Los Globos, SLNC, Neighbors to Work Together on Noise, Nuisance Issues

Noise and crowds have long been an issue for the community that sits in the tiny valley below Silver Lake's famous Music Box Steps.

It isn't easy making peace with a the two-story dance and music club that has been cranking it out for decades.

Of late, a new owner, Los Feliz resident Steve Edelson, and new technologies, deep, electronic bass, has brought new pressure to the area, where parking is not easy and people live in close proximity to the club.

It's also brought new business and a new diversity of programming to the stretch, with rock, electronic and alt-Latino bookings now mixing it up with salsa and cumbia.

As previously reported here, Los Globos briefly went dark recently.

Rampart police shut it down until some issues around the club's live entertainment and dance permits were resolved.

Shows were cancelled, artists and promoters scrambled, .

But that permit will not become permanent until a hearing before the Los Angeles Police Commission.

That hearing has not yet been scheduled, though many expected the item to come before the Commission in January 2013.

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On Thursday Edelson, who also owns El Cid, and his attorneys agreed at a special meeting of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council to co-write a letter to the Police Commission asking that that hearing be delayed at least until February.

The goal was to give community members and club owners time to work together to develop strategies for dealing with parking, noise and public safety issues impacting the neighborhood around the club--ideally before that hearing.

A vote at the meeting also created a mechanism for community members, club owners and other stakeholders to do this work.

Board members in attendance voted unanimously to create an ad hoc committee charged with creating a list of "conditions" that could be attached to the club's permits. 

The hope was that those conditions will be developed by Jan. 30 with a Police Commission hearing coming no earlier than Feb. 7, 2013.

There is no guarantee that the commission will respond to the letter or any conditions recommended.

The SLNC has no formal role in the police commission's permitting process.

But a club owner's willingness to work with the community does generally enhance the change of getting the permits they need to stay in business.

Neighbors and others are skeptical but they say they don't want the club to close.

In fact on Thursday the board rebuffed a motion that would have recommended the club do so.

"We don't want to shut you down," said Nadine Trujillo, who has operated Alegria Restaurant on Sunset in Silver Lake for three decades. (She is also a SLNC board member.)

"But we have had meetings before to mitigate issues around noise and parking. You have a right to operate a business and neighbors have a right to sleep through the night."

Recently, the SLNC's Outreach Committee held a meeting at Los Globos as part of an effort to mend fences.

Edelson said he would be glad to continue meeting with the community whether or not the commission agrees to push back the hearing date.