By Jonathan Friedman
Lookout Staff

December 14, 2009 -- An overflow crowd came to last Tuesday’s City Council meeting to defend or speak against The Parlor, a popular hangout on Wilshire Boulevard off 15th Street. But the war of words will have to wait until at least February.

The City Council agreed to the request of the building owner’s attorney to continue the hearing on changes to the hours and other features of the restaurant/bar’s operation.

Although the hearing was continued, several members of the public who said they might not be able to come back to City Hall in February were allowed to speak on the matter. Ralph Fagan, who lives near The Parlor, said “it has been Hell” since the place opened in 2007.

For 25 years, the building in contention was home to the restaurant, Cinch. Then two years ago The Parlor came and quickly established itself as a popular place for socializing and watching sports. But many living near the establishment call it a nuisance.

The detractors, who say few problems existed during the Cinch era, tell stories of late-night noise, drunk people trespassing onto residences and public urination. There were even accusations made at last week’s council meeting of violent intimidation by management.

Responding to community concerns, the Planning Commission in September ordered some changes, including adjusting the closing time from 2 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends. The seating capacity was reduced from 225 to 135.

Building owner John Makhani appealed this decision. His newly hired attorney, Stephen Jamieson, asked that the appeal be continued because he wanted time to prepare a presentation with new evidence he had regarding the Planning Commission’s decision.

Jamieson plans to argue that The Parlor does not need the conditional use permit it was seeking from the Planning Commission in September that led to the panel’s demands.

Jamieson told the council, “The complaints that were apparently presented to the Planning Commission are in our opinion not well founded.”

He also presented a 600-signature petition that he said included many Santa Monica residents’ names, stating The Parlor is “well-run, it is not a nuisance to the community, that it is not a problem anymore than any other commercial locations can be in a commercial area that abuts a residential area.”

Although no council member opposed the continuance, some City leaders accepted the delay with reluctance.

“To the extent that there are neighbors suffering with this, they are now at least in theory going to be required to suffer longer,” said Council member Gleam Davis, who added the continuance presents an opportunity for The Parlor to show it can be “a good neighbor.”

Jamieson said the establishment has become a better neighbor since the Planning Commission hearing. He said it had increased the number of security guards, lowered the valet rate to encourage on-site parking and decreased the music volume.

One speaker who lives near The Parlor told the council things had gotten “slightly” better. But, she said, “It was so bad that getting better is still not great.”

Council member Bobby Shriver requested that a Santa Monica Police Department officer be assigned to patrol The Parlor from midnight to 2 a.m. until February. But Deputy Chief Phil Sanchez told him “it would be extraordinarily expensive and probably not feasible” to do that.

Sanchez said police officials are addressing complaints at the establishment. He said he would come to February’s hearing with statistics.