Royal Rumble Over Royal Hawaiian's Live Music Permit

Representatives from the will once again go before the city's planning commission tonight to defend their conditional use permit, which allows the restaurant—one of the oldest in Laguna Beach—to book weekly live music from Thursday through Sunday.

General Manager Colleen Oyler tells Laguna Beach Patch that the restaurant used to have live music until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays up until about a year and a half ago, but noise complaints from neighbors forced the venue to scale back the hours for amplified tunes on those two nights.

"We have to end at 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays now," Oyler says. "That's two hours of revenue that we lose. And what typically happens now is that when the music ends at 11, everyone rushes out the door to go downtown, where they can still see live music. It's affected our sales tremendously—we've lost a minimum of $2,000-$3,000 a night."

Tonight's meeting will revolve around whether Royal Hawaiian—which has been at the same location at 331 N. Coast Hwy. since 1947—will be allowed to keep the current permit.

"The commission hasn't given us final approval to keep music till 11," says Oyler. "They could rescind the entire permit. But we're going to ask for an extension to be able to keep music until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays."

At a similar permit hearing last September, representatives from a nearby apartment complex addressed the planning commission and presented two letters of complaint they said they received from their tenants. There were also complaints of loud glass beer bottles being emptied out the back of the restaurant after 1 a.m. and music being played beyond the 11 p.m. curfew, allegations which the Royal Hawaiian denied.

“I think the city is beginning to tighten up the laws with entertainment in general,” Oyler says. “ went through a similar thing, and I think now they're tightening up even more.”

Oyler is hoping for a strong turnout from supporters at tonight’s meeting, and she's not above offering an incentive, like free food back at the restaurant afterwards. They've also put together this Help Save Royal Hawaiian's Live Music Facebook page.

"The commission really seems to listen to the local residents," says Oyler. "And we're really established in the community. We've had people who've celebrated their 60th anniversary here. We had one couple who flew in from Dallas to celebrate their wedding, they got engaged here. Generations of Laguna Beach High grads come here, and that's what we want, but the restrictions have made it really hard to do business."