Torrance City Council Rejects Karaoke Studio : Entertainment: The lawmakers say the facility does not belong in a shopping center. Residents in the neighborhood agree.

The Torrance City Council has turned down a Japanese businessman’s request to open a karaoke studio in the city, saying the sing-along entertainment business isn’t compatible with the shopping center where it is located.

The karaoke studio was completed in February but did not have a proper business license, according to city officials. In addition, residents in neighborhoods ringing the center feared that if the studio were allowed to open, it would create noise and traffic problems.

But Phebe Ogami, a spokeswoman for studio owner Mark Monden, told the council that Inner Space Karaoke would be a family-oriented place for amateur singers to croon lyrics to recorded music.

“We want you to understand that a business like Inner Space will be a harmless place where Japanese businessmen and families and American families alike can go and sing in a soundproof, safe and wholesome environment,” Ogami said.

She said Monden, president of Mamon Enterprises, Inc., a Japanese pen and pencil distributor, had invested $500,000 to open the studio in the center at Sepulveda and Crenshaw boulevards.

Because of zoning restrictions, Monden had to apply for a special permit to open the studio. The application was denied by the Planning Commission in April and Monden appealed the decision to the council, which on Tuesday denied the permit by a 6-0 vote. Councilman Bill Applegate abstained.

Karaoke is immensely popular in Japan and other Asian countries, and is sweeping parts of the United States. Karaoke studios such as Inner Space differ from karaoke lounges or bars in that they offer private rooms to patrons who prefer to sing only in the company of friends and family, according to karaoke enthusiasts.

Inner Space has nine private booths, all of which have windows in the door or room so that they could be monitored by employees, Ogami said. The booths would be rented on an hourly basis. Inner Space would not offer alcohol or snacks, but would serve soft drinks or other refreshments, she said.

But council members said Monden chose the wrong location for his business because the city zoned the center for retail businesses and not for entertainment establishments.

“We’ve been put in a position of appearing to not be sensitive to certain cultural customs,” Mayor Katy Geissert said. “I don’t know anyone here (on the council) who thinks that singing as a group or individually is wrong or immoral. It’s fun. But that misses the point because we’re talking about land use.”

Patrick Long, a neighborhood resident, said Inner Space is too close to homes.

“Nobody wants a late-night, early morning entertainment business activity in their back yard,” Long said. “It is a poor site for a karaoke business.”

Ogami said the backers of the studio were willing to provide valet parking, video surveillance cameras and landscaping improvements at the center to appease residents.

“We did everything humanly possible” to get the project approved, a tearful Ogami said after the meeting.