VENTURA : Planners to Review Mayfair’s Permit

The Ventura Planning Commission is scheduled Tuesday to consider revoking the Mayfair Theatre’s conditional use permit.

City staff is recommending that the permit be revoked based on complaints from the theater’s neighbors and calls received by the Ventura Police Department about the theater at 793 E. Santa Clara St.

Assistant City Manager Phil Johnson said the Mayfair’s operators also failed to make minor upgrades and keep loiterers off neighbor’s lawns and away from driveways.

Many teen-agers, however, say the punk concerts and rave dances in the theater’s 6,900-square-foot auditorium gives them something to do in a city that offers little for juveniles after 9 p.m.

Mayfair owner and manager Chris Schertzer said he thinks the theater is being used as a scapegoat for other community problems such as gangs, drugs and alcohol abuse.

In a Jan. 6 letter to the city, Schertzer said the abrupt departure of two of his partners caused considerable financial hardship that made it necessary to offer activities that attract large numbers of customers, which is the reason neighbors and police are complaining now.

A few months ago, when the Mayfair did not offer big concerts and rave dances, police and neighbors said the theater was acceptable in the neighborhood.