EL PASO, Texas – (KFOX14\/CBS4) \u2014 Business owners along Piedras Street in El Paso\u2019s Five Points area are celebrating after City Council voted 7-1 to stop the Piedras Street reconstruction project from moving forward as it was planned.<\/p>\n
The plan would have rebuilt Piedras between Yandell and Montana with wider sidewalks, new lighting, landscaping and crosswalks. But business owners said the construction could have cut off access to their stores, restaurants and bars and created a disruption they could not afford.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the biggest issue we had was just how our city rep went about it. This was kind of kind of forced down our throats,\u201d said Rico Velez, owner and operator of Dewey\u2019s Corner Pub. \u201cWe\u2019re not against the growth. We\u2019re not against the renovations. We\u2019re just against how he went about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
RECOMMENDED: Rio Grande Avenue project in Central El Paso to bring closures and detours until November<\/a><\/p>\n Fred Evans, president of the Five Points Development Association, said business owners still want improvements but not at the expense of existing businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody\u2019s going to sacrifice their business for these things,\u201d Evans said.<\/p>\n Velez said small businesses along Piedras could not withstand a lengthy closure. \u201cWe work it daily. We\u2019re all operators. We\u2019re not corporate. We don\u2019t have big funding. We can\u2019t afford a closure like that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n City Rep. Art Fierro, who represents parts of East El Paso and the Lower Valley, was among the representatives who put the item on the agenda. He said he brought it forward after hearing from business owners who feared a long closure could force them to shut down.<\/p>\n \u201cShe goes, you know, I understand they\u2019re going to close the street on both sides for a minimum of ten months, which we know will be longer. I can\u2019t survive on that. I\u2019ll have to close my restaurant. I\u2019ll have to let my employees go. That\u2019s what motivated me to put this on the agenda,\u201d Fierro said.<\/p>\n