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.”
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