Montrose Collection serves case against city

GLENDALE — Just days after a jury decided that the Montrose Collection Restaurant and Banquet Hall did not violate a city code against hosting private parties, co-owners Takui and Arman Aivazian are moving forward with a civil case against Glendale.

The civil side of the more than two-year legal fight between the city and the Aivazians is scheduled for Oct. 20, when attorneys plan to ask a judge to restore the site’s parking permit, which the city revoked in 2007.

Zoning Administrator Edith Fuentes and the Board of Zoning Appeals rescinded the parking permit for the Montrose Collection, at 2831 Honolulu Ave., after officials found the establishment had, on at least one occasion, operated as a banquet hall. The permit was issued to the restaurant in 2005 and allowed the Aivazians to proceed with an expansion project without adding nine required parking spaces.

But the permit was contingent on adhering to a 2002 ordinance barring restaurants from using more than 30% of their floor plans for private parties. This lead to the city’s determination that the restaurant’s 1,210-square-foot expansion in 2005 had stripped it of its grandfather rights and that it was operating primarily as a banquet hall in violation of zoning laws.

All along, the Aivazians maintained that because the Montrose Collection was operating before the statute was introduced, it should be exempt from the 30% rule.

On Oct. 20, the Aivazians’ attorney Derek Tabone plans to ask a judge to cease all legal action relating to the permit and “decide that we never needed nine additional parking spaces in the first place.”

A judge could also send the case back to the city with direction to dismiss the legal action and restore the parking reduction permit, he said.

Based on the favorable outcome Wednesday, in which a jury found that the Montrose Collection did not violate the 30% rule, the restaurant owners are confident the judge will see it their way as well.

“I think we have a good chance of winning,” Takui Aivazian said.

But the city’s approach to the civil trial will not change based on Wednesday’s outcome, said Deputy City Atty. Dorine Martirosian, who is not handling the civil trial but did lead Glendale’s criminal proceedings against the restaurant.

“It should not change just because of what happened,” she said.

In a separate move, the Aivazians also plan to move forward with a malicious prosecution lawsuit against the city after having spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and thousands in business as a result of canceled private parties and mental distress, she said.

The exact dollar amount has not yet been formalized, but Tabone said it could be “seven figures.”

“What they put us through — we’ve had so many sleepless nights,” Takui Aivazian said. “They thought they were going to get us. They just don’t want banquet halls. I just don’t understand what’s so bad about banquet halls.”

The Aivazians also plan to form a coalition of banquet hall owners in the city who could file a lawsuit against the city and others, citing perceived biases against the site’s operators, she said.

She did not name specific participants of the coalition, but said she plans to address the City Council Tuesday.

The targets could include the city’s former Director of Planning Elaine Wilkerson, City Manager Jim Starbird, Councilman Dave Weaver and City Hall critic Margaret Hammond, she said.

“Wilkerson came up with this stupid idea of the 30% rule because she knows Margaret Hammond,” she said. “They are all prejudiced.”

Meanwhile, owners of the Montrose Collection will continue to take private party reservations where business has been slow during their legal battle.

No more expansions are planned and the site’s name will remain unchanged while they attempt to recover business losses.

“It’s going to be the same way it was before,” she said.

 JEREMY OBERSTEIN covers business, politics and the foothills. He may be reached at (818) 637-3215 or by e-mail at jeremy.oberstein@latimes.com.