Jefferson Parish Council torpedoes nightclub

A proposed daiquiri-serving nightclub that would offer rock music cover bands on North Causeway Boulevard in Metairie got batted down by the Jefferson Parish Council on Wednesday. The case was unusual in that parish planners determined the plans for the club, called The Blue Monkey, satisfied all the relevant ordinances, and the Jefferson Parish Planning Advisory Board endorsed it....

A proposed daiquiri-serving nightclub that would offer rock music cover bands on North Causeway Boulevard in Metairie got batted down by the Jefferson Parish Council on Wednesday.

Jefferson Parish Councilwoman Cynthia Lee-Sheng

The case was unusual in that parish planners determined the plans for the club, called The Blue Monkey, satisfied all the relevant ordinances, and the Jefferson Parish Planning Advisory Board endorsed it. The type of business-based zoning at the Causeway and 22nd Street location, however, requires the extra step of Parish Council approval for nightclubs.

Hearing objections from neighbors, the council exercised its option to pass judgment and rejected the club. Councilwoman Cynthia Lee-Sheng, the district representative in the area, said she agreed with concerns from other businesses that it was the wrong fit for neighborhood.

"We do not believe it's an appropriate use, inconsistent with the overall business climate in that area," Jim Hudson, president of Omni Bank, told the council. The bank's headquarters sits next to the site.

"It is the wrong direction for that particular neighborhood," said Pat LeBlanc, an Omni board member and lawyer with an office nearby. "This is an expansion in the wrong direction."

The club's owner, Brian Brothers, and his lawyer, Marc Michaud, however, argued the parish system allowing the council to torpedo such projects on a case-by-case basis resulted in an arbitrary and unfair decision.

"When there are no criteria, then that violates the individual's equal protection rights," said Michaud, referring to the council's ability to factor any information it chooses into approving or denying nightclubs. Under some types of zoning in other locations, the parish automatically grants approval when projects meet all the standards in the codes.

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"Brian didn't ask for a variance or exception," Michaud said. "He agreed to several of the stipulations. It appears that from the get-go this was not about anything to do with established ordinances."

Issues from Fat City, on the other side of Lakeside Shopping Center, also touched The Blue Monkey.

A proposed ordinance that attempts to reinvent the former nightclub district includes restrictions on the operating hours of bars.

Parish planners suggested to Parish Council members they might consider those potential

Jefferson Parish Planning Director Ed Durabb

 bar closing times in their decision on The Blue Monkey, perhaps also restricting its hours, even though it is not located in Fat City. Planning Director Ed Durabb said earlier closing times in Fat City could mean more traffic from people leaving bars there and moving to the new club.

Brothers and Michaud argue the parish is applying standards from an ordinance that is not yet law and covers a district outside where The Blue Monkey would operate. Parish officials argue the status of Fat City is one of the many issues the council can weigh in this kind of case.

Brothers also said he found it unfair that other nearby bars operate around the clock under the same zoning scheme. Parish officials said those bars are only allowed because they existed before the current zoning, which prohibits new bars altogether and only allows nightclubs, which must provide live music, with the special council approval.

Michaud and Brothers said they likely will sue the parish over the rejection.