New restaurant gets OK for unplugged rooftop music

Tariq Malik

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Diners at the new Ibiza Restaurant planned for 209

Main St. will be able to enjoy rooftop seating with live entertainment,

despite the protests of some nearby residents and business owners.

In a split 4-3 vote last week, the City Council opened the way for

Ibiza real estate consultant Keith Bohr, a former assistant project

manager for the city, and property owner Ciaran Gallagher and family, of

Gallagher’s Pub & Grill, whose plans were under fire by residents and

business owners living directly behind his establishment.

Council members Ralph Bauer, Connie Boardman and Peter Green

dissented.

“Our business and home are 20 feet across from this restaurant, with

our living area at the same level as the planned rooftop,” said resident

Bill Gallegos, whose wife Philomene presented the council with a petition

signed by 21 nearby property owners who opposed the live entertainment

plan. “We strongly protest any music at any time.”

The Gallegos’ live above their restaurant The Shed on Fifth Street.

Bohr’s plan was passed by the city’s Planning Commission in January, a

decision that was appealed by Councilwoman Debbie Cook.

“Downtown has been such a problem with bars and entertainment,” Cook

said, adding that her chief concerns surrounded the possibility of music

piped through speakers and loud live entertainment.

Bohr said he voluntarily gave up the use of rooftop piped-in music as

part of obtaining a liquor license, though a permit still exists in the

land-use plan, and accepted council’s entertainment limitations of no

more than two performers using stringed musical instruments.

With those conditions in place, as well as others ensuring that the

unamplified music on the roof would end at 8 p.m., Cook supported the

plan.

Bauer said in the past, code enforcement officials have had difficulty

managing the amount of violations in the Downtown area, with some

problems escalating into riots, though things have since been manageable.

“I feel that at long last we’ve got some order of control here,” he

said, adding that it would be inappropriate to approve this at this time.

Unlike Gallegos’ and other speakers from the Downtown area, 26-year

resident Charlie Bunten, who lives in the Plaza Almeria building,

supported Bohr’s plan for rooftop dining and entertainment.

“This is not a residential zone, but a busy Downtown district filled

with outdoor activities,” Bunten said, adding that noise, crowds and

diversity are just part of the territory. “That is why businesses locate

themselves in this part of town, and its why visitors gather there.”