State restricts alcohol at P6 restaurant





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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