Montrose now faces court battle

CITY HALL — The City Council voted Tuesday to uphold an earlier planning decision to revoke the zoning exception that has allowed a controversial banquet hall in Montrose to operate, setting the stage for a lengthy court battle.

The City Council voted 3 to 0 Tuesday to direct the city attorney to draft a resolution that would uphold a Planning Commission decision in March to revoke the zoning use certificate for Montrose Collection and Banquet Hall on Honolulu Avenue, contending there was insufficient parking for use as a banquet hall.

Mayor Frank Quintero was absent, and Councilman Ara Najarian recused himself because he previously had an attorney-client relationship with the restaurant’s owner.

The decision, which is expected to be made final Oct. 13, would require the restaurant to return to its size prior to a 2006 expansion by building a new wall and applying for new operating permits since banquet halls are not allowed in the area, city officials said.

“The city’s intent is not to shut down the business,” said city case planner Milca Toledo. “Simply, they need to comply with, in this case, the zoning code.”

Attorney Derek Tabone, who represents owners Armen and Takui Aivazian, said his clients planned to challenge the decision in court.

“I find it interesting that the City Council didn’t even discuss among themselves whether the points we presented had merit,” he said Wednesday.

It would not be the dispute’s first time in court.

In the past three years, the conflict between the restaurant and the city has bounced from the zoning administrator up to the City Council to the Planning Commission and in and out of Los Angeles Superior Court.

The Aivazians even filed a slander lawsuit against neighbors who complained publicly over the impacts of the banquet hall; it was eventually dismissed.

In March 2006, the city revoked the restaurant’s parking reduction permit, which allowed it to operate without the required number of parking spaces.

Soon after, the city’s zoning administrator revoked the more broad zoning use certificate — a decision which was upheld by the Planning Commission in June.

Tabone argued that the establishment doesn’t need to provide additional parking because it should be “grand-fathered” in from the previous parking requirements, but city officials have countered that the Aivazians lost their rights when they expanded the restaurant.

“Once you expand a use, as in expand the square footage of the use, you lose your grand-fathering rights, and at that moment the expansion is subject to the requirements of the zoning code per the new code,” Planning Director Hassan Haghani said.

The City Council on Tuesday remained reserved during the hearing, voting swiftly after the testimony to uphold the Planning Commission’s decision.

“I have not heard anything that convinces me to overturn the decision of the Planning Commission,” Councilwoman Laura Friedman said.