City attorneys argued for revoking the Aivazians’ parking reduction permit, which allowed for nine fewer spaces than required, based on allegations that the restaurant was operating primarily as a banquet hall — a violation of zoning codes for that area.
But a jury in October found the Aivazians not guilty of operating an unsanctioned banquet hall, leaving the permit’s revocation as the last-remaining hold in the matter.
“I guess it was done originally wrong,” said Takui Aivazian, referring to the city’s revocation of the parking permit. “The city didn’t really pay attention to what we needed so we had to dig down and fix this.”
The Aivazians filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the permit’s revocation after the City Council last year failed to hear their appeal. Three council members — Ara Najarian, Frank Quintero and Bob Yousefian — recused themselves from hearing the matter citing either conflicts of interest, or the inability to fairly judge the case.
With no quorum left on the dais, an earlier decision from the now-defunct Board of Zoning Appeals to revoke the permit was left to stand, prompting the Aivazians to file their lawsuit.
In issuing the judgment, the court ruled that the City Council would either have to rehear the case, even without a quorum, or not enforce the permit revocation, Chief Assistant City Atty. Michael Garcia said.
The City Attorney’s Office would not issue a formal recommendation Wednesday on how to proceed until reviewing the judge’s order, which had yet to be delivered, he added.
