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Council Watch
Restaurant? Nightclub? Either way, Glen to close at midnight
Two commissioners' motion to extend trial period another six months defeated
By Jessica Lyons
If it looks like a night club, and sounds like a night club, it's a restaurant--which just so happens to serve drinks till 2 a.m. and play live music. Only if it's in Willow Glen, that is.
After its unsuccessful attempt to convince the planning commissioners that removing three pool tables, adding more restaurant seats and live entertainment, and serving food and alcohol till 2 a.m. on the weekends would constitute a restaurant with an incidental bar--not a nightclub--the commission denied The Glen's request to keep its late night hours and add music to the popular Lincoln Avenue restaurant.
"A restaurant past 12 a.m. is not operating as a restaurant," senior planner Carol Hamilton said. "That has been our experience with this establishment as well. It's very much like a nightclub and we do not believe a nightclub is appropriate for this location."
After a nine-month trial period with a 2 a.m. closing time Thursday through Saturday, The Glen will return to its original midnight closing, except for 10 private events per year. Only at these will live entertainment be permitted.
"We've been open till 2 a.m. for nine months now, and we haven't had any incidents of any kinds, we haven't had any complaints," said Stella Karamanos, co-owner of The Glen.
Except for Joseph Zieglar, The Glen's landlord, no one at the commission's public hearing spoke against the 2 a.m. closing time. Meredith Avenue homeowners and Lincolnshire residents, however, submitted a letter to the Planning Commission explaining their absence.
"The Meredith Avenue and Lincolnshire residents have decided as a group not to attend the July 14 Planning Commission meeting," the letter read. "This is not out of disrespect for the hearing process, but predominantly because many neighbors have been publicly insulted and threatened by The Glen's owners, management and clientele. We do not wish to subject ourselves to further intimidation or retaliation.
"As residents, we have attended all of the previous Planning Commission meetings regarding The Glen's 2 a.m. closing. Our objections and concerns relating to late-night hours are a matter of public record."
At previous meetings, neighbors have complained about the brew pub's patrons parking along their streets and late-night noise from patrons returning to their cars.
Several neighbors and Lincoln Avenue business owners did attend the public hearing and voiced support for The Glen's late-night hours, however.
"If the noise was in impact, I would be here speaking against The Glen" said Natalie Dodd, who lives directly behind The Glen on Blewett Avenue. "When closing time went to 2 a.m., I was very surprised because I didn't notice a difference. If anything, it was quieter."
Her son, Doug, who lives in a cottage behind the house, echoed his mother's support for the upscale brew pub. "I live as close as you can get to The Glen and I have not heard any loud noise or anything," he said. "It's a high class bar--actually it's not loud enough for me. I like going to the bars in San Jose where there is more noise."
Bernie Levine, co-owner of Details, a clothing store on the Lincoln Avenue, credited The Glen with bringing more business to the avenue. "I really feel Willow Glen has come a long way," Levine said. "I wish we had more business like The Glen in Willow Glen. We don't want to be a Los Gatos with five or six bars and a couple dance clubs, but I think Willow Glen needs a place we can go and socialize that is open on the weekends till 2 a.m."
Still, the commission voted 5-2 to close the doors at midnight. Commissioners Jay Ross and James Zetterquist voted against the motion.
Earlier in the hearing, Ross made a motion to extend the trial period another six months and add live entertainment to see what kind of an impact music would have on the noise level. "I feel our experiment wasn't given the opportunity to succeed or to fail," he said. "We haven't seen them operating with live music. We haven't give The Glen or the neighborhood an opportunity to see the consequences of the closing time with music. We can't judge the impact it will have. I was at The Glen at 11:30 p.m. on a Saturday night and I found no parking problems, there was no noise."
Ross' motion was defeated 5-2 with only himself and Zetterquist voting in favor of the extended trial period.
"Based on what I'm hearing tonight, I don't understand why we gave them the trial period at all because we didn't give them a fair shake," Ross said.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
