VENTURA : Pier Restaurant Lease May Be Amended

When Eric Wachter signed on the dotted line last December, agreeing to lease restaurant space on the Ventura Pier, he thought his protracted contract wranglings with the city had finally ended.

Then January’s storms arrived, knocking the wooden structure into tottering infirmity. Now Wachter, owner of Eric Ericsson’s Fish Co. on Seaward Avenue, is back before the city.

Monday, the Ventura City Council will consider amending the pier restaurant lease to afford Wachter some financial protection in case the pier receives more storm damage.

The amended agreement would give the city up to six months to repair the pier.

If customers could not reach Wachter’s restaurant during that time, he would not have to pay rent until they could.

Under the amendment, if the city chose not to repair the pier, Wachter could terminate the lease by giving 15 days’ written notice.

Ventura spent months searching for a tenant to build and operate a restaurant on the city’s pier.

Officials struggled to find attractive renters because the city’s charter will not allow a lease of longer than 10 years on the property--far less than the 20- to 50-year leases that restaurateurs say are the industry norm.

Wachter and city officials finally struck a deal for a restaurant to open later this year, but only after the city agreed to buy Wachter out if it chose not to renew his lease at the end of 10 years.