Gladstone’s plans to hold VIP late-night events this summer have met with opposition from some local residents. In response, the restaurant’s representatives appeared before the Pacific Palisades Community Council Land Use Committee last Thursday to explain their plans. Tina Y. Choi, a land-use consultant along with Gladstone’s general manager Tony Sher and Derrick Malec, the director of security and safety for SBE, the company that manages Gladstone’s, met with the LUC to answer questions and concerns regarding the events. Gladstone’s has been a Palisades landmark for over 40 years and primarily a restaurant located on Pacific Coast Highway at Sunset. SBE Entertainment Group, a Los Angeles-based, luxury hospitality and development company, partnered with Gladstone’s co-owner and former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan in October 2009 to manage the popular eatery. The partnership was renewed in 2010 and SBE will continue to operate the venue through 2013. At issue are the 14 proposed Friday-night VIP events to be held at Gladstone’s, beginning at 11 p.m. and ending at 2 a.m. The private events will be invitation-only for SBE’s high-end clientele. SBE is partnered with numerous hotels, including the Four Points Sheraton near LAX, Sheraton Delfina Santa Monica and the SLS Beverly Hills. Sam Nazarian, who serves as chief executive officer, founded SBE in 2002. He’s no stranger to the nightlife scene, owning several L.A. nightclubs including The Abbey in West Hollywood and The Colony in Hollywood. The concerns with the Gladstone’s late-night venues, where patrons will primarily be drinking, are of safety, traffic and noise. SBE is marketing the event as a ‘Summer on the Sand’ event exclusive to its elite membership. ’If you are going to bring people on the beach they are going to want to be on the beach or patio,’ said LUC board member Paul Glasgall. The events are expected to draw a maximum of 400 guests, though the restaurant’s occupancy is approximately 700 people. To keep everyone safe and the noise levels down, all music will be indoors, with two DJ’s spinning music in the Sunset Room and the main dining room. Sher assured the board and residents that there would be no service on the patio, which can hold approximately 120 people. ’The nexus of the event will be inside,’ Choi said. ‘The draw is indoors.’ Ten to 17 security guards will regulate crowd control, joined by two uniformed traffic-control security officers at the minimum. All guards will carry a guard card from the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. Security will patrol the beach, making sure members are not on the beach and non-members are not granted access to the venue via the sand. ’We are being overly cautious,’ said Malec, the director of security. Community Council Area 1 representative Carol Bunch, who lives in close proximity to Gladstone’s, was not appeased by the group’s assurances that the events will not get out of hand. ’I want to express my own concern about 120 people outside on the patio,’ said Bunch regarding the noise created by people drinking and talking loud. Choi told the board and residents that the first two events will be a ‘pilot.’ ’If it’s not working we won’t pursue the other events,’ she said. Each of the permits needed for all 14 events are being applied for one by one through the L.A. Department of Building and Safety, according to Choi. Palisadian Todd Sato lives in the Castellemmare neighborhood above Gladstone’s and opposes any attempt to hold late-night events at the restaurant because past events have been anything but organized and well managed. Sato explained that after-hour events were held last summer on a weekly basis and resulted in traffic congestion, car alarms going off and honking of horns at all hours. ’This for you is about making a profit,’ Sato said. For those in the neighborhood above Gladstone’s the events are disruptive, Sato said. ‘This is about people not being able to sleep.’ Sato added that he spoke with GM Sher and others involved in last year’s events and got nowhere. ’There was a nightclub scene,’ Sato said. ‘If you’ve got 20 to 30 taxis showing up at one time, blocking PCH, it’s not going to work.’ Last year the event was not managed by Choi or Malec and security was lax. ’I want to apologize for last year,’ Choi said. ‘Last year was out of control.’ Choi promised to keep the VIP nights small, emphasizing they are not permanent events, and that no outsourcing, no mass invitations and no external planners would be allowed. ’This team here,’ Choi said, turning to Malec and Sher, ‘is who is going to manage these events. We will work with you on a one-on-one basis.’ Additionally, the team is bringing in an off-the-clock fire marshal to witness the event and make sure occupancy levels and safety issues are addressed. At the recommendation of Committee Chair Chris Spitz and Community Council President Janet Turner, valet parking will be mandatory for all guests in an effort to keep patrons from parking in the neighborhood across PCH and so that traffic can be controlled. Understanding the reluctance of some board members and some residents, Spitz suggested a wait-and-see approach be taken. ’Let’s just see what happens this time,’ Spitz said. Board member Stuart Muller agreed. ’Their motivation is to keep it contained so they can keep it going,’ Muller explained. Community Councilmember Jack Allen, who represents Area 5, brought up driving on PCH under the influence. ’The problem isn’t what happens inside,’ he said. ‘The problem is when they leave. And measures to quiet the crowd down don’t work.’ Paying for a cab ride for those who have had too much to drink is something Gladstone’s is willing to do, said Choi. Committee member George Wolfberg, like Spitz, wants to approach the issue diplomatically. ’Give them one chance,’ he said. At Turner’s request, SBE representatives agreed to present their plans to the entire Community Council at a later date. Choi made it perfectly clear that she listened to residents’ concerns and will be taking a proactive approach. ’What I am saying is if it doesn’t work out, it won’t go on,’ Choi said. ‘We won’t apply for the second permit if the first event is a disaster.’
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