Anaheim Concert Club’s Doors May Remain Closed

Radio City concert club in Anaheim, which has been closed since it was gutted by an arson fire in November, stands to remain silent following Wednesday’s vote by the Anaheim Planning Commission to revoke the club’s conditional use permit.

After the commission’s 6-1 vote, club owner Jerry Roach said, “At least we got one vote. That’s one more than I expected.” Roach and his business partner, attorney Peter Williams, said they would appeal the commission’s decision to the Anaheim City Council.

The hearing on the club’s use permit was called in response to a petition delivered to the city on Jan. 17 signed by 63 tenants of an apartment complex north of Radio City. Residents cited noise and vandalism problems that were attributed to Radio City patrons.

A staff report recommending revocation of the permit included a Police Department list of 87 “police contacts” at Radio City since July, 1981, most involving minors in possession of alcohol.

Introducing the resolution to revoke the permit, commission member Lewis Herbst said, “I have been on this commission for 20 years and this particular piece of property has caused us more problems than any area we have in the city.”

‘Music Not the Issue’

Williams argued that some problems caused by patrons of two neighboring businesses--a band rehearsal studio and a Top 40 nightclub--were unjustly blamed on Radio City.

Commission Chairwoman Charlene LaClaire, in voting with the majority, said, “I like rock music--some of it. Music is not the issue. . . . Maybe your operation is for the most part on the up and up and maybe you’ve done every single thing you can to make it that way. But in this case, there is still a problem. What I am most alarmed about is minors in possession of alcohol and drunk in public.”

Commission member Robert Meese, who cast the sole vote against the revocation, said, “I voted no because I feel that there wasn’t enough information available from the Police Department and that the petition in question really addressed as much the recording studio as it did Radio City.” Meese said he would have approved Willliams’ request for an extension of the use permit under conditions that the club owners attempt to work out an agreement with the apartment tenants.

Presenting the city’s case against the club were code enforcement supervisor John Poole and Sgt. Jim Brantley, the Police Department’s vice bureau supervisor.

“Since the arson fire and the business closed,” Poole said, “we have not had any police contacts to my knowledge or code enforcement complaints. In contacting the tenants, their concern is that it not be allowed to reopen.”

Williams disputed the statement and said the police report downplayed contacts at the two neighboring businesses.