Councillors will consider a pitch to end dedicated paid duty policing in Hess Village later this month.

Ward Coun. Jason Farr introduced a notice of motion Tuesday that would remove paid duty policing from the special "entertainment district" bylaw governing the pedestrianized party strip.

The pitch won't be debated by councillors until Sept. 19.

But Farr argued Tuesday the extra police officers - a contentious service paid for by bar owners and the city - are no longer required because of a "substantial drop in attendance" along the strip.

In 2010, council passed a bylaw that required Hess Village bars to hire up to 10 paid-duty officers on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights during the patio season in response to a perceived spike in alcohol-fueled violence and rowdiness.

Since then, the number of bars in the city's only official entertainment district have dropped and some owners, citing financial hardship, launched a short-lived court action to kill the bylaw.

Later, the city's agreed to start sharing the cost of the paid duty police officers.

Farr has repeatedly argued the focus on Hess Village is unfair given the growing popularity of bar destinations like Augusta Street and - until it closed recently - Sarcoa on the waterfront.

"But now I'm going from arguing (the bylaw) is unfair to arguing it's just unnecessary," he said. He pointed to the emergence of more merchants and restaurants in the Hess Village compared to a strip dominated by late-night party bars a decade ago.