Teen loitering at Wendy’s leaves a bad taste with residents

Known for its square-patty hamburgers and the pigtailed redhead who adorns the sign, Wendy’s has become one of the most popular fastfood chains in the world.

But for Alfred and Cheryl Pinnaro, the Wendy’s in Westlake Village Marketplace on Lindero Canyon Road has been the cause of numerous sleepless nights. It also may have cost the Renaissance Homeowners Association thousands of dollars in property damage.

The Pinnaros’ home in the gated Renaissance community sits next door to Wendy’s and Alfred Pinnaro said teenagers have been loitering in the restuarant parking lot since the business opened in 1998.

The problem of rowdy teenhanging out in front of Wendywas one of the topics discusseduring the Westlake Village CiCouncil’s public safety commitee meeting last week at city hal

Renaissance homeowners are upset not only by the teens, but also by late-night noise created by trucks delivering goods to the shopping center’s tenants. Under municipal code, it’s an infraction to deliver goods between 10 p.m and 7 a.m.; however, a number of the service and delivery truck drivers are unaware of the curfew, according to officials and residents.

City and local law enforcement officials recently met with Steven Rosenblit, city prosecutor, to discuss practical ways to help curb night deliveries.

Rosenblit suggested that the shopping center pay for a security guard to help keep Wendy’s parking lot free of rowdy teens at night and prevent trucks from making offhour deliveries to the surrounding shops.

Councilmembers Jim Bruno and Susan McSweeney, public safety committee members, will recommend that the shopping center pay for an on-site security guard.

The security guard will most likely patrol the shopping center and parking lot from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., Bruno said. City officials want the security guard to document problems on the property so the safety committee can better identify which businesses are causing the most problems.

PetSmart, Albertsons, Wendy’s and Downey Savings each own their own property. The remaining business properties are owned by Westlake Village Marketplace LLC.

Shannon Smith, who manages the center, said it would be difficult for her to convince all five business owners to pay for a security guard if a majority of the complaints have to do with Wendy’s.

But Smith said that if the city requires the shopping center to hire a security guard, the local businesses have little recourse.

Although Smith was present at last week’s meeting, there were no representatives from Wendy’s. Wendy’s officials failed to return multiple phone messages left by The Acorn.

After the meeting, Smith declined comment on the committee’s recommendation for a security guard.

Pinnaro said he has attended four public safety committee meetings to discuss the shopping center’s problems. He said representatives from Wendy’s attended the first two meetings, but have not been to one since.

Due to the number of teenagers who gather in front of Wendy’s and because many of them are drinking, the shopping center should hire an armed security guard, Pinnaro said.

“You need off-duty cops that are going to have guns and clubs and handcuffs and that are going to be prepared to do whatever it takes to get these kids out,” Pinnaro said. “Eight out of 10 kids, when you approach them, they are going to leave. The other two . . . they might leave, they may not.”

Bruno does not want the city to run as a “police state,” and said the problem is created by the lack of a community center in Westlake Village.

“The whole incident there, the concern over teens, simply reinforces the fact that it’s time for us to come up with a remedy that will give the teens a safe place to congregate, enjoy their youth and express themselves in a wholesome way,” Bruno said. “The council is looking at the feasibility of creating some sort of community center.”

This past summer, a city employee visited Wendy’s on various Friday nights to observe the parking lot activity. Bruno said the city staff member reported that a “fair amount” of teens were, in fact, drinking.

Pinnaro’s litany of complaints against the teens includes vandalism, assault and battery, drag racing, late-night skateboard riding, destruction of property and disturbing the peace.

Pinnaro even said dynamite-like “explosions” set off in the Wendy’s parking lot have awakened him in the middle of night on at least a half dozen occasions.

“They are not the typical fire crackers,” Pinnaro said. “It’s big enough to where we’re concerned that a gas main blew up.”

Pinnaro said fellow Renaissance residents have videotaped the teens’ late-night activity. The tapes were viewed by both the Sheriff’s Department and the city council.

Pinnaro said he feels the city council and the police have done their best to curb the annoying activity, but that more needs to be done. He supports the idea of hiring a security guard.

“We’re not talking about the nice kids here, Pinnaro said. “We’re talking about a criminal element that is over there.”