The Willow Glen Resident

Owners of Billiards and Brew ask to remain open until 2 a.m.

Pub owners say they have a good track record and late hour won't cause a problem

By Cecily Barnes

In a move that was planned before the pub was opened, the owners of Willow Glen Billiards and Brew last week applied for permission to extend their hours from midnight to 2 a.m. The brewpub's owners say the time is right, since they've proved to be good neighbors and should therefore be allowed to extend their hours.

"We haven't had any complaints from neighbors. We haven't had any police problems, and we haven't had any bar fights," said Spiro Stamos, general manager of Willow Glen Billiards and Brew. "The bottom line is, the proof is in the pudding. From the very beginning we've had a wide-open forum with the neighbors."

Billiards and Brew applied for a conditional use permit from the Planning Commission Oct. 8. Before approval can be granted, the commission must hold a public hearing, though a date has not yet been set.

In an effort to head off the protests that typified the meetings before the pub opened, Stamos and owner John Karamanos attended the Oct. 8 Willow Glen Neighborhood Association meeting to discuss any problems the board might have with the 2 a.m. closing time. When board members raised concerns about the increased hours potentially creating noise and parking problems, Stamos said he felt his organization was never given the benefit of the doubt.

"The only complaint we've had is people asking why we don't stay open later," Stamos said. "Sometimes we feel guilty until proven innocent. Why not give us the 2 a.m. and if we do screw up, then cut us down to midnight?"

When the owners of Billiards and Brew first announced their plans to open a pool hall on Lincoln Avenue, they were met with opposition from a group of residents on Blewett Avenue, which sits behind the pub. Neighbors were concerned about the traffic, noise and parking problems the club might create. In order to quell the concerns of the neighbors and to get the project approved, the owners reduced their request from a 2 a.m. closing time to midnight. Their intention was to up it to 2 a.m. after they'd become integrated in the neighborhood.

According to Joe Guerra, aide to District 6 City Councilmember Frank Fiscalini, the integration has been smooth. His office hasn't received any negative complaints about Billiards and Brew, he said, only requests that it stay open later.

But WGNA members raised concerns that the 2 a.m. closing time could change all that. Late-night customers might park in the employee-only lot behind the brew pub, board members said, or next to the new center that will soon open on the site of the old Electrical Appliance building, disturbing neighbors.

"Several times, there has been noise people have heard in the employee parking lot out back," WGNA president Kris Cunningham said. "Most of the neighbors felt they had had no negative impact from the business, but those people directly behind Billiards and Brew felt the later you stayed open, the incidents of people being loud and talking out back would increase."

Stamos responded that they have "no parking" signs already made up that they will hang in the area as soon as the temporary fence near their building is removed. He also agreed to meet with the neighbors who have concerns about noise.

Stamos added that if anything, staying open later would decrease instead of increase the noise. Currently, he said, Billiards and Brew staff is forced to herd 200 people out of the building at midnight, causing a bigger noise impact on the neighborhood than if people were allowed to leave in smaller groups throughout the evening.

"We have a really hard time getting people out at 11:30," Stamos said. "People aren't used to leaving that early, and we end up with 200 people on the sidewalk outside the building."

Stamos added that with the holiday season coming up, it would hurt their business to have to close at midnight.

"We wouldn't have a New Year's," he said.

Board member John Gibbs raised the issue of how economically viable the business could be, having to shut down at midnight.

"There is the issue of whether this can remain a viable business under the current restrictions," Gibbs said. "I think, generally speaking, they've been a good business for the Avenue for three months. As much as we need to fight for the few [the neighbors on Blewett], we need to not ignore the many."

Billiards and Brew compiled a petition of nearly 4,000 signatures from people who support the pub staying open until 2 a.m.

Cunningham closed the issue by promising to follow up with the neighbors on Blewett and to make sure people knew about the public hearing.

"I do want the public to be able to be heard," Cunningham said. "There are only a few people that are directly impacted, but they have rights, too."

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