The Willow Glen Resident

Planners decide pool hall must close at midnight--for now

Commissioners set to review the issue again in July

By Cecily Barnes

After more than a year of fighting for the right to operate in Willow Glen's quaint downtown district, the upscale pool hall Willow Glen Billiards and Brew is being forced to wage another battle--for the right to stay open until 2 a.m. At the Planning Commission's Nov. 19 meeting, commissioners tabled pool hall owner John Karamanos' request to stay open past midnight, and told him to resubmit the permit application in July after the pub had been open a full year. Karamanos says that July might be too late.

"Right now we're getting only an hour of good business; it's going to kill us," Karamanos said. "People are not coming down because we don't stay open until 2 o'clock. It's affecting our livelihoods."

Two years ago, when Karamanos and co-owner Horst Brenner began plans for the pub, neighbors came out in packs to oppose what they said they feared would be a loud, seedy bar in their quiet hamlet. Karamanos and Brenner spent months defending their establishment, fielding complaints and planning mitigations. Before opening, they leased extra parking up the street, restricted their back lot to employee parking only, built an 8-foot sound wall, constructed a sealed trash-bin container and revealed their blueprints not just to the Planning Department as required, but to the entire community.

Nevertheless at the Nov. 19 Planning Commission meeting, Commissioner Forrest Williams told Karamanos and general manager Spiro Stamos they were being "insensitive" to the neighbors' concerns.

"I find it insulting that Commissioner Williams said we have no respect for the neighbors because we have done everything in our power to do what we can. Look at the facts," Karamanos said.

Others who have followed the pub's struggle to be accepted by the community agree that they have been everything but insensitive to people's woes.

"It sounds like the commission took the position that Billiards and Brew is insensitive to their neighbors," said Joe Guerra, chief aide to District 6 City Councilmember Frank Fiscalini. "That is most perplexing to me, because to the best of my knowledge, everything that's ever been brought to their attention has been changed, whether it's been a business neighbor concerned with parking or someone worried about noise."

But the small group of residents from Meredith and Blewett avenues who came to the Wednesday night public hearing asserted they still had problems and lodged complaints about barbecue smoke, motorcycles starting up and people walking to their cars late at night. Mark Welke carried a petition against the later hours, signed by nearly all the residents on Meredith Avenue.

"Personally, I can hear the motorcycles starting up at night," Willow Glen resident Christine Rayl said. "If you extend the hours past midnight, people will be out making noise even later."

Other neighbors said that their dogs would bark at bar-goers as they walked to their cars, waking up the kids.

"I have a brand-new 2-month-old baby, and it's very annoying when we hear loud noises from people walking back to their car," Meredith Avenue resident Karen Panam said. "We have a dog that barks every time there is a disturbance outside."

Karamanos and general manager Spiro Stamos said this is news to them, since no one has called or written a letter of complaint during their nearly four months of operation. Only one letter complaining about barbecue smoke was written to the Planning Department, and it arrived days before the public hearing. No complaints were registered at District 6 Councilmember Frank Fiscalini's office, except by people wishing the bar was open later, confirmed Guerra.

"We're open to talking to [these neighbors], but obviously they've never contacted us before," Karamanos said. "I'm sure if they came to us directly, we could have worked something out."

Instead, concerned neighbors went straight to the public hearing, Karamanos said, impeding their chances of getting a 2 a.m. permit. Other residents showed up at the hearing to complain about blight that had nothing to do with Billiards and Brew. One woman griped about an overflowing dumpster that belonged to an adjacent business. Others complained about parking overflow onto residential streets, which Karamanos assured could not be entirely the fault of his billiards hall.

"We're getting blamed for stuff we didn't do; we're the scapegoats here," Karamanos said. "The garbage had nothing to do with us, and the parking problem on Lincoln Avenue is bigger than Billiards and Brew."

Willow Glen Business and Professional Association manager Demetri Rizos agreed that Billiards and Brew is taking the heat for an expanding nightlife on Lincoln Avenue.

"I feel like they're basically being harassed and scapegoated, and I don't think it's fair," Rizos said. "They've worked so hard to work out the problems. I understand neighbors' concerns, but when you purchase a home off of a main avenue, you have to be aware that there is going to be more traffic and noise. Not all of us want to go to bed at 10 p.m."

However, Willow Glen Neighborhood Association president Kris Cunningham pointed out that just as people who buy homes near business districts should know what they're getting into, so should businesses that locate near residential neighborhoods.

Karamanos responded that after all their efforts, he wished neighbors could work with rather than against them.

"Neighbors went out and got everyone on Meredith to sign a petition against Billiards and Brew; why didn't they get everyone to sign a petition for permit parking?" Karamanos asked. "I think permit parking is a solution to the noise and parking problems."

Frustrated by what he said was an unfair decision, Karamanos plans to appeal the decision to the San Jose City Council. It is uncertain, however, whether the owners can submit an appeal, since planners tabled the matter without making a definitive decision.

At press time, attorneys from the city of San Jose were determining whether it is legal to appeal a tabled decision.

The commission, Karamanos said, listened to the 12 people at the hearing without accounting for the 3,000 customer signatures Billiards and Brew gathered in favor of extending the pub's hours.

"It's not fair that a handful of residents get to dictate the hours of business," he said.

Karamanos also said erroneous information was presented at the Planning Commission meeting that hurt their chances of getting the permit. When Commissioner Linda LeZotte asked staff whether the police department had recommended extending the pool hall's hours, senior planner Carol Hamilton responded, "The police department said this establishment had not been open long enough to establish a track record." However, a city memorandum from Chief of Police Louis Cobarruviaz dated Nov. 10 shows the police would support a 2 a.m. permit on an eight-month trial basis.

"The letter specifically states that the police recommend Billiards and Brew stay open until 2 a.m. for an eight-month trial period," Karamanos said. "That's not what was said at the Planning Commission meeting."

Planner Carol Hamilton was unavailable for comment.

To assist the bar's chances of gaining City Council approval for extended hours, Karamanos plans to gather signatures for permit parking on Blewett, which he believes would alleviate the noise problem for residents.

"If [the residents on that street] won't do it, we will," he said.

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