COSTA MESA : Tavern Compromise Rejected by Council

A proposal aimed at easing tensions between Henry ‘N Harry’s Goat Hill Tavern and its neighbors failed to gain City Council support late Monday night after residents complained that the compromise would only increase their concerns.

The council considered suggestions Monday to address complaints of unruliness at the popular Newport Boulevard drinking establishment, including closing Magnolia Street and constructing an eight-foot wall to separate the business from its residential neighbors. The council also discussed landscaping and lighting improvements for the parking lot behind the tavern.

But a handful of residents and business owners spoke against the idea, saying a wall and the other measures wouldn’t keep unruly and drunk patrons of the tavern from using their lawns and alleyways as toilets and turning local streets into a menace.

“If you are going to spend money for the Goat Hill Tavern, spend it on urinals and police protection,” Peter Maxson told the council. “I have people urinating and defecating in my yard.”

Broadway Avenue resident John Ryan expressed fear over closing off Magnolia Street, saying that the cars would probably end up in his front yard. “You are going to shift the burden from one group of people to another,” he said.

Brad and Mary Whiteaker were the only residents to speak in favor of the wall. They said that drunk drivers have driven onto their property at least three times in the past, including one incident in which a driver ran into with their home and hit their fireplace.

In a 3-1 decision, with Mayor Mary Hornbuckle voting no, the council agreed with the majority of residents and turned down the wall proposal.

“I would agree . . . that the real problem is the Goat Hill Tavern,” said Councilman Joe Erickson. “I think the wall isn’t the answer to our problems.”

Before going into closed session late Monday night, council members vowed to take whatever action they could to curb unruly behavior among the tavern’s patrons. One of the ideas brought up at the council meeting but not voted on in the closed session was stepping up police enforcement.

Some local business owners also suggested hiring a private security force to police the area and putting up a gate to the entrance of the parking lot during daytime hours.

Monday’s action was the most recent in a series of disputes between the city and the tavern. The battle was ignited several years ago when residents complained to the council that the patrons were noisy, littered the area with beer bottles and urinated in their yards, sparking a legal battle that is still working its way through the courts. Judges have ruled in favor of the bar each time.

Most recently, the city petitioned the state Supreme Court, asking it to overturn an appeals court decision upholding the bar’s right to do business in Costa Mesa. They also asked the court not to use the case as precedent in the future. A decision is not expected for several months.