Culver City : Cocktail Bar Loses Permit

The Culver City Council on Monday unanimously upheld a decision by the city’s Committee on Permits and Licenses to revoke the cocktail bar permit of the Cover Girl Lounge at 9300 Jefferson Blvd.

The decision, which went into effect immediately, followed a two-hour, court-style appeals hearing during which City Prosecutor Jonathan Horne alleged that the lounge:

* Was the subject of more than 70 police service calls, a “veritable shopping list of disorderly-person activities,” including a shoot-out in the parking lot, between mid-1988 and January, 1990.

* Allowed distribution of advertising flyers at Beverly Hills and Culver City high schools.

* Established a practice of admitting and serving alcohol to people under the legal drinking age of 21.

Culver City Police Sgt. Hank Davies testified that as recently as July 27, more than two months after the committee initially voted to revoke the club’s permit, he and his partner investigated a complaint and found that six of the 30 people in the club were underage.

“In every instance I’ve been at the Cover Girl Lounge, minors have been drinking,” he said.

But attorney Jerry H. Green, representing owner Earl Williams, said the violations were “isolated and intermittent,” occurring no more often than in any other club in Los Angeles County. He called Davies’ testimony a smear against the club.

Green said he and Williams, who plans to sell the club, may appeal the decision in Superior Court.