by Sophia Fischersfischer@theacorn.com
The state’s Department of
Alcoholic Beverage Control
(ABC) agreed with an administrative judge’s ruling last week
that the P6 restaurant and lounge
in Westlake Village can have a
permanent license to serve alcohol, but only under certain conditions.
According to the ruling,
the restaurant can serve alcohol between 9 a.m. and 11
p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m.
and midnight on weekends,
limiting how late customers
can purchase drinks. Legal
hours for serving alcohol are
6 a.m. to 2 a.m.
“The decision kind of
shocked us,” said P6 co-owner
Jerry Rubacky. “Obviously this
decision has severe financial impact on us.”
The restaurant is located on
Agoura Road and adjacent to
homes in the Stoneybrook development.
Shortly after P6 opened a year
ago with a temporary license, residents began complaining about
late night noise. Some claimed
that P6 was nothing more than a
nightclub, but Rubacky strongly
disagrees.
P6 is a fine dining restaurant
that serves about 2,600 meals a
week to an upscale crowd between the ages of 25 and 65, said
Rubacky.
“The perception that has
been created that we are in any
way, shape or form a nightclub
is absolutely wrong,” he said.
P6 owners responded to residents’ concerns by adding tempered glass walls and landscaping to the restaurant’s outdoor
patio, hanging a chain across a
portion of the back entrance to
discourage customers from using the alleyway between homes
and the restaurant, and hiring security guards to patrol the parking lot every 30 minutes to encourage customers not to linger.
But residents still complained
of ongoing noise, called police
and wrote letters to the city.
“When you put a large business that intends to operate late
at night in an area that is mixed
residential and commercialfolks are going to protest,” said
Chris Albrecht, district administrator in the ABC Santa Barbara district office, which covers Ventura County.
Wanting to respond to both
residents as well as the restaurant owners, Albrecht says he
feels the judge “came down in
the middle” by recommending
approval of the license with restrictions.
Unless there is an appeal by the
owners or by residents, the ruling
goes into effect on August 8.
P6 owners are considering their
options, Rubacky said.
In the meantime, Rubacky
plans to hold a meeting with residents of adjacent communities
next week.
“We will listen to them and
convey what we’re doing,”
Rubacky said. “We’re trying to
do the right thing by the local
community.”
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