Chronic Cantina cleared for Triangle Square The...

Chronic Cantina cleared for Triangle Square

The Costa Mesa planning commission voted, 4-1, Monday to give

Chronic Cantina a permit allowing the restaurant to serve alcohol

after 11 p.m.

Keith Scheinberg of Chronic Cantina said the vote lets the

restaurant get ready for Triangle Square’s upper level.

“That was our last hurdle, so we’re golden,” Scheinberg said.

In July, planning department staffers recommended that planning

commissioners vote against the restaurant’s permit. Planners

concluded there was not enough parking at Triangle Square for a

sit-down restaurant.

That recommendation was changed Sept. 1 after Triangle Square

managers submitted a new leasing plan to Costa Mesa officials that

called for the vacant Niketown space to be leased to a furniture

store.

Furniture stores have lower parking requirements than other shops.

The only commissioner to vote against the permit was commission

chair Bill Perkins. Perkins said he hopes Chronic Cantina succeeds at

Triangle Square, but that he had concerns related to the restaurant’s

proximity to Sutra Lounge, a nightclub where Perkins said he has

observed safety issues.

Scheinberg said he is hoping Chronic Cantina will be open for

business in December.

Speaker to discuss life in O.C.’s early days

Historian, artist and storyteller Yolanda Morelos Alvarez is the

keynote speaker at an annual open house Saturday held at the Diego

Sepulveda Adobe at Estancia Park, 1900 W. Adams St., in Costa Mesa.

At the event, sponsored by the Costa Mesa Historical Society,

Alvarez will tell stories about her grandparents’ lives in Orange

County decades ago. They lived in o7coloniasf7, or colonies of

Mexican American residents, that were scattered throughout the

county.

The event begins at 1 p.m. Admission is free. Call the historical

society at (949) 631-5918 for more information.

Costa Mesa company donates to storm victims

Costa Mesa’s Von Hemert Interiors has sent a shipment of bedroom

supplies to Houston to help families who were displaced by Hurricane

Katrina.

The items include bed frames, mattresses, tables, armoires,

chairs, lamps and bedding ensembles. Company co-owner Carrie von

Hemert said the furniture was originally scheduled to be put on

consignment, but co-owner Mickey von Hemert, Carrie’s brother, had a

different idea.

“We wanted to do something to help the families who have had

everything taken away,” said Carrie von Hemert, whose furniture and

interior design company has been family run for four generations.

The truck was scheduled to arrive at the West Houston Assistance

League, a national charity organization that helps needy families,

late last week.