READERS RESPOND
The issue here is freedom and rights.
Samuel Horton (“Panther Palace should be free to be distasteful,” Aug.
5) states that Gordon Oliver’s rights are being violated. The First
Amendment, right to peacefully assemble. Oliver, by his own admission (or
boasting), hosts up to 150 clients at his so-called parties. All day on
Sunday people frolic in the backyard and sing karaoke so loud it can be
heard for blocks. His backyard has three immediate neighbors who share
the fence and occasionally people come over those fences (ask the police
who have been called numerous times by the frightened neighbors).
And a violation of the Fourth Amendment? The right to be secure in you
own house. Yes, Oliver has that right, but it is not the home of the 150
party-goers who would never want this operation or should I say
“assembly” in their neighborhoods. They come from all over and drive cars
which line our neighborhood two times a week -- every Friday and
Saturday.
Call it what it is, it’s clearly a business being operated out of a
residential neighborhood. This is what Oliver is being taken to court
over, not illegal activity.
If anyone’s rights are being violated here, it’s the neighbors, who
have been suffering with this for over 20 years!
At the Panther Palace you are charged $40 per person at the door (of
course it is called a donation to circumvent the law) and there is a list
of activities available for an extra fee. Figure it out. At $40 per
person, that’s $6,000 per night! Now that’s a lucrative business.
My freedom to a safe and quiet place to live, and that of many other
adults and children who live in this neighborhood, is being violated by
allowing this business to continue. I believe all the media attention the
Panther Palace has received has probably helped the business to grow and
proliferate to the extent it has. Hopefully, it will also be its
downfall. The city of Costa Mesa has finally taken the first step and
stepped up to the plate to protect its citizens in their neighborhood by
taking this matter to court. Someday soon I hope the people who live here
will get their peace and freedom back when the Panther Palace has finally
shut its doors.
CONNIE PAINE
Costa Mesa
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