Restaurant’s hearing delayed

DOWNTOWN — A Glendale Superior Court judge postponed the arraignment Thursday for the Montrose Collection, after city attorneys opposed a request to remove the property owners from a criminal complaint that the restaurant violated zoning laws.

Attorneys representing the Montrose Collection and La Crescenta residents Fred and Ramona Teichert, who own the building on the 2800 block of Honolulu Avenue that houses the troubled eatery, filed a legal request earlier this year to remove the Teicherts from the complaint since the couple are not involved in the business’ operations.

Those attorneys said they received formal opposition to the request from the city on Thursday, the same day the restaurant and property owners were due to be arraigned.

The city filed its formal opposition to the request on March 18, citing legal precedent for holding property owners accountable in similar cases, said Dorine Martirosian, the deputy city attorney handling the case.

“We’re opposing it,” Martirosian said. “They have to be accountable . . . they’re not the absolute ones doing it, but they’re the legal owners.”

But a judge agreed Thursday to postpone an arraignment hearing after an attorney representing the Teicherts and the Montrose Collection — citing mail delivery problems — said his office hadn’t had enough time to review the city’s opposition to removing the La Crescenta couple from its complaint.

“We just received the city’s opposition this morning,” said attorney John Stanley, who appeared Thursday on behalf of attorney Michael Levin, who represents the Teicherts, Montrose Collection owners Takui and Arman Aivazian and ATNA Enterprises, a corporation that is part owner of the eatery.

Ramona Teichert reiterated her and her husband’s stance on Thursday that they should not be held accountable for any violations their tenant may have committed.

“We have nothing to do with it,” she said.

“We own the property, they own the business. They better remove us.”

The city’s lawsuit alleges that the Aivazians violated municipal codes for operating their restaurant primarily as a banquet hall, using more than one-third of the facility for private parties.

A 2002 city ordinance made it illegal for new restaurants to use more than 29% of the business for private parties.

But buildings zoned before the implementation of the rule are exempt.

The Aivazians argue that their right to operate primarily as a banquet hall was grand-fathered, a right city officials say the Aivazians lost when they expanded their facility in 2005.

The charges were filed after Glendale’s Board of Zoning Appeals upheld Zoning Administrator Edith Fuentes’ decision to revoke the restaurant’s parking reduction permit, which was granted on the condition that the Aivazians adhere to the so-called 30% rule.

A judge is expected to consider Levin’s request to remove the Teicherts from the complaint on May 15 at an arraignment hearing in Glendale Superior Court.

 RYAN VAILLANCOURT covers business, politics and the foothills. He may be reached at (818) 637-3215 or by e-mail at ryan.vaillancourt@latimes.com.