PICO-UNION : Club Loses Bid for Dancing, Billiards

The city has turned down a request to add pool tables and a dance hall to a Pico-Union restaurant, much to the relief of neighbors who feared the expansion would worsen the crime-plagued area.

Even before the April 22 hearing, the China Cuba Club at 1911 Pico Blvd. had been the source of numerous citizen complaints.

Among the opponents of the expansion were the nearby Angelica Lutheran Church, the managers of an apartment building for senior citizens and the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart Division.

The police provided a long computer printout of incidents in and around the restaurant, noting that the establishment already attracts a rowdy crowd. In October, three people were shot inside the restaurant.

Sandra Chavez, one of the owners, said that although her business is in a rough area, she hoped to attract family parties and traditional celebrations to an expanded club.

“I’m trying to do something different in the area,” Chavez said. “As a business person I have to deal with the criminal element like anyone else. I’m not to blame (for the crime). It’s the people in the street.”

But several neighbors argued that pool tables, a dance floor and expanded hours would lead to more trouble in a neighborhood already plagued by gunfire, theft, public drunkenness, gang conflicts, drug dealing, illegal dumping and limited parking.

Officer Sean Mahoney of the Rampart vice unit said the restaurant was already in violation of conditions imposed by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Department, including prohibitions on dancing, loud music and the sale of liquor after 10 p.m. Mahoney said the vice unit is trying to get the restaurant’s liquor license revoked.

With 15 establishments selling or serving liquor on the stretch of Pico Boulevard from Hoover Street to the Harbor Freeway, “Pico-Union has more than its share” of liquor outlets, said Gerald Gubatan, a legislative deputy for City Councilman Mike Hernandez.

In denying the restaurant owners’ request, zoning administrator William Lillenberg said, “My concern is to not do anything that would make the neighborhood worse than it is. (The proposed changes) would just make matters worse and create more policing problems.”

A neighbor who requested anonymity said, “This used to be a good neighborhood. It’s a small victory, but little by little we can make a difference.”

Some residents will now turn their attention to discussions with the city and the developer of a swap meet being built across the street from the China Cuba Club. Questions about the adequacy of parking spaces for the swap meet and the size of the building will be addressed at a 7 p.m. meeting May 10 at 1316 S. Union Ave.