New banquet hall squeaks by Surf City council

Tariq Malik

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- A new banquet hall will set up shop in a vacant

building at Peter’s Landing and Marina despite protests by some

neighborhood residents who see the place as a blight.

The Ocean Room, a waterfront wedding and banquet hall proposed for

16360 Pacific Coast Highway, in the Peter’s Landing shopping area, slid

past the City Council with a narrow 4-3 vote Monday. Council members Tom

Harman, Dave Sullivan and Pam Julien, who is running for reelection,

objected.

Residents from the Bayfront and Broadmoor communities adjacent to the

vacant, two-story building the Ocean Room wants to call home pleaded with

council members about noise levels, loitering and drunkenness that would

accompany the banquet hall and that it would lower their standard of

living and property values.

“We don’t want our homes invaded by the noise and things that will

come out of this business,” said Russel Vaughan, president of the Bayport

Homeowners’ Assn. “If any of you want to, you can buy my place if this

goes through. . . . I just wouldn’t want to stay there anymore.”

Ocean Room officials assured residents that the business generated at

the banquet hall, which would serve alcohol and provide live

entertainment at weddings, bar mitzvahs and other gatherings, would not

reach the level expected by nearby residents.

“Our plan for the Ocean Room is an upscale use that will not resemble

a bar, a nightclub or a party hall,” said Geoffrey Johnson, who plans to

run the business. “We’ve worked with the residents in the community,

reduced our occupancy load down to 300 people, and addressed the noise

and smoking concerns.”

Some of the concessions the business has agreed to are buffer walls

and window seals to curb high noise levels, tightly regulated operating

hours and alcohol sales, and on-site security, he said.

In June, the Planning Commission rejected the Ocean Room proposal,

citing noise, parking and compatibility with surrounding businesses as

its cause for denial. Johnson appealed the decision to the council, and

most of the council members saw the project’s situation differently.

“This is a type of inverse condemnation,” Councilman Ralph Bauer said.

“Here is a business that has followed all the rules, and we deny them the

chance to operate.”

Some council members said the large amount of restrictions -- about 60

rules that must be followed to maintain operation -- is uncommon, but

because Johnson has agreed to proceed with them and bear the brunt of any

complaints from homeowners, they should be able to move forward.