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Tighter Security Ordered in Temporary Licensing : Police Panel Grants Permit for Phases Teen Nightclub

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Times Staff Writer

The Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners on Tuesday granted a temporary dance permit to Phases, the embattled teen-age nightclub in Canoga Park, but ordered tighter security.

The night spot on Topanga Canyon Boulevard, whose business has plummeted since police arrested two underage customers in an April 2 raid, was awarded a 60-day license after an hourlong debate pitting the club’s supporters against its neighbors and Councilwoman Joy Picus.

The permit, effective immediately, allows the club to reopen its doors to 16- and 17-year-old patrons and to those under 16 if accompanied by a parent.

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No one spoke against granting the permit, or called for a closing of Phases, as was done with the Odyssey, a West Hollywood teen-age club whose permit was revoked in response to neighborhood complaints of teen-agers using drugs and alcohol and urinating in public. But Picus used strong words when proposing a series of restrictions for Phases.

Describing the club as a magnet for a wide variety of “hair-raising” and “unsavory” activities--including drug abuse, vandalism and sexual activity--the West San Fernando Valley councilwoman asked the board to reduce the club’s operating hours and require its management to provide increased security.

The board, however, voted to allow Phases to operate much as it had before the recent raid--with closing hours later than those requested by Picus.

But the board also agreed to begin a review of permits issued to all four teen-age dance clubs in the city, to determine whether they all should be required to close earlier.

As with the other clubs, Phases will be allowed to remain open until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights and midnight on Sunday through Thursday.

Picus had asked that the club be required to close at midnight on Friday and Saturday nights and at 10 p.m. on other days. Picus, whose district includes Canoga Park, recently proposed legislation to impose those same restrictions on teen-age clubs throughout the city.

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The police commissioners followed the recommendation of their staff in allowing the club to remain open later than requested by Picus. But they did go along with the councilwoman’s suggestions regarding security.

The club’s permit requires it to hire state-licensed security guards, to report all drug and alcohol abuse to police, to continue to prohibit sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages and to provide one adult supervisor for each 35 teen-agers.

The board will decide in 60 days whether to grant the club a permanent license.

The temporary permit also requires the owners of the club to cut all ties with the owners of the Odyssey, which closed in March and was heavily damaged in an early April fire described by investigators as an apparent arson. Until recently, the two clubs had the same owners.

Police Commission President Stephen D. Yslas said the vote to renew the Phases permit was “not a question of the right of teen-agers to dance.” Instead, he said, the board had an obligation to weigh the needs of the club’s neighbors against “a legitimate business concern.”

The board actions Tuesday left neither Phases’ opponents nor its management entirely pleased.

Betty Baird, the leader of a neighborhood group called Parents Concerned Against Teen Discos, which has complained about Phases, said she was encouraged by the city board’s study of teen clubs but unhappy with the hours allowed at Phases.

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Kevin Parr, the club manager, said he was satisfied with most of the restrictions, but not the one requiring parents to accompany patrons under 16.

But Parr said, “We needed this permit. We were hurting.” He said crowds at Phases dropped from 400 to 500 on weekend nights to “39 or 40” after the April police raid.

Before the raid, Phases operated without the city permit required of nightclubs that admit patrons under age 18.

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