Owner not all smiles over Dimples move

Mark R. Madler

The owner of a popular karaoke club is working with city officials to

pare down a list 50 conditions he is being asked to meet before he

can relocate his nightclub.

Dimples owner Sal Ferraro has to move his business because a

500,000-square-foot, mixed-use condominium and retail project is

slated to be built on the site of his present club in the 3400 block

of Olive Avenue.

But before he can take over the shuttered Chadney’s restaurant at

Olive and Alameda avenues, the longtime business owner must meet

certain requirements set by the city to obtain a conditional-use

permit for the site.

Some of the initial conditions proposed by the city on March 2

include that he must have a minimum of four licensed security guards;

designate an outside smoking area; make sure no live entertainment

occurs outside the building; limit occupancy to the number of seats

inside; ensure a 100-square-foot stage area for the karaoke

performers; and make exterior improvements.

While Ferraro is OK with some of the conditions, he finds others

unacceptable, such as one that would require him to change how he has

run his business for more than 20 years.

One sticking point for Ferraro is the proposed condition that

requires food service be more than 50% of his business.

“We think that’s a good standard for him, and it won’t affect his

main business,” interim City Planner Greg Herrmann said.

But Ferraro, whose current club only serves food part time,

disagreed.

“I don’t know if I can do that, although it’s a little bit more

acceptable for food over there,” Ferraro said.

The Planning Board will consider Ferraro’s conditional-use permit

Monday.

The board will make a recommendation, which will be forwarded to

the City Council for final approval.

While most of the proposed conditions are standard for a

nightclub, others are specific for the Chadney’s property, Herrmann

said.

Robert Bowne, the attorney representing Ferraro hopes staff

members and the board consider that Ferraro’s move is an involuntary

one, forced because the Burbank Media Center project will be built on

the present site of Dimples, he said. City officials should consider

that Ferraro is a longtime business owner in the community, Bowne

said.

“He just wants to bring his existing operations to the Chadney’s

site and operate the same way he has always operated,” Bowne said.

Ferraro has been a business owner in Burbank since the early 1960s

and opened Dimples in 1982. He bills it as the first karaoke club in

the country.

Chadney’s was a jazz club and restaurant that attracted clientele

from nearby NBC and Warner Bros. studios. The restaurant closed in

1998.

The city would like to see the vacant building at such a prime

location being used, Herrmann said.

“It’s a question of whether or not it is suitable for the site,”

Herrmann said. “It is quite a ways away from a residential

neighborhood, which is good; and it does have access off of two

streets, Olive and Alameda.”

* MARK MADLER covers City Hall and the courts. He may be reached

at (818) 637-3242.