Outdoor grills are choking

GLENDALE — Outdoor grilling at restaurants, a contentious issue in Glendale, lost another battle Wednesday when an Armenian eatery’s application to continue its smoky cooking method was denied.

Sam Arutyunyan submitted an application June 6 seeking a variance to maintain an outdoor grill at his Karoun Restaurant in southeast Glendale. In her denial issued on Wednesday, City Zoning Administrator Edith Fuentes pointed to a city code that requires all commercial grilling to be indoors.

Arutyunyan can appeal the ruling to the Zoning Board of Appeals. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Banquet hall and restaurant owners have argued that their clientele’s palates demand mesquite-flavored charcoal, and that moving outdoor grilling operations into a specially constructed, enclosed room would not be cost-effective.

The ruling comes less than a year after the City Council failed to muster the four votes needed to lift the ban and allow outdoor grilling under certain conditions.

At the time, the council’s only two non-Armenian members — Frank Quintero and Dave Weaver — voted against it, prompting some residents to call it a racial issue.

Weaver said his vote was about health issues and enforcing city code, not race.

On Thursday, his opinion had not changed, but those of some of the proponents for the original proposition had.

Mayor Ara Najarian had favored the ordinance change in 2006, citing the need to stoke authentic Armenian cuisine in a city many Armenian Americans call home.

But since the ordinance change was defeated — and the city’s Neighborhood Services Department has stepped up enforcement of the current ban — Najarian said he’s become more inclined to let the issue fizzle out.

“At this point, I’d encourage restaurant and banquet hall owners to bring their cooking indoors,” he said. “In terms of energy and effort, that’s perhaps the best direction to exert our effort, rather than change an ordinance.”

Any chance that the different makeup of the council this year may give commercial outdoor grillers renewed hope is slim.

Councilman John Drayman, who replaced Rafi Manoukian on the council, said he probably wouldn’t support a similar proposal.

“The issue is pretty much settled by now,” he said.

Community activist Margaret Hammond, who has long beat the drum against outdoor grilling, was relieved by the recent denial.

“I’m hoping this will send a message,” she said. “The city is going to enforce the ordinance.”

Since it became apparent the council would not alter the ordinance, the city has steadily whittled down the number of banquet halls and restaurants that grill outdoors from about 12 to two, said Sam Engel, director of Neighborhood Services Department.

MGM Hall on South Kenwood Street recently filed its intent with Engel’s department to cease outdoor grilling after it received notice of prosecution from the City Attorney’s Office, he said.

The last remaining violators, Engel said, are Verdugo Hills Country Club and Karoun Restaurant, which will now see stepped-up code enforcement.

Code violations for the country club are under review, according to the City Attorney’s Office.