Aliso Beach cafÊ opening in limbo

Omissions in a permit to operate a cafĂŠ and concession stand at Aliso Beach raised a red flag for Orange County Parks officials, who called a halt to the opening in March.

The county had approved a lease for the project and the city of Laguna Beach had approved a coastal development permit, the permitting agency for the county. However, the permit did not include seating for diners or storage containers on the sand, which county officials said had to be resolved.

“I am screwed,” said lessee Michael Weiss, who had assumed the seating and storage had been approved in the lease. “It is all bad, bad news.”

Weiss said he was informed by county officials March 25 that his proposed soft opening March 27 and public opening April 1 could not go forward as planned. Since then he has been scrambling to find a way to proceed with the project without taking a financial bath.

“I have invested my life savings in this project, and they have shut us down,” Weiss said. “The county selected the year-round café from the three proposals we submitted, and the rent was based on that concept. That is a public document.

“They offered me a rent credit as reimbursement for improvements I made, but I can’t recoup the money in 10 years as a seasonal concession stand. I have no idea what to do.”

The county was the applicant for the coastal development permit for the building, which also includes public restrooms.

“We did not include the tables and chairs because they were to be put away each night so we didn’t think a permit was needed — it was no big deal,” said Mike Hentzen, of the Orange County Parks division that handles commercial projects.

South Laguna resident Penny Elia apparently thought it was a big deal and brought it to the attention of Parks Director Mark Denny.

“She had visited the site on one or two occasions and didn’t like what she saw,” Hentzen said.

Denny met with Elia and other community members at the site, and the department sounded out the California Coastal Commission’s take on the project.

“We talked to the commission and in their minds it is an intensification of use and does need a permit,” Hentzen said. “It is odd that everyone is against a commercial activity which serves the beach.”

Weiss contends that the tables and chairs in the sand area and shipping containers for their storage were in the lease agreement, but there was a caveat, Hentzen said.

“He could have the containers and beach chairs if approved by the director and they didn’t create a public nuisance and met all the provisions of required permits,” Hentzen said.

Weiss has the option of applying for an amended or new coastal development permit and has the time — he doesn’t have to be open for business until Memorial Day weekend under the terms of his lease with the county and his payments are based on a percentage of the take, according to Hentzen.

The city does not generally issue permits for commercial projects on beaches. And if approved by the city, Weiss’ project is not likely to survive an appeal to the coastal commission, based on information given to the county parks officials.

“But you don’t know until you get into the process,” Hentzen said.

Billy Fried, owner of La Vida Laguna, a kayak rental company, has been there and it still stings.

The City Council approved his application for a permit to rent kayaks at Treasure Island Beach and conduct kayak tours. The approval was appealed to the commission, which denied the permit.

“I really feel sympathy for the guy,” Fried said. “And I was really looking forward to eating there with my feet in the sand. Now we will probably have to go through another year without food at the beach.”

Weiss also has the option of confining seating to the spacious patio outside the building, but that was not his vision.

He and his partner Aaron Trapp wanted to attract year-round patrons to their Sand CafĂŠ with a tropical dĂŠcor, a well-trained staff and more than hot dogs and hamburgers on the menu.

“We really want to give the community a year-round opportunity to eat on the beach while watching the sun set,” Weiss said in the days after the Board of Supervisors approved the project.

The new location tucked against the bluff offers more space and a better view of the ocean than the old snack bar, which was near public restrooms at the base of the Aliso Pier that was damaged by storms in 1977 and demolished in 1997.

County officials decided in 2007 to tear down the dilapidated restrooms and snack bar, which had been out of operation since 2006, and rebuild them in the new location.

The estimated 810-square-foot café and concession stand was to have a tropical theme, with bamboo outdoor dining furniture under thatched umbrellas on a 770-square-foot patio. The patio is surrounded by a low wall that can also be used for seating, according to Rich Adler, manager of Orange County Parks’ real estate, which handles commercial enterprises on county parks and beaches.

A small area of the sand also was approved for the café’s use and the eating area was to include a separate space for children, furnished with picnic tables and easels to entertain them.

An enclosed area was set aside to store rental items such as skim boards, beach chairs and umbrellas, which the county required the concessionaire to provide, Adler said.

The area was not large enough or conveniently located to store the rental equipment to suit Weiss; hence the containers on the sand.

“They have been there for six months,” he said.

While waiting for their orders, adults could peruse a bamboo-framed collage on the ocean-facing wall of about 25 photographs, depicting the history of the beach. The photos were supplied by Victoria Skimboards, the Laguna Beach Historical Society and the Orange County Archives.

Food service was to begin at 10 a.m. and close an hour after sundown.

Breakfast choices included pancakes, an egg sandwich, pastries and a children’s menu.

The proposed afternoon and evening menu featured nachos, four fresh salads, steak and chicken plates, fish tacos, shrimp and a full kids’ menu to be ordered at the counter, either to “grab and go” or to be eaten outside. Prospective staff were being interviewed and trained. In all, Weiss said he had invested almost $250,000 in the project.

“Two days before we were to open, they shut us down,” Weiss said. “Now I am just looking for a way to survive.”