La Puente : Billiard Parlor Approved
Plans to build an upscale billiard parlor at a shopping center on Hacienda Boulevard were approved by the City Council on Tuesday.
The council voted 3 to 2 in favor of the proposal by Dick Obayashi, Ken Hoshide and Justin Okada to develop a 26,000-square-foot recreation center with 28 pool tables, a separate tournament area, an arcade and a restaurant in a vacant store at the South Hills Square.
Councilman Joe V. Alderete said the center badly needs revitalization. “The place is just dead,” he said. “It’s going down the drain.”
Councilman Charles H. Storing opposed the project because of concerns about the sale of alcohol at the restaurant. “As inviting as this seems, the (potential) problems far outweigh the good that would come of it,” he said at last month’s public hearing.
The project’s other detractor was Councilman Manuel J. Garcia, who said the city should hold out for a better proposal for the site.
Obayashi and Hoshide operate billiard parlors in El Monte and South El Monte.
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