The Church on York event space (in an actual church building!) is trying to become a permanent, permitted performance/art/community space, applying for food and alcohol permits that would give it "full designation as a restaurant/bar," reports the LA Times, but of course there are a few very vocal neighbors who don't like that one bit. The Church's expansion has the support of the Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council and (miraculously) the LAPD, plus plenty of the businesses on York, but there are always grumps: In this case, the nabes are grousing not about noise, but about the traffic (foot and car) that regular music events would bring to the 'hood, which one resident said is already pushed "to the brink" by the nearby bars and restaurants. Oh yeah, they're also worried about probable "drunkenness."
Being that there are several full-on bars on York, it seems strange to preemptively nail this place for getting people drunk. Stranger still is that none of the people who spoke actually cited problems with the venue itself, which has been open for about five months and hosting shows and programs that whole time. If this debauchery and gridlock that everyone's worried about were going to happen, it likely would have already, right? The zoning administrator at the meeting said he didn't have "serious objections to the concept", but we'll see what the city officially thinks. The preliminary hearing has taken place; a decision should come back in about two weeks.
· Residents clash over proposed expansion of the Church on York [LAT]
· 1913 Highland Park Church Transforms Into All-Ages Arts Space [Curbed LA]
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