallas City Hall this past week, there were some pretty big headlines that should have everyone\u2019s attention. From the future of the Mavericks and Stars to the future of live music in the Big D, here\u2019s this week\u2019s roundup:<\/p>\n

Dueling Lawsuits Over American Airlines Center Add to Relocation Saga<\/p>\n

Holy cow. As if Dallas possibly losing both the Mavericks and the Stars wasn\u2019t dramatic enough, now the franchises are suing each other over their joint operation of American Airlines Center.<\/p>\n

In a Tuesday filing, the Mavericks accused the Stars of breaching a clause in their agreement that required the NHL team to maintain its corporate headquarters within Dallas city limits. The agreement is from 1998, and the Stars have been officing out of Frisco since 2003, two years after the teams moved into AAC.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Airlines Center. Credit: Visit Dallas<\/p>\n

The Mavericks reportedly raised the issue last year and have since been withholding tens of millions of dollars in arena proceeds from the Stars. The NBA team also accused the Stars of backing out of a renovation deal valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n

In a countersuit, the Stars accused the Mavericks of staging a \u201chostile takeover\u201d of operations at AAC, claiming that only the City of Dallas could assert whether a breach of contact occurred. They also denied agreeing to the renovation plan, which allegedly would\u2019ve kept them in AAC until 2061. Instead, a different deal was allegedly made in which both teams would stay until 2035.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s role in the legal dispute is currently unclear. A letter cited by the Mavericks seems to have officials agreeing with them, with officials getting ready to send the Stars a default letter, according to The Dallas Morning News.<\/p>\n

What a mess.<\/p>\n

Dallas Reconsiders Nightlife Rules After \u2018Sledgehammer\u2019 Code Crackdown<\/p>\n

A Hospitality and Nightlife Task Force is being formed after a beloved Bishop Artis District venue known for its live jazz music was targeted by the city for code violations related to noise and the business\u2019s cover fee.<\/p>\n

Responding to backlash, City Manager Kimberly Tolbert and Council Members Chad West (District 1) and Zarin Gracey (District 3) announced the new task force on Halloween following an increase in code enforcement against venues in entertainment districts.<\/p>\n

While not necessarily related at all, the stepped-up enforcement followed City Hall\u2019s launch of a Nighttime Economy & Responsible Hospitality Division<\/a>, which is meant to help balance \u201ccommunity needs, business success, and public safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t run away from our problems, we run to the problem, and we want to make sure that we\u2019re addressing this head-on. I truly believe that that\u2019s what good governance looks like,\u201d Tolbert said, according to the Oak Cliff Advocate.<\/p>\n

Last month, city inspectors said the venue\u2019s certificate of occupancy classifies it as a restaurant, not a \u201ccommercial amusement\u201d space, meaning it cannot legally charge a cover fee for live entertainment. Officials also cited the hall for keeping its doors open during performances, allowing amplified sound to spill into the street.<\/p>\n

\u201cStaff, for better or worse, took a sledgehammer to a problem we should have taken a scalpel to,\u201d West said, according to NBC 5.<\/p>\n

The new taskforce will review regulations for restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues and consider changing them. Noise rules, live music fees, and permitting will be considered to mitigate any unnecessary impact on nightlife. The taskforce will be housed under the Office of Arts and Culture.<\/p>\n

Texas Public Policy Foundation Sues Dallas Over \u2018Death Star\u2019 Law Violations<\/p>\n

The conservative think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) filed a lawsuit against the City of Dallas on Wednesday for maintaining 83 ordinances that purportedly violate the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act \u2014 aka \u201cthe Death Star\u201d law. Enacted in 2023, the law preempts local ordinances to prevent a patchwork of local regulations businesses have to navigate.<\/p>\n

While Dallas officials repealed some of the ordinances they said were preempted by the law<\/a>, many remain on the books. They include anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people, equal employment opportunity clauses in contracts with the city, minimum wage requirements for city contractors, and a slew of regulations pertaining to waste management and licensing, among others.<\/p>\n

\u201cCities don\u2019t get to pick and choose which state laws they follow,\u201d said Matthew Chiarizio, TPPF\u2019s senior attorney, according to a press release. \u201cFor too long, Dallas has piled unnecessary and duplicative regulations on its citizens. The Legislature has rightly preempted those rules, and this lawsuit is about protecting Texans\u2019 freedom to live and work without being smothered by layers of needless local regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the city reportedly declined to comment because of the pending litigation. The law itself was previously challenged on constitutional grounds by a handful of municipalities, but a state appeals court affirmed its constitutionality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While there wasn\u2019t much going on at Dallas City Hall this past week, there were some pretty big…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2485,899,102,106,104,103,20867,20868,4281,20869,2486,20870],"class_list":["post-31958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-american-airlines-center","tag-chad-west","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-city-hall","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-death-star","tag-kimberly-tolbert","tag-mavericks","tag-revelers-hall","tag-stars","tag-texas-public-policy-foundation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}