Opponent of Longer Restaurant Hours Speaks Up

Editor:

Please consider the impact on the public should the Rock ‘n Fish Restaurant’s owners’ requests for the following be approved by the City Council:

1. To extend the hours of live entertainment and dancing Sunday through Wednesday, from 12 a.m. until 1 a.m.; Thursday through Saturday from 12 a.m. until 1:30 a.m.;

2. To extend the service of food and alcohol from 12 a.m. until 1 a.m. Sunday through Wednesday, and 12 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Thursday through Saturday;

3. Eliminate the requirement to close all windows adjacent to the dance floor and entertainment area when amplified music occurs onsite at 422 S. Coast Highway, Rock ‘n Fish Restaurant.

Although the increase in hours of operation are beneficial to the profits enjoyed by Rock ‘n Fish, public safety and comfort will be impacted upon if the Planning Commission gives its approval to this request. Alcohol consumption for additional hours usually entails drinking to excess, and leaving the premises in an inebriated state. This affects the behavior of those walking to their cars, or walking around the city…rowdy behavior, vulgar and profane language, fights, garbage left in the streets, shouts and loud, raucous laughter.

The extension of that time for live entertainment, and amplified music, with windows left opened adjacent to the dance floor and entertainment area, shows the owners’ callous disregard for the effect this noise will have on citizens who must get up for work the next morning, whose nighttime of solitude has been disrupted. What about the concern for children who must get up early, after a good night’s sleep, for school?

I am certain that if the owners of Rock ‘n Fish lived in the vicinity of their restaurant, they might reconsider their greediness, and think about the public’s welfare.

Jahn M. Levitt