Woody’s Wharf wins OK for more dancing, patio use
Patrons of Woody’s Wharf can boogie more nights, to the dismay of many neighbors of the Balboa Peninsula restaurant, including the developer of an adjacent mixed-use project.
The Newport Beach City Council voted 4 to 3 on Tuesday night to approve Woody’s Wharf’s request to amend its conditional use permit to allow dancing inside the restaurant on Thursday nights and up to 12 additional nights per year. Also, closing time for the outdoor dining area was extended from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. on those nights.
Woody’s already was allowed to have dancing indoors on Fridays and Saturdays and use the patio until 2 a.m. those nights.
The council also allowed Woody’s to open a half-hour earlier each day and enable customers to use the adjacent boat dock ramp to eat, drink and smoke until 8:30 p.m.
Nearby residents and property developer NPB Marina LLC, which is building a mixed-use project next to the restaurant, were upset with the decision.
“This is ludicrous, it’s irresponsible and it shows Woody’s complete indifference to the area’s problems,” said Kent Stoddard, who lives at the 28th Street Marina condominium complex. “This use permit amendment will allow Woody’s to use its 709-square-foot patio until 2 a.m. on 64 additional nights per year so it can pack in more people and serve more alcohol. It’s just that simple. This will result in more public drunkenness, public urination, drunk driving, fights, thefts, litter and noise.”
Mayor Pro Tem Diane Dixon and council members Keith Curry and Tony Petros dissented in the council vote.
Dixon, who represents the peninsula area, said most of the support for the extended hours came from people outside the city and that local residents opposed the changes.
“I’m really listening to the residents,” she said. “Who needs to dance until 2 a.m. on a Thursday night?”
Dixon added that it shouldn’t be the responsibility of residents to call code enforcement officers about possible noise violations at Woody’s.
“I would like to see Woody’s ... voluntarily participate in a city-sponsored noise study that would be done quarterly, for at least the first year, possibly two years, just to be sure that we’re all on track and that the burden is not placed on the residents to call the code enforcement or the police at 1:30 a.m. to say that noise levels are excessive.”
Roger Diamond, an attorney representing Woody’s Wharf, said a noise study conducted by the city determined that the restaurant was not creating problems. He said the establishment is not immune to the city’s noise ordinance and that it would have to follow the law like every other business.
“We’re not asking for any exemptions,” he said.
Gary McKitterick, an attorney for NPB Marina, said his client conduct its own study in September and reported that noise levels were 8 to 15 decibels over the city’s noise standards.
Newport Beach and Woody’s Wharf went to court in 2013 after the City Council denied permits for dancing and extended patio hours, overturning the Planning Commission’s approval.
The issue was heard in Orange County Superior Court and by a three-judge panel of California’s 4th District Court of Appeal, which reversed a decision by the lower court and allowed Woody’s patrons to dance.