West Hollywood : Bar Required to Enclose Patio

Ending an eight-month dispute between neighbors and the owner of Cheers, a popular bar and restaurant, the City Council has voted to require Cheers to enclose its outdoor patio bar in answer to complaints about noise.

Cheers, 8279 Santa Monica Blvd., has been locked in the dispute since it opened two years ago and became an immediate success at a location that for years was occupied by a less popular bar and restaurant.

The neighbors said owner Chris Cox misrepresented his plans in 1986 when he obtained a permit from the city to expand an outdoor bar area, which the neighbors said never existed.

After city officials approved the expansion without conducting an inspection, the Planning Commission in February determined that even though the patio existed before, it had not been used continuously as a bar area, and it imposed new noise restrictions on the restaurant.

The enclosure plan had been agreed to “in principle” by both Cox and the neighbors before Tuesday’s council meeting, after the council in May directed city staff to mediate talks between the two parties.