SHERMAN OAKS : Insomnia Cafe Owner to Ignore New Rules

On the day that his beleaguered Insomnia Cafe was to begin complying with tight new restrictions on its operation, cafe co-owner John Dunn said he would ignore the rules, which require the cafe to cut back its late-night hours and increase security.

“We want to challenge those decisions in a logical court of law,” said Dunn, expressing his displeasure at a unanimous decision imposing the rules on the cafe by the Los Angeles City Council last month. “There is no logic going on here--it’s all politics.”

Under the council’s order, which took effect Wednesday, the Ventura Boulevard coffeehouse was to begin closing at 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and at 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. The cafe was also required to provide additional parking for its patrons and a security guard to be positioned behind the cafe.

“A year ago these things would have made sense,” Dunn said, “but today there is no longer a problem” with noisy patrons and late night crowds.

The cafe now operates until 4 a.m. on weekends and until 3 a.m. during the week.

Dunn and some cafe neighbors have been at odds over Insomnia’s allegedly loud and unruly clientele since the coffeehouse opened more than a year ago.

Ted Goldstein, a spokesman for City Atty. James Hahn, said Dunn’s refusal to comply with the order may lead to legal action.

“John Dunn has demonstrated a lack of compliance through this entire procedure,” Goldstein said. “This probably will rise to the level of a criminal misdemeanor filing.”

Goldstein said inspectors from the Building and Safety Department must inspect the cafe before the city can initiate any legal action.

“We urge the city attorney to act now,” said Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. and an advocate of the restrictions. “This guy is telling the city he doesn’t have to follow the decision of the City Council.”