Bungalow appeal denied; heading to City Council
TABLES AND CHAIRS are illegal at the Bungalow.
The owner of the Larchmont Bungalow was denied an appeal for a zone change Jan. 27 by the Planning and Land Use Management Committee.
Committee members Jose Huizar and Mitchell Englander upheld an earlier decision by the Central Area Planning Commission who denied the request for a zone change in October.
The matter is expected to go to the full City Council next week for a final vote.
Bungalow owner Albert Mizrahi sought a restaurant license for his take-out, which, after it opened in 2009 had its certificate of occupancy revoked for violating a signed affidavit not to have tables and chairs at the site at 107 N. Larchmont Blvd.
Members of the Hancock Park Home Owners Association and the Windsor Square Association were among those who spoke against the appeal.
Councilman Tom LaBonge said he asked Mizrahi before he opened the eatery to follow the street’s zoning, which was created to preserve one of the city’s “great streets.”
Tom Kneafsey, president of the Larchmont Village Business Improvement District, spoke in favor of the appeal, as did several Bungalow employees.
At an earlier appeal hearing Jan. 13 Mizrahi’s representative Jerry Neuman said the zoning, which only allows 10 restaurants on the boulevard, was unfair. While only restaurants are permitted to have tables and chairs, several take-outs have seating, he said.
Committee chairman Huizar asked the Planning Dept. staff for a report outlining the number of restaurants under the boulevard’s Q Condition, approved in 1993. The zoning curtails the number of restaurants on the boulevard.
There are 11 restaurants on the boulevard, according to Debbie Lawrence of the Planning Dept. who compiled the report with Todd Borzi, chief inspector with the city Building and Safety Dept.
Meanwhile two court cases of the Bungalow vs. the city remain; a criminal case goes back to court Tues., March 17.
A civil case is set to go to trial in October.
Category: News
