TITLE
Recommendation to adopt the Hearing Officer recommendations and instruct staff to deny entertainment permit application No. BU20711580, issued to JAB Entertainment, Inc., dba Sugarwalls, 1811 W. Anaheim Street. (District 1)
DISCUSSION
This matter is before the City Council to review the Hearing Officer Report of Martin J. Kotowski regarding the denial of entertainment permit application number BU20711580 for JAB Entertainment, Inc., DBA Sugarwalls, 1811 W. Anaheim Street (Attachment A).
At the direction of the City Council, an administrative hearing commenced August 23, 2007, and concluded September 17, 2007, following a lengthy history of Long Beach Municipal Code violations and un-permitted activity occurring at the business location.
Based on the evidence presented, the Hearing Officer determined the City met its burden of proof to support denial of entertainment permit application number BU20711580. Among other things, the Hearing Officer's Report concluded that:
· The permit applicant and its principals were "profoundly" involved in providing adult and non-adult entertainment without requisite permits;
· The applicant and its principals, on a regular and substantial basis, offered adult entertainment;
· The adult entertainment promoted direct physical contact with patrons of a sexual nature;
· The applicant and its principals knowingly applied for a regular non-adult entertainment permit while maintaining and facilitating adult entertainment;
· The business failed to ensure that entertainers obtain independent City of Long Beach business licenses as required by this City Council; and
· The applicant's ineffective business management, its "built-in financial disincentives" for code compliance, and the "criminal draw presented by the cash nature of its business" render any "realistic expectation" that the business will be conducted in a lawful manner "impossible."
Based on the evidence presented, the Hearing Officer recommended denying entert...
Click here for full text