New restaurants and bars along Eagle Rock's main drag, Colorado Boulevard, have been skirting a lame rule requiring businesses to get special permission from the city if they want to stay open after 9 pm, but that loophole might be closing up. The curfew is part of the Colorado Boulevard Specific Plan, "[t]he same city ordinance that has been credited for creating a more lively Colorado Boulevard," says Eastsider LA. The ordinance, which requires businesses get permission from the Planning Department if they want to stay open "late," only applies to businesses that opened after it went into effect in 1992, but many newer businesses "have never bothered to get that permission or are simply ignoring the curfew." That was fine until recently, when someone complained about the hours at the Line 5 sports bar and city inspectors started looking into the issue.
"Things are kind of a mess.There is a patchwork of new and old businesses along Colorado. Some are violators of the municipal code who are right next door to other places who can stay open past 9 p.m. This is an unpopular code," a rep for the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council says. (Many of the most popular restaurants in Eagle Rock—like the Oinkster, which opened in 2006#8212;are young enough to need this special exemption.)
City officials are now trying to figure out the best way to solve the problem, but "there needs to be a thorough public discussion first," a rep for Councilmember Huizar says.
· Better finish your dinner and drinks before 9 p.m – It's almost curfew on Colorado Boulevard [ELA]
· Key Provisions of the Colorado Boulevard Specific Plan [TERA]
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