Hennessey fights order to remove dining deck
A sign at Rebel Republic Social House asks patrons to call elected officials regarding City-ordered removal of the restaurant’s outdoor dining deck. Photo courtesy Nils Nehrenheim
Rebel Republic owner accuses Councilman of siding with rival restaurant
Restaurateur Paul Hennessey took to the Redondo Beach City Council chambers on Tuesday, asking officials to reverse the Council’s November ruling to end the Riviera Village Dining Deck Pilot Program. During his address to the Council, he also accused Councilman Nils Nehrenheim of working with a rival restauranteur to kill the program.
Hennessey and a group of supporters asked the City Council to plan a hearing to allow the dining deck at his Rebel Republic Social House to remain, and for the City to reestablish the Dining Deck program. He said a survey that found area merchants opposed to the dining decks was flawed, and that patrons should have been surveyed instead.
“We’ve got over 1,000 signatures in support of the dining deck, far more than the city’s survey presented to the council,” Hennessey said.
Hennessey also accused Nehrenheim of working with Sophie’s Place owner Bobak Nayebdadash to kill the deck program. Sophie’s Place is a neighboring restaurant that was not identified by city staff as a potential dining deck location.
Nayebdadash, an attorney, represents Nehrenheim political allies Wayne Craig and Rescue Our Waterfront in an unrelated civil lawsuit that also names Nehrenheim and Mayor Bill Brand as defendants.
Filings in the case show Nehrenheim retained separate legal representation from Craig and ROW.
“On more than one occasion, [Nayebdadash] appeared before the council and complained about the dining deck, stating ‘he didn’t think it’s fair,’” Hennessey told the Council. “All along, he has been working with Nils to kill the program. Their business relationship should have required [Nehrenheim] to abstain and recuse himself from anything to do with businesses in the Village.”
Hennessey, and his attorney Carmen Trutanich, said they are looking into possible litigation.
When Rebel Republic opened in 2016, the establishment’s dining deck signified a potential change to the shopping district, adding legal outdoor dining – rather than the bootleg sidewalk tables that many restaurants had in place – at the cost of parking spaces.
Rebel Republic was also the only restaurant of three potential locations identified by city staff to join the program. Hennessey and his partners spent $60,000 to build the outdoor dining space to specifications required by the City.
When the dining deck came before the Council in November, Nehrenheim opposed it “due to fairness and equity.”
He and the rest of the Council approved a sidewalk dining permit program and ended the dining deck program. Rebel Republic was ordered to remove the deck by June 1.
In the months since, Nehrenheim and Hennessey met on multiple occasions to discuss the issue, without resolution.
“I worked extremely hard with the BID, with Rebel Republic and the City to make sure everyone has a great outdoor dining experience, not just a single restaurant,” Nehrenheim said. “[Hennessey] accusing me of improprieties is him trying to keep his dining deck…for him to take advantage of a lawsuit against me is an extreme stretch.”
Rebel Republic, he noted, has begun posting signs with his and Mayor Brand’s contact information, requesting customers to petition them to allow the deck.
Nehrenheim also indicated interest in a shared dining deck concept, or a “parklet” area, but said the City is working “overtime” on the sidewalk dining program. He declined to answer if a future dining deck hearing would be brought forward.
Hennessey said that he drew up plans for sharing the dining deck and that he was “[run] around in circles” by Nehrenheim. But he doesn’t plan on removing the deck.
“There’s no estimate on how much it will cost to take it out,” Hennessey said. “We’ll fight the City as long as we can.”