DATE: Monday, August 25, 1997               TAG: 9708250076

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   98 lines

NORFOLK MAY GET TOUGH ON CLUBS COUNCIL MAY REQUIRE REVIEWS OF LOCATIONS, SPECIAL PERMITS FOR NEW EATERIES, GO-GO BARS

Almost overnight, it seemed to East Ocean View residents, a familiar family restaurant called Pete's Diner changed into Candy's Go-Go Girls exotic dancing bar.

And with it came congestion, noise, undesirable customers, litter and crime, residents recall.

Like Candy's, since razed, numerous business locations in Norfolk began innocently enough as a family place but later evolved into a honky-tonk or girlie bar - without needing city approval.

Those days could be coming to a close, to the applause of civic activists but to the consternation of some in the city's business community.

After years of dealing with such neighborhood conflicts, the City Council on Tuesday may toughen its oversight over where restaurants can locate and what kind of entertainment they can offer.

The change could have a broad impact.

It would affect residents concerned about unwanted businesses opening in their back yards as well as business owners who could find some locations off-limits or face restrictions on the type of establishment they can open.

Under the regulations, recommended by the Planning Commission, a restaurant with an ABC permit would be unable to change into a go-go bar, for example, without first undergoing a city review and obtaining a special-use permit.

The new rules would place restaurants into three categories: those that serve food but not alcohol, those with both food and spirits, and those providing entertainment.

Under the city's definition, entertainment includes, but is not limited to, live bands with more than one instrument, amplified music, dancing, go-go dancing and stage performances. Existing businesses that now offer entertainment would be ``grandfathered,'' meaning they would be allowed to continue their operations under current regulations; all others would be subject to review and a permit.

The council could vote on the proposed regulations Tuesday after fielding public comments.

City officials say the proposal, shaped with input from local club and restaurant owners, aims to make everybody a winner.

``You preserve neighborhoods and you maximize opportunities for businesses to be in locations that work,'' said Ernest Freeman, Norfolk's director of planning and codes administration. ``And the city doesn't have to spend a lot of money on code enforcement, on police calls and on other responses when you have uses that are not compatible.''

The move makes good on pledges by Norfolk officials to be more responsive to neighborhood concerns.

``We're not anti-alcohol, and we're not against the establishments,'' said Jim Janata, an East Ocean View civic leader. ``What we're saying is that there are some localities that are inappropriate for certain businesses.''

But many business operators worry that the city is adding a layer of unnecessary regulations. Instead of burdening an entire industry with more rules, they say, the city should focus on individual businesses that cause problems.

``It is not fatal to the operation of those facilities, but it certainly provides a more rigorous regulation,'' said Norfolk attorney Vincent J. Mastracco, who represented some business operators that succeeded in softening the final recommendations.

Even so, some restaurateurs worry that the change could scare off new businesses unwilling to go through months of review and also prevent existing ones from expanding.

In addition, with city revitalization plans focused on downtown, the proposal feeds resentment that downtown businesses will gain an edge over neighborhood-based competition, some say.

Many businessmen are still burning months after learning that the city provided $300,000 to the Waterside festival marketplace to renovate space for a Hooters restaurant, said Joe Haskell, who owns Bobbywood Restaurant and Paddy's Irish Pub, both located in the Wards Corner section.

``Little guys like me and the neighborhood taverns and restaurants will be reviewed a lot closer than other people,'' Haskell said. ``They're not shutting the door on them, but they're creating more hurdles.''

Haskell applauded the city's effort to involve the industry in shaping the rules, but he said many business people remain unhappy.

On the eve of a possible vote on the proposal, some council members wonder about the impact.

``We are growing and are no longer a small-time city,'' said Vice Mayor Herbert M. Collins Sr. ``With the MacArthur Center mall coming, we don't want people to say there's nothing to do in this town after dark. We have a lot of tourists and visitors coming who want entertainment, and we're going to have to step up to the plate to provide it.''

Councilman W. Randy Wright said some civic activists feel the city didn't go far enough to solve the problem. He said the plan represents a compromise that he can support.

``What we tried to do was to find a happy medium between what neighborhoods wanted and what the restaurant owners could accept,'' he said.

He said city planners who recommended the proposal made concessions to the industry; earlier versions of the plan would have restricted such things as the number of televisions or video games an establishment could install.

Wright also noted that businesses could gain another way. In the past, civic leagues opposed ABC permits even for family restaurants based on concerns of what it might become later. With the new rules in place, residents would be assured that that wouldn't happen without a public review process.

``It's a win-win situation for everybody,'' Wright said. KEYWORDS: NORFOLK PLANNING COMMISSION NORFOLK CITY COUNCIL

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu