COSTA MESA : Court Ruling Favors Goat Hill Tavern

Henry N’ Harry’s Goat Hill Tavern has won its lengthy legal battle with the city to keep its doors open.

A state appellate court last week rejected the city’s plea to shut down the popular Newport Boulevard establishment, eliminating what could be the final legal hurdle faced by the bar. The ruling came after the city appealed a lower court decision a year ago which granted the bar the right to operate.

“We beat them,” said a jubilant Robert Ziemer, owner of the bar, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary this month. “They can’t close us down unless they can prove we are a nuisance. We are far from a nuisance.”

On Friday, the appeals court upheld the lower court’s decision in rejecting the city’s argument that the night spot was a public nuisance. In its 18-page ruling, the appeals court also agreed that the owner had a vested property right to the bar and that the City Council had no right to deny Ziemer the right to run his business.

City Atty. Thomas Kathe did not return several phone calls for comment.

The ruling comes more than two years after residents in nearby apartments complained that the bar’s patrons were noisy, littered the area with beer bottles and urinated at neighboring businesses. The City Council refused to renew the bar’s permit in July, 1990, initiating the lengthy legal fight.

Following the action, the issue came back to the council several times for reconsideration. Each time, however, the tavern came up on the losing side. The Goat Hill Tavern is one of several bars along a stretch of Newport Boulevard that have found themselves in legal limbo over their right to operate. The Island Trader bar and restaurant had its operating permit revoked by the city in 1991.

Hogue Barmicheal’s, which also lost its right to operate in Costa Mesa, recently decided to move to neighboring Newport Beach.