Wheels still spinning on Club Vegas

Lolita Harper

The nightclub named after sin city is finding that the devil is in

the details.

Club Vegas, the upscale dance club that was expected by most to be

shot down at the gates, but won a surprising approval from the

Planning Commission in November, is having trouble getting specific

building plans approved by city staffers, who have historically been

against the project.

Recent meetings between nightclub owner James Raven and Costa Mesa

Fire Marshal Tom MacDuff have hit a stalemate, Planning Commissioner

Bill Perkins said. The two men disagree on proposed plans, and it is

MacDuff who must sign off on the project before it can begin.

Club Vegas, owned by nightlife guru Raven, was scheduled to begin

construction last month in the basement level of 1901 Newport --

formerly known as Pacific Savings Plaza. The upscale club, which

would be about 11,000 square feet, is designed to entertain about 800

persons from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Friday and from 11 a.m.

to 2 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. It will cater to an older crowd,

between 25 and 40, and will not play hip hop music.

Raven was not available for comment Wednesday.

MacDuff said the biggest problem is that the basement level was

built to house offices and storage, not a martini bar, wine bar,

dance floor and lounges. Because of the vast difference in proposed

use, there is an inadequate number of exits for a nightclub, he said.

Club Vegas is designed to hold in excess of 600 people, MacDuff

said, and any use with a capacity of more than 500 requires three

exits; more than 1,000 requires four.

With the recent night club stampedes in Chicago and Rhode Island,

in which 21 and 97 people were killed, respectively, MacDuff is not

taking the evacuation issue lightly.

“We are very careful with that type of use when there are that

many people,” MacDuff said.

Perkins argues the conflict is less about safety than a negative

attitude toward night clubs in general. Club Vegas has been approved

by the appropriate governing body, and Perkins said he is frustrated

that city staffers are throwing up such road blocks.

“Show me where clubs are outlawed in the city codes,” he said.

The planning department opposed two design concepts for a club at

the corner of 19th Street and Newport Boulevard because of a lack of

parking and probable noise at all hours of the night for the

neighboring homes, citing numerous resident complaints about the

other popular bars in the city.

Planning Commissioners ignored planners’ recommendation in a 4-1

vote -- with former Commissioner Eleanor Egan dissenting -- saying

the noise and parking problems were allayed in the revised proposal.

Planning Commission Chairwoman Katrina Foley called the club a viable

addition to what officials hope to cultivate as a “downtown

entertainment district.”

Councilman Gary Monahan shares the Planning Commission’s zeal for

additional night life downtown and said he shares Perkins’s

frustration that progress on Club Vegas has been stalled.

“Look, the Planning Commission approved the use, and there have

been several design alternatives put forth to the building department

and fire safety,” Monahan said. “I can’t imagine why some sort of

alternative can’t work.”

MacDuff said the issue could easily be resolved.

“Another exit can be provided, but I’d say that’s where it stands

right now,” MacDuff said.

* LOLITA HARPER writes columns on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays

and covers culture and the arts. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275

or by e-mail at [email protected].