MISSION VIEJO : Panel to Weigh 4th Plan for Building

Plans for a fourth attempt to make a success of an abandoned restaurant building on Marguerite Parkway will be brought to the Planning Commission tonight.

Two restaurant concepts at the 10,700-square-foot building, at 28471 Marguerite Parkway, have failed and the third couldn’t win approval from the Planning Commission.

The latest plan--a proposed non-alcoholic dance club aimed at the younger-than-21 crowd--is backed by Kathy Petrasich and Les Wilson.

To be called Shout West, the nightclub would feature about 80% recorded dance music and fill the rest of its opening hours with live acts.

There are currently no plans for restaurant service and bar drinks would be limited to soda, flavored seltzers, spring waters and non-alcoholic mixed drinks. Billiard tables are also planned for the dance club.

City staff is recommending that patrons be limited to 275 persons in the late afternoon with a peak of 600 people between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m.

City planners also want the issue to be delayed until the Planning Commission’s June 20 meeting. City personnel and police say they need the time to further study traffic and crowd control issues.

The building was originally the home of Bobby McGee’s before it closed in 1990, reopening about a year later as Sauces Restaurant. The site has been vacant since Sauces closed in 1992.

Last year, an applicant wanted to convert the building into a country-Western restaurant/nightclub called Cadillac Cowboy.

However, the permit was denied by the commission when a background check found that the proposed owner had an arrest record that wasn’t disclosed on his application.