West Hollywood : Pool Hall Open 24 Hours

A recently renovated Hollywood pool hall, which was forced to close between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. under a disputed police regulation, will once again be open 24 hours a day after the Board of Police Commissioners acknowledged that the rule was in conflict with the city’s Municipal Code.

At a Tuesday meeting, the commission rescinded the ruling that forced Jeff Bey, owner of Hollywood Billiards, to restrict his business hours in November. “The nice thing about this ruling is that they did admit it had kind of slipped through the cracks,” Bey said.

Though the Municipal Code was amended in 1982 to allow pool halls and bowling alleys to remain open all night, the police regulations still stated that such businesses must close during early morning hours. Normally, such changes in the Municipal Code, are reflected in other regulations after a short period of time.

Bey took his case to the commission last month after the Hollywood vice squad cited him for remaining open 24 hours. Bey had recently completed a year-long renovation of the once-seedy pool hall and was entertaining guests at a grand reopening when officers informed him he could not remain open all night.

Hollywood Billiards had traditionally been open during all hours, and Bey said he felt he was being singled out for punishment.

Bey argued at several commission hearings that changes at the pool hall, including outside lights and security patrols, actually improved the drug-ridden corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue, and that a 24-hour presence would discourage crime in the area.