Live entertainment OKd for new Costa Mesa bar; neighbors worry about noise
Live entertainment will return to a property in Westside Costa Mesa once occupied by a business that ran afoul of nearby residents and the city.
The Costa Mesa Planning Commission voted unanimously Monday night to allow Holiday, a new speakeasy-style bar and lounge at 719 W. 19th St., to host performances.
Holiday, which opened in July, is already entitled to have disc jockeys and dancing. Officials did not say when live performances will start.
The commission’s decision came despite concerns from some neighbors about noise from the venue entering their homes.
Such concerns are nothing new at the site. City records show it has been used as a bar and lounge since 1963.
Maison, a previous bar and nightclub there, ran into permitting troubles with City Hall last year and was caught hosting live music without permission. Nearby residents complained of noise coming from the establishment.
Karen Martin with Pacific Planning Group, a consultant for the property owner, the Pange Family Trust, pointed out that several improvements have been made to the property to limit sound spillage into adjacent neighborhoods — such as upgrading doors and seals, putting in new insulation and installing a device that will warn employees if it gets too loud.
Holiday officials also have offered to do noise studies in neighboring residences, Martin added.
The bar’s supporters said adding live music would help expand entertainment offerings on the Westside and likely wouldn’t be much, if any, louder than the recorded music already permitted.
“There are far too few places in Costa Mesa where one can enjoy live entertainment, and not only is Holiday an excellent location for such, but it will have little, if any, negative impact acoustically for surrounding residents,” Donald Bassler wrote in an email to the commission.
Opponents said noise has already been an issue and that allowing live entertainment could present further problems.
In an email to the commission, nearby resident Carole Wurr wrote that allowing live entertainment at Holiday “will negatively impact the health and welfare of myself, my family, my neighbors and community.”
“Please keep us safe and deny the request,” Wurr wrote.
Most of the roughly 30 written comments submitted favored the proposal for live music.
Public comments at Monday’s meeting, though, were more mixed.
Steven Chan, who lives nearby, gave a lengthy presentation alleging that a provision of the property’s license from the state Department of Alcohol Beverage Control wasn’t properly taken into account by officials from Holiday or the city.
The ABC license states, in part, that “any entertainment provided shall not be audible beyond the area under the control of the licensee,” according to a copy faxed to the commission.
“The city of Costa Mesa has no authority to regulate this state-licensed location as to sound from entertainment,” Chan said.
Michael Cho, an attorney for the applicant, raised issues with that interpretation and said Holiday is in complete compliance with the ABC standards.
Cities have the ability to regulate and control businesses within their borders, Cho said. The question for commissioners, he added, was whether adding live entertainment at the venue would comply with the city’s noise ordinance.
“That is the ordinance that has determined what is reasonable for community standards to be,” he said. “Sometimes there is going to be noise, but if it can be minimized and it is not disturbing at all hours for neighbors, there has to be a reasonable expectation that when you live next to a commercial center there may be some commercial-based noise. Don’t move next to the airport and then complain about the airplane noise.”
Commissioners were largely complimentary of how Holiday has worked to address possible sound problems.
“In my time up here, I haven’t seen an application from a team that has spent this type of money or time or energy trying to crack the nut of the noise issues,” Commissioner Colin McCarthy said.
As part of their approval, commissioners directed Holiday to study how much noise is emanating from the venue and submit the data to the city. If that shows any violations, the city can take action.
Commission Chairman Robert Dickson said he hopes Holiday will operate in a way that doesn’t bother its neighbors.
“If they don’t, we’ll hear about it and we’ll do something about it,” he said.
The commission’s decision is final unless appealed to the City Council within seven days.
Twitter: @LukeMMoney
