clownpuncher
06-03-2004, 06:01 PM
As many of you know, I own a restaurant which I work most days that I'm not at the fire station. In the first 2 1/2 years we've been open, we've had success way beyond any expectations, especially for a restaurant. We're open from 11:30 Am until 2 AM, everyday but Christmas.
Our place is located on the "Rodeo Drive" of Palm Desert. It's a busy street in the retail district. Some condos are near, about 500 feet away. Residents of these condos are mostly retirees folks who moved to this district for the convenience/proximity of the shopping, restaurants etc.
The majority of our clientele consists of tourists and locals during the day, and locals at night. Our locals include, off duty fire and police personnel, restaurant owners, media folk, bartenders and servers from other restaurants etc. A pretty professional crowd.
During the past few months, we've had some unhappy neighbors complaing to the city about "that fireman's restaurant". The majority of the complaints were.......
1 - The residents hear too many cars driving by ( no kidding, you live on Main Street)
2 - They also hear our dishwasher dumping the trash into our dumpster at night. (OK, we'll have the morning guy do it instead)
3 - They hear people laughing ( those BASTARDS, having FUN)
4 - They didn't like the "element" hangin out in their neighborhood. Remember this part, I'll refer to it later
These along with a few other BS complaints.
There were about three residents that tried to get us to close at 11:00 PM. Rediculous. But, the City had to act since they got so many complaints, although it was only from three or four unhappy residents. We were in fact threatened with having to close our doors. If any of you have any experience with local govt politics, you know where this could go.
On Tuesday, June 1st, we had a public hearing with the city officials at City Hall.
I was the first to speak in front of the large crowd that gathered, most of whom were supporters of RFG.
I explained to the City that 45% of our total sales volume is after 10:00 PM. Making us close at ten, instead of 2 AM, will ultimatley force us to relocate to another city.
After talking to the board, it was open forum for anyone wishing to speak, for or against RFG.
Making this long story short, one of the opponents commented of the "element" factor. That's when a good friend of mine, and prosecutor for the D.A's office stood up and defended the "element". Might have had something to do with the fact that this highly respected prosecutor was the "element" according to the resident. He promptly introduced himself to the board, saying what he did for a living, and the fact that it's his job to put the "element" into jail for murder and gang banging. He doesn't socialize with the "element", but, he does hang out at RFG on a regular basis. After my buddy got up it was like the flood gates opened. People from the media, FD and PD personnel, restaurant owners, respected professional men and women of all walks of life, teachers etc, spoke on behalf of RFG and why they like it there.
Well, the three (3) residents that showed up to fight us, put there head down as the City voted 5-0 to let RFG stay open until 2 AM. In fact, they've heard about us before and look forward to coming in and having some fun with us.
This event was covered by the media too, and was aired several times throughout thte night and next day.
To the residents opposing us.......................Thanks for making this a huge issue. Huge enough to get the media invloved = Free advertising. We got lot's of coverage, and this woulda cost us tens of thousands of dollars for this primetime exposure on every network news station in the valley. Now we're even busier :D
To everyone else, especially those that may be battling the local govt, hang in there. The little guy can and does win, we're living proof.
This is not intended as SPAM, it's merely a story about a victory for the little people, RFG.
ROC
Our place is located on the "Rodeo Drive" of Palm Desert. It's a busy street in the retail district. Some condos are near, about 500 feet away. Residents of these condos are mostly retirees folks who moved to this district for the convenience/proximity of the shopping, restaurants etc.
The majority of our clientele consists of tourists and locals during the day, and locals at night. Our locals include, off duty fire and police personnel, restaurant owners, media folk, bartenders and servers from other restaurants etc. A pretty professional crowd.
During the past few months, we've had some unhappy neighbors complaing to the city about "that fireman's restaurant". The majority of the complaints were.......
1 - The residents hear too many cars driving by ( no kidding, you live on Main Street)
2 - They also hear our dishwasher dumping the trash into our dumpster at night. (OK, we'll have the morning guy do it instead)
3 - They hear people laughing ( those BASTARDS, having FUN)
4 - They didn't like the "element" hangin out in their neighborhood. Remember this part, I'll refer to it later
These along with a few other BS complaints.
There were about three residents that tried to get us to close at 11:00 PM. Rediculous. But, the City had to act since they got so many complaints, although it was only from three or four unhappy residents. We were in fact threatened with having to close our doors. If any of you have any experience with local govt politics, you know where this could go.
On Tuesday, June 1st, we had a public hearing with the city officials at City Hall.
I was the first to speak in front of the large crowd that gathered, most of whom were supporters of RFG.
I explained to the City that 45% of our total sales volume is after 10:00 PM. Making us close at ten, instead of 2 AM, will ultimatley force us to relocate to another city.
After talking to the board, it was open forum for anyone wishing to speak, for or against RFG.
Making this long story short, one of the opponents commented of the "element" factor. That's when a good friend of mine, and prosecutor for the D.A's office stood up and defended the "element". Might have had something to do with the fact that this highly respected prosecutor was the "element" according to the resident. He promptly introduced himself to the board, saying what he did for a living, and the fact that it's his job to put the "element" into jail for murder and gang banging. He doesn't socialize with the "element", but, he does hang out at RFG on a regular basis. After my buddy got up it was like the flood gates opened. People from the media, FD and PD personnel, restaurant owners, respected professional men and women of all walks of life, teachers etc, spoke on behalf of RFG and why they like it there.
Well, the three (3) residents that showed up to fight us, put there head down as the City voted 5-0 to let RFG stay open until 2 AM. In fact, they've heard about us before and look forward to coming in and having some fun with us.
This event was covered by the media too, and was aired several times throughout thte night and next day.
To the residents opposing us.......................Thanks for making this a huge issue. Huge enough to get the media invloved = Free advertising. We got lot's of coverage, and this woulda cost us tens of thousands of dollars for this primetime exposure on every network news station in the valley. Now we're even busier :D
To everyone else, especially those that may be battling the local govt, hang in there. The little guy can and does win, we're living proof.
This is not intended as SPAM, it's merely a story about a victory for the little people, RFG.
ROC