Los Gatos Weekly-Times Neighbors upset over Courtside's application for a liquor license Applicant maintains it just wants to run a family club Campo di Bocce is back By Jeff Kearns Nearby neighbors are gearing up to fight a use-permit application by the Courtside Club on Winchester Boulevard that is a part of the club's ongoing remodel and expansion. Opponents say Courtside came to the town with an application for a cafe, and now it wants to have outdoor parties. "It's the difference between the original concept sold to the town and neighborhood and what's now happening a year later," said Carol Shultz, a resident of the Wimbledon Townhomes behind the club; she is leading the charge against granting the permit. Shultz says that if Courtside is granted the permit by the Planning Commission, she plans to file an appeal to the Town Council. The commission is set to hear the issue Oct. 14. Courtside is applying for a conditional-use permit that would allow alcoholic-beverage service at two events per week and let the club play amplified music at up to 30 events per year. General manager Sandy Hoeffer, however, says that the club has bent over backward to accommodate the concerns of Shultz and other neighbors. The opponents, she says, are concerned that the new outdoor activities will be loud and intrusive because of their history with the former restaurant on the site, Johnny's, which was demolished last year to make way for an expanded clubhouse. Neighbors complained specifically about rooftop parties hosted by the restaurant. "That was a much different kind of operation," Hoeffer says. "We don't have that kind of facility and we demolished the building where they had the parties." Courtside was sold by its former owner, Dallas-based Club Corporation of America, in April 1997 to San Francisco-based Sports Resorts Inc., which runs six athletic clubs in the Bay Area and three in Seattle. Hoeffer says she wants to serve alcohol at club-sponsored events like USTA tennis tournaments, potluck dinners and other social gatherings. "This is a family club and we're trying to provide that kind of environment," she says. "This is not a nightclub." Hoeffer insists that Shultz is the only neighbor complaining about the club, and says that the neighborhood is "supportive of what we're doing here," but Shultz points to a petition protesting the permit that was signed by 22 neighbors. Courtside needs to get the use permit from the town before it can get its liquor license from the state Alcoholic Beverage Control board. Lydia Engdall, district administrator for Santa Clara County, says Courtside has applied for a liquor license, but that application is still pending the town's decision and an amicable resolution to the protests of the neighbors. "Our priority is that the peace and quiet of the residents is not disturbed," Engdall said. "It's not going to be settled right away unless the club and the residents come to a meeting of the minds." Another conditional-use permit will also be coming before the Planning Commission this week. Campo di Bocce on University Avenue, which asked for a continuance at a September meeting to work out concerns with neighbors surrounding noise and parking issues, is scheduled to make a case for a new permit that would allow increased seating in its restaurant area. The Planning Commission meets Oct. 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, October 14, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.