Troubled nightspot seeks to start the dancing again

A restaurant that kept neighbors awake for months is about to get

back into the nightlife, and the owners are contending that the best

way to keep the peace is to go strictly ballroom.

Le Petit Paris, the recently renamed and remodeled French

restaurant at the corner of Adams Avenue and Brookhurst Street, has

quietly gotten its entertainment permit back and has asked the city

to allow ballroom dancing, swing, tango and a little cha-cha-cha.

Neighbors are wary of the request -- they remember fistfights, loud

music and drunken debauchery in the parking lot of the restaurant and

karaoke bar that used to be called Moulin Rouge.

“If that place becomes a dance club, then I am going to sell my

home,” neighbor Dai Phung said.

Phung and several neighbors started a campaign to close Moulin

Rouge in early 2004. Phung said the club would frequently blast

music, and patrons would hang out in the parking lot, talking, making

noise and occasionally fighting.

“It was so loud, I might as well have been inside that nightclub,”

he said.

The restaurant racked up 63 police complaints and $6,000 in fines

during a six-month period, and Police Chief Ken Small eventually

revoked the restaurant’s entertainment permit.

Owner Bill Pham appealed the decision to the City Council, but the

council unanimously upheld the revocation. Pham responded by suing

the city in federal court, alleging discrimination against his mostly

Asian clientele. His case was dismissed by a federal judge and is

awaiting appeal.

In the meantime, Pham said he has made a lot of improvements at

the new restaurant. He poured more than $300,000 into an ambitious

remodeling to transform it into a high-end eatery and spent another

$50,000 on soundproofing equipment. To handle concerns about the

parking lot, Pham said he has switched to a valet system whenever the

restaurant has live entertainment.

Pham said his new business also enjoys a new clientele, because he

lost most of the old Moulin Rouge customers after the entertainment

permit was revoked. Since receiving a new permit, Pham said he’s

switched the format from karaoke to contemporary live music.

“Our clients are saying, ‘You have great music, and we want to

dance to it,’” Pham said.

Pham is now asking that Le Petit Paris be given a permit for a

140-square-foot dance floor.

“There should be zero impact because dancing itself doesn’t have

an impact,” Pham said.

The permit application will go before the planning commission and

could eventually wind up in front of the City Council. The city’s

planning department is recommending approval of the dancing permit.

“We’re not looking to punish the business based on the lawsuit or

past problems,” planner Ron Santos said. “This is being evaluated on

its own.”

Police Chief Small said that he, too, would support Pham’s dance

permit application.

“We’re not opposed to them having the chance to allow dancing. All

we’re interested in is getting them to follow the rules under their

entertainment permit,” Small said. “We want them to be successful.

They’ve invested a lot of money in that business. We just need them

to follow the rules.”

Neighbor Hank Vandernaald expressed similar sentiments.

“People like to have fun, but they ought to know their limits,” he

said. “If [Pham] can get total control and there is no fighting in

the parking lot, then he deserves a chance to make his money back.”

Neighbor Phung said he still had concerns about another nightclub

doing business behind his house.

“It’s ridiculous to spend $1 million on a home and then have to

deal with this,” he said.