LA HABRA : Much-Criticized Eatery Can Reopen

A decision by the Planning Commission to reopen a restaurant and dance club on South Beach Boulevard was met by angry shouts from residents who charged that the establishment has caused noise, traffic congestion and trash problems in their neighborhood.

The restaurant, previously operated as Characters, has been vacant for more than six months, according to Roy Ramsland, the city’s associate planner.

The new owners, Cal-American Properties Trust of Los Angeles, plan to reopen the facility as a restaurant that will also feature entertainment and dancing until 2 a.m.

When the 5-0 vote to approve the reopening was announced Monday night, members of the audience rose and shouted their disapproval for about five minutes.

“I’m fed up with this stuff,” resident Joe Mongelli said. “I’m an irritated man, that’s what I am.”

Elizabeth Ashton, whose mobile home is just 43 inches from the wall behind the restaurant, said “the quality of life is just down the drain when that place is open.”

Besides the noise at night, she also had to put up with bad smells during the day from a nearby trash container, Ashton alleged.

“The stench of the rotting food enters my cooler,” she said, referring to the intake of her air conditioner. “It’s just unbearable. It’s unlivable.

“If this commission votes approval, I’m going to a lawyer and I’m going to start legal action,” she said before the vote.

In approving the application, the Planning Commission imposed numerous conditions, including restrictions on noise and parking.

The operators will also be required to move the trash dumpster away from its rear wall and to increase the height of that wall.

Commissioner David Cheverton reminded the audience that the permit is subject to review after six months and could be re-examined sooner.

But those restrictions were apparently not enough to satisfy the crowd.

Mongelli’s wife, Brigitte, said residents have been fighting the restaurant for 11 years, and she added that Planning Commission members and the city staff do not have an accurate view of what the neighborhood had to tolerate.

“This evening, I’m going to refresh your memories,” she said.

The 32-year resident of Baja Avenue told the commission that she once went to the restaurant late at night with a baseball bat to demand that the music be turned down. Her husband said he had also considered using a bat to “smash the loud speakers.”

But planning commissioners felt the restaurant’s new owners should be given an opportunity to prove that they can be better neighbors than the previous management, Ramsland said.

“You can’t condemn somebody before they’ve had a chance,” he said. “You can’t base what these people are going to do on what past operators have done.”

Ramsland said the stringent conditions being imposed upon the restaurant should reduce the impact on residents. Many of the restrictions are the direct result of comments and suggestions by neighbors, he said.

The approval will become final on April 24 unless an appeal is filed, Ramsland said. Any appeal would be heard by the City Council.