New Eatery Planned at Problem Spot

Los Angeles city officials will hear public testimony Monday in Sherman Oaks on a proposal to open a restaurant and dance club at the site of a nightspot in Woodland Hills that was a magnet for trouble before it closed.

The Red Onion at 6424 Canoga Ave. closed last year after the faltering West Covina-based chain of Mexican restaurants and nightclubs closed the businesses as part of a plan to sell each site to individual owners.

But before it closed, the Woodland Hills Red Onion had a history of problems with drunken brawls, car collisions on adjacent streets, burglaries and vandalism.

Citing repeated problems that required police responses, city zoning officials imposed 21 conditions on the Red Onion in March, 1993, including tightening security and prohibiting minors during evening hours.

A Houston, Tex.-based company plans to reopen the restaurant and bar with a new western theme, according to city officials. But as long as the use of the site remains the same, the conditions imposed on the Red Onion will be passed on to the new restaurant, city officials said.

The hearing by the Office of Zoning Administration will be held at 2:30 p.m. at the Sherman Oaks Woman’s Club, 4808 Kester Ave.