By Danny Teigman
The group is also hoping to avoid the headaches the owners of Corbin & Reynolds suffered through during the approval process.
If approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals, Ocean will occupy 54 W. Park Ave., a 20 x 100-foot lot in the heart of the city's commercial district that has remained undeveloped for more than a decade.
Both the restaurant's general manager, David Pogrebin, and its attorney, Walter Belling, described the location as prime and promised an establishment that would compare favorably to Corbin & Reynolds down the block. The plan is to employ 18 to 20 people capable of serving approximately 150 customers on two floors, with a rooftop deck that would feature a 25-foot, full-service bar.
The city's code of ordinances forbids bars longer than 10 feet, and the variances granted to Corbin & Reynolds in 2003 did not include that one. When the owners built a 20-plus foot bar anyway, it held up the restaurant's opening and angered city officials. The owners eventually relented, closing down all but 10 feet of the bar.
Corbin & Reynolds was also the subject of much resistance by groups opposed to the opening of another tavern in Long Beach, no matter how upscale. The Long Beach Board of Education even sent a letter to the zoning board demanding that the restaurant not be permitted to open.
At the Sept. 21 public hearing, however, most of the questions about Ocean focused on upkeep and parking. Hoping to get out in front of the issue, Pogrebin tried to distance Ocean from the city's collection of beach bars, stating that it would be upscale, and would close early. "It's certainly not like a woo-hoo kind of place," he said, deadpan, adding that Coors Light would not be available. "It's really about the seafood and ambiance."
Corey Klein, counsel to the zoning board, took issue with the credibility of Ettie Properties LLC, the development company. Klein listed other residential properties owned by Ettie that, he said, failed to meet minimum standards of upkeep. "The applicant can't maintain the grass and weeds in a residential area," Klein said. "I'm deeply concerned. That doesn't set a very good precedent."
Belling responded that he was only aware of one property, 230 W. Pine St., that was in need of blacktop resurfacing. He promised, however, to investigate the matter further. "If you spend a million bucks on something like this, you're inclined to maintain it," he said.
After going back and forth with Klein, the applicant's traffic expert, Wayne Muller, reported that based on a survey performed July 21 to 23, the on-street public parking was more than sufficient in the National to Edwards Boulevard section of West Park Avenue, and the legal requirement of 67 off-street parking spaces could be set aside. But this, too, was met with skepticism from some neighborhood merchants, who said they were concerned about losing business.
"I can tell you unequivocally, the main problem on West Park Avenue and the central business district is parking," said Stuart Davis, whose family has owned Echo stationers for 50 years. "We just can't afford to add any more demand."
The meeting lacked any of the controversy that Corbin & Reynolds faced. No one mentioned alcohol, and Board of Education trustees were not in attendance.
Kathleen Slattery, president of the West End Neighbors Civic Association, said her group's opposition to new bars in Long Beach extended to the center of town. "The West End Neighbors' position is we are against any more bars -- this town has too many," she said. "On the one hand, the city puts in new regulations designed to decrease kids' drinking. On the other hand, they keep allowing new bars to open."
Beyond Belling's, the lone voice of support for the project came from Nevada Street resident Brent Porges, who said he and his friends have money to burn and hoped to spend it in Long Beach and not in Manhattan. "In the last couple years I've really seen this city turn around," said the 28-year-old, explaining that he owns an investment banking firm. "I think that restaurants like this are more of what we need in this town."
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