Garden Grove : Appeal Planned Over Eatery Permit Denial

A nightclub owner who was denied a restaurant permit last month by the Planning Commission, amid residents’ criticisms of the man’s sexual orientation, plans to appeal the decision to the City Council tonight.

Ted Heier, owner of the Fraternity House, an openly gay bar and club on Garden Grove Boulevard, hoped to open a prime-rib restaurant at 12777 Knott St., the site of the former Marmac’s prime-rib restaurant.

The Planning Commission in February initially approved his request to open an eating place that would offer alcohol and live entertainment. Mayor Bruce Broadwater appealed that decision, however, and on June 8 commissioners overturned their original decision, saying they were concerned that Heier planned to book large-scale entertainment events that were inappropriate for the site.

But Heier’s attorney, Eric P. Lampel, argued that what really swayed the commission was the appearance of several hundred protesters who expressed a dislike for gays and fear that Heier would turn the restaurant into a gay bar.

“This place was a prime-rib restaurant for 20 years, and just because Ted owns a gay bar now he can’t reopen it,” Lampel said.

“It was an entire roomful of venomous people,” Lampel said. “Ninety percent of the speakers had vicious, nasty and improper things to say about gay people. This wasn’t about gay versus straight; it was about a prime-rib restaurant that on occasion would have a country-Western night for straight people.”

But commission members say they denied the permit because Heier misled them about his plans for the place, which they assumed would be a family restaurant with low-key entertainment such as a piano bar. When Heier mentioned he would like to have acts such as George Carlin perform, they said they grew concerned that the site would be used as a nightclub.