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Tavern crowding checks doubled in 1999
by Robb Fulcher
The nighttime popularity of the downtown Pier Plaza promenade prompted city fire officials to more than double their enforcement of overcrowding laws in 1999.
Last year saw little change in other Hermosa Beach Fire Department calls (see accompanying chart). The department continued to respond promptly to fires and other emergencies, despite slight increases in some response times, and fire damage continued to be slight.
On the crowding front, fire officials made 481 inspections at nightclubs, restaurants and bars citywide. The bulk of the activity was prompted by complaints regarding the plaza and nearby downtown area, Fire Capt. James Crawford said on Tuesday.
"Last year we started having a lot of problems, a lot more complaints about overcrowding," Crawford said.
Formal inspection statistics were not kept for 1998 because crowding was not seen as a significant problem, Crawford said. But he said the number of inspections in 1998 was less than half that of 1999.
"When we started the [inspection] program we did all the restaurants in town, but there wasn't any real problem except for downtown, so that ended up being the focus," he said.
When fire officials receive complaints about overcrowding, they check the establishment in question and also all surrounding establishments in an effort to be fair, Crawford said.
Fire officials began last year's inspection program in a "low key" manner, directing each overcrowded establishment to simply remove a number of patrons to meet the state occupancy laws, Crawford said.
Then, when overcrowding continued, fire officials began calling on establishments to give their doormen hand-held counters to track the number of people inside, Crawford said. Meanwhile, top city officials began meeting with tavern owners to discuss the occupancy issues.
Finally fire officials began issuing citations, handing out a total of four last year, all of them to downtown establishments. ER