Costa Mesa council delays vote on live entertainment at Holiday bar
A shorthanded Costa Mesa City Council postponed a decision Tuesday on whether to allow live entertainment at a Westside bar and lounge.
The question of whether Holiday, a speakeasy-style venue at 719 W. 19th St., should be allowed to host performances will instead be addressed at the council’s Jan. 3 meeting.
The city Planning Commission in September unanimously approved Holiday’s request to have live performances, but Councilwoman Sandy Genis asked the council to review that decision.
Since Holiday opened in July, some nearby residents have complained that the business is creating undue amounts of noise in their neighborhoods, and they urged the city not to allow live music there.
Others have pushed the city to permit such performances, saying they would help expand entertainment and cultural offerings on the Westside and likely not be much, if any, louder than the recorded music already played there.
Holiday is already entitled to have disc jockeys and dancing.
Genis said Tuesday that she recently visited the establishment and noticed obtrusive bass sounds — “a thump, thump, thump” — from the music played there leaking into neighboring areas.
“If it had not been for the bass, I would have said you could close your window and sleep fine, but the bass was the problem,” she said.
“I can’t imagine living with that day in and day out,” she added.
Holiday’s operators say they’ve made several improvements intended to limit sound spillage, such as upgrading doors and seals and putting in new insulation and a device that warns employees if it gets too loud.
But some nearby residents say problems persist.
Steven Chan said his community is “under assault” from the noise and that the venue’s operators “have utter contempt for our neighborhood.”
Chan, as he’s done in the past, also raised an issue with a provision of the property’s license from the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control that states, in part, that “any entertainment provided shall not be audible beyond the area under the control of the licensee.”
“The fact of the matter is simple: Holiday is above the law and operates in violation of their state-imposed sound prohibitions,” Chan said Tuesday.
At September’s Planning Commission hearing, an attorney for Holiday said the bar is in full compliance with ABC standards.
After about an hour of discussion and comments Tuesday, Genis, Councilwoman Katrina Foley and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer postponed a decision on the live-music application.
Foley said the delay will give city staff time to review additional information — such as a new noise study Holiday submitted to the city Tuesday afternoon — and “maybe come up with some compromises with the applicant and the residential community to try and address the concerns.”
She also said the issue should be decided by the full council.
Only three members were available to vote on the application Tuesday. Councilman Gary Monahan was absent from the meeting, and Mayor Steve Mensinger recused himself from the discussion on advice of the city attorney because someone involved with the business apparently had made a contribution to Mensinger’s recent reelection campaign.
Neither Monahan nor Mensinger will be on the council when the item returns for review. Monahan is termed out of office, and Mensinger came up short in his bid for another term during this month’s election.
This isn’t the first time the property occupied by Holiday has drawn the ire of neighbors.
Maison, a bar and nightclub previously located there, ran into permitting troubles last year and was caught hosting live music without permission.
City records show the property has been used as a bar and lounge since 1963.
Twitter: @LukeMMoney
