EVERETT – Residents of a south Everett cul-de-sac are relieved that a neighboring business won’t be allowed to have live music or dancing, at least for now.
The Everett Board of Adjustment voted Monday to deny the business a code variance it needed to have live music and dancing.
The board, which meets on an as-needed basis to grant or deny exceptions to city zoning codes, voted 6-1 to deny the request. Only board member Ted Trapanier voted for the The Club, a proposed restaurant, minicasino and dance club that wants to open at 620 SE Everett Mall Way in a building formerly occupied by a bingo hall.
Owners of The Club may appeal to Snohomish County Superior Court, said Robert Downing of Downing Owensby, the business’s architect and designer.
City code requires businesses with live music and dancing to be at least 100 feet from residential zones. The Club is about 25 feet from the houses.
The building initially was a restaurant, and the dancing and music was to take place in a newer addition to the restaurant, which was built in the early 90’s. That addition was constructed specifically for dancing and music, with sound-control walls and a special roof, Downing said.
In 1990, the city passed a new set of codes requiring the 100-foot separation between dancing and music and houses. At the time, the restaurant owners sought an exception to the code, but a hearing examiner denied the request. However, the City Council approved it on appeal in 1994.
The restaurant and nightclub later closed, a bingo hall moved in and the property’s exception to the 100-foot city code expired.
Board of Adjustment Chairman Tim Koss said zoning is established to allow the city to thrive both economically and as a place to live.
To grant a variance, one criteria is that the change wouldn’t negatively affect property values. Koss and others worried that a nightclub adjacent to their homes would do just that.
“Having the neighbors there strongly opposed to the project weighs pretty heavily,” Koss said.
He said he drove to the site, and seeing how close it was to houses he worried about the appropriateness of a nightclub there.
“Frankly, I don’t think it was appropriate back in 1985,” he said.
The business is just north of 100th Place SE, a cul-de-sac with a dozen homes. Neighbors signed a petition and contacted City Council members for support.
Councilwoman Brenda Stonecipher also visited the site and told the neighbors she doesn’t believe the business should be allowed to have live music and dancing.
“It just looked too close to residential locations,” Stonecipher said. “I thought that it was probably a good call to … not let that go back to a nightclub.”
However, The Club owner Tony Marson has said he and his staff will do everything they can to work with neighbors, including further soundproofing.
“They will literally have their hands on the sound controls,” Marson told the board Monday, saying neighbors could call him anytime to complain.
Board members and neighbors complimented Marson on his sincerity.
However, the code exception is attached to the property, and if Marson ever closed his business, there’s no guarantee the next owners would be so willing to work with neighbors, said Richard Van Tassel, who lives in the house behind The Club.
Downing said in addition to considering an appeal, he and owner Marson are looking at the possibility of expanding the building to the north so the live music and dancing would be 100 feet away from neighbors.
Reporter Jennifer Warnick: 425-339-3429 or jwarnick@ heraldnet.com.
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