Azusa : Accord Reached Over Bar

The city has reached agreement with the landlord of a bar that officials had asked a Pomona Superior Court judge to close because of narcotics activity.

City Atty. Peter M. Thorson said an accord was reached last week with Mark Chapin Johnson on conditions designed to control the patrons, many of whom police allege were involved in criminal activities. The agreement has been submitted to Judge Thomas F. Nuss for approval.

In building its case, city officials said 20 arrests for drug-related offenses were made in the La Villa bar last year. The city tried to close the bar under a section of the state Health and Safety Code that allows municipalities to “permanently abate” properties used for drug trafficking.

The city had asked that the bar and its furnishing and fixtures be liquidated to pay for legal costs, estimated at more than $10,000. The city was unsuccessful in an attempt to close another bar, JJ’s Cocktail Lounge. But after Nuss ruled against the city last month, the landlord of JJ’s Cocktail Lounge evicted the tenant and decided not to reopen the building as a bar.

Thorson said the agreement with La Villa contains most of the conditions of a restraining order the judge granted in February. The order required Johnson and bar operators, Jose L. Gonzalez and Manuel Vargas, to prevent any drug trafficking, to notify police of any illegal activity, to install outdoor lighting, to hire weekend security guards, to clean up the bar’s exterior and to strictly adhere to state Alcoholic Beverage Control Department regulations.

Neither Johnson nor his attorney, David R. Nissen, were available for comment. La Villa operators Gonzalez and Vargas have had no comment since the city began its effort to have the bar closed.