Council to Rule on Center’s Liquor Permit

The City Council today will decide whether restaurants at a popular Studio City shopping center may continue selling alcohol on an open-air patio.

The owners of Laurel Promenade, at 12050 Ventura Blvd., have had a temporary permit to sell alcohol for nearly three years. Before granting more permanent approval, the council has weighed an appeal filed by the Studio City Residents Assn.

The association expressed concern that Laurel Promenade’s status as a place to drink might create a parking shortage. It also requested better landscaping at the site.

In 1994, city officials denied the restaurants permission to sell alcohol, citing inadequate parking. After developers revised their plans, the city offered temporary permission.

Association President Tony Lucente could not be reached for comment Monday, but said in a recent interview that a compromise between the shopping center’s owners and the residents was imminent. Lucente has called the shopping center a “built-in parking disaster,” but said he was increasingly optimistic that both sides could be satisfied.

In October, the city Planning and Land Use Management Committee recommended that the City Council reject the association’s appeal and allow the Daily Grill to serve a full menu of alcoholic beverages and Gaucho Grill and Louise’s to serve beer and wine.

The council has previously put off a vote on the matter, but by law it must act today. If approved, the permit would last for three years. After three years, it would be renewable for an unlimited term.