WESTMINSTER : City May Restrict Activities at Club

Following complaints that patrons at a popular local nightclub have caused too many disturbances requiring police response, the City Council tonight will decide whether to prohibit the club from offering live entertainment and alcohol.

The council will hear comments from the public and representatives from Tijuana Jones, a restaurant at 16310 Beach Blvd., before making a decision. In January, the Planning Commission urged the council to restrict the club’s entertainment and business hours after emotional pleas from the family of a man who was fatally injured outside the club.

The commission reviewed the restaurant’s conditional use permit after police complained that patrons there caused too many disturbances, especially on weekends. At that hearing, Westminster Police Detective Bob Gill said that in one year, officers were called to the club 98 times on complaints that included 29 assaults, one sexual battery, one rape and one homicide.

The homicide of 24-year-old Bryan Bensfield, who was beaten outside the restaurant on Nov. 28 and died days later, remains under investigation. There have been no arrests.

Mike Bouvier, city planning and building manager, said the restaurant’s permit does not allow it to operate as a nightclub. The permit defines the business as a family restaurant, which allows live talent and comedy shows and jazz and reggae music on Sunday afternoons only.

However, the club’s primary source of revenue is its music and dancing on weekend nights, not its food, which violates the permit. The club has also offered “bikini-clad male dancers” on occasion as part of “ladies’ night,” he said.

The commission unanimously called for the council to reduce the club’s bar size and business hours, remove the dance floor and enlarge its dining area, and stop all entertainment.

The hearing will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the council chambers, 8200 Westminster Blvd.