I have been representing a restaurant in Hancock Park, Los Angeles, called The Bungalow, which is being prosecuted by the City of Los Angeles for operating with tables and chairs in violation of some crazy zoning regulation. The prosecutor has agreed to dismiss the case if the City will grant a variance so that the restaurant, which is extremely successful, employing over 30 people and paying lots of taxes to the City, can continue to operate with tables and chairs.
Unfortunately, the City keeps changing the rules on the process for obtaining the variance. The owner spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of man hours following the procedure required by the City...suddenly, with no explanation, the City changed the requirements and now the owner must pay many more thousands of dollars and expend many more hours to comply with the new requirements. Meanwhile, the City, which has agreed to numerous continuances of the criminal case in order for the owner to obtain his variance, now is insisting on going to trial, even though the owner has done everything humanly possible to comply with the requirements for obtaining a permit to operate with tables and chairs. As i said, you cannot trust Government to behave rationally. Closing this restaurant would be a disaster for everybody, including its customers. Over 3500 neighbors have signed a petition to keep the restaurant operating!
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