SHERMAN OAKS : Insomnia Gets Hearing on Its Operating Hours

A Los Angeles city hearing is set today for the owner of an embattled Sherman Oaks coffeehouse to appeal restrictions on his business that were imposed after some nearby residents complained that its late-night patrons are too loud.

The Board of Zoning Appeals will consider waiving conditions that the Insomnia Cafe, 13718 Ventura Blvd., close at midnight Fridays and Saturdays and 10 p.m. the rest of the week and that the owners hire two security guards for duty after 5 p.m.

The restrictions were imposed in April after a city zoning administrator labeled the cafe “a public nuisance.”

But Insomnia co-owner John Dunn said he has solved the noise problem among his mostly teen-age and young-adult clientele, and that his establishment has been singled out by homeowners bent on driving his business out of the area. If the conditions are upheld, Dunn said, he will likely be forced to close his business, which he would like to keep open until 3 a.m. on weekdays and 4 a.m. on weekends.

“This is their polite way of saying, ‘Close up, board up, go out of business,’ ” Dunn said. “It’s so unfair, considering there are six bars within a couple of blocks of here. We’re an island in all this liquor, and they want to shut us down.”

In a June 10 letter to the appeals board, however, Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. representative Ann Douglas stated that the cafe “has brought very real problems into our neighborhood and (the owners) have shown no intention of solving them.”

Dunn said he does not expect the Board of Zoning Appeals to lift the restrictions because of the well-organized opposition to his business. He added that he will appeal the matter to the City Council if necessary. Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who represents the area, has supported the restrictions.