Restaurateur Burns Wins Limit on Fashion Island Construction

Fashion Island’s remodeling won’t stop for Robert Burns’ restaurant, but it will be slowed down a bit.

A preliminary court order issued Wednesday slapped restrictions on the times and locations at which the shopping center do construction work near Burns’ two eateries at Fashion Island--Bob Burns and El Roberto.

But the order, by Orange County Superior Court Judge William McDonald, also left room for the Irvine Co., which owns the Newport Beach center, to claim that it won a partial victory.

The ruling was the latest step in a lawsuit filed against the Irvine Co. by Burns’ company, Robert Burns & Sons, which owns and operates the restaurants. Burns is seeking an unspecified monetary award to compensate his company for loss of business.

According to the suit, the two eateries have been losing customers since April because of Fashion Island’s $115-million renovation.

When completed, the remodeling will add about 70 new stores, a seven-screen theater and a food court to the posh mall.

But in the meantime, the lawsuit contends, the Bob Burns and El Roberto restaurants have seen customers driven away by waist-deep piles of dirt, noisy bulldozers and dust clouds.

Meanwhile, the Irvine Co. maintains that it has the right to refurbish the property--and that the Burns restaurants will be prime candidates to benefit from the mall’s face-lift. Furthermore, the development company has made an effort to keep down the noise and disruptions from its construction, according to James V. Selna of O’Melveny & Myers, which represents the Irvine Co.

On Wednesday, the restaurant owner asked Judge McDonald for an order curtailing construction during the restaurants’ business hours. Specifically, Burns wanted orders preventing the use of noisy equipment and forbidding the Irvine Co. to interfere with the front entrance to the eateries.

McDonald instead ordered the developer to stop construction from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.--prime luncheon hours--in open space within 50 yards of the Bob Burns restaurant’s front door. But because parts of a new retail wing and cinema are being built within that space, the judge decided to allow construction in those structures if it does not cause noise or vibration within the restaurants.

The Irvine Co. had argued that major restrictions would have delayed the project by four months and meant an extra $2.1 million in construction costs.

McDonald is also requiring Robert Burns & Sons to post a $500,000 bond to pay the Irvine Co. in case the restaurants lose the case.

Selna said that the Irvine Co. “was disappointed” with the ruling “in view of its substantial efforts to accommodate and assist Bob Burns in continuing its business.” Still, he said, the restaurants gained only “a very limited” order.

MacGregor, on the other hand, said the order will ensure the restaurants’ survival during the remodeling. “Now our customers don’t have to fight their way through the dirt and heavy equipment,” he said. The ruling “will help us to continue to stay open and maintain the level of service and ambiance consistent with what the restaurants have been delivering.”

The case is expected to go to trial sometime within the next two years, by which time it is likely that the remodeling will be completed.