SHERMAN OAKS : Coffeehouse Targeted by Phone Campaign

A Sherman Oaks homeowners group has mounted a telephone campaign urging City Atty. James Hahn to file criminal charges against an embattled Ventura Boulevard coffeehouse.

The Insomnia Cafe’s permit to operate was revoked by the city in February, but the coffeehouse remains open for business.

Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn., has asked members of his group to call Hahn’s office and ask that criminal charges be filed against the cafe’s owners.

“Why doesn’t the city attorney take legal action against this illegal operation?” Close asked. “They are still a nuisance and they should be treated accordingly.”

At issue is the cafe’s failure to comply with a set of local zoning ordinances known as the Ventura Boulevard Specific Plan, as well as some neighbors’ complaints about allegedly loud and unruly patrons.

The permit was revoked after city planning officials decided that the cafe was not complying with the Ventura Boulevard plan. But enforcement is complicated because at the same time, a separate action was initiated against the cafe, this time because some neighbors contended that its patrons were a public nuisance.

In March, the cafe, at 13718 Ventura Blvd., was ruled a public nuisance by a zoning administrator and ordered by the Board of Zoning Appeals to cut back its late-night hours, provide uniformed security guards after 5 p.m. and additional parking for its patrons.

But cafe co-owner John Dunn appealed the decision to the Los Angeles City Council, which is slated to hear the case Nov. 2.

Representatives for the city attorney’s office were not available for comment Tuesday, but have said that no criminal charges would be filed until after the hearing.

Dunn and some cafe neighbors have been at odds since the coffeehouse opened more than a year ago.

While Dunn conceded that there have been problems in the past, he said things have been quiet for the past six months. A new ban on minors after 8 p.m. has improved the environment dramatically, he said.

“Things have quieted down a lot,” Dunn said. “I don’t think we should be punished for whatever happened in the past.”