Alice’s open till 2010

Cinnamon-roll fans have reason to celebrate, after the City Council gave the Central Park fixture Alice’s Breakfast in the Park a new lease on life.

The Huntington Beach City Council voted unanimously to give the restaurant a short-term lease till September 2010, when owner Alice Gustafson, 77, plans to retire.

Gustafson said she was gratified by the decision.

“I think it’s just wonderful,” Gustafson said.

The proposal, brought forth by Councilman Keith Bohr, would continue to look for a replacement restaurant in the meantime, starting by asking the few vendors who have already applied to consider waiting around till 2010. If none of the current applicants are willing to wait, or the city doesn’t consider them suitable, the city can put out another request for proposals, Bohr said.

“It’s not so much the numbers as the passion of those speakers, the stories they had to tell,” Bohr said. “We should consider that goodwill, and give her two years to have this great long farewell.”

The new owners would take over after Labor Day and hopefully open by May 2011, Bohr added.

Councilman Gil Coerper asked City Atty. Jennifer McGrath whether special arrangements for one restaurant would give other city concessionaires legal leverage; when she said no, he voted for the bill.

The vote ended a controversy that began months ago, when the city put out requests for a new vendor at the aging building — once a boat house — that houses Alice’s. Gustafson had been paying lower rent because she paid for maintenance work on the building, but city staff said they hadn’t been able to negotiate a similar deal this time around. Full rent would have bankrupted the restaurant, Gustafson said.

Earlier this month, council members were confronted with more than 20 speakers, holding a petition with more than 1,500 names on it, pleading for the restaurant. Bohr said their enthusiasm motivated his proposal.

Councilman Joe Carchio voted yes, but he took issue with the idea that the city hadn’t already tried “endlessly for many years” to keep the restaurant open. He said concerned residents should do their part as well.

“If everybody on that petition took out a gift card to Alice’s, we wouldn’t be sitting here,” he said. “I hope everybody goes out there and supports Alice.”

MICHAEL ALEXANDER may be reached at (714) 966-4618 or at michael.alexander@latimes.com.