Florissant City Council Debates then

Rejects Live Entertainment at Restaurants

By Carol Arnett

The Florissant City Council held its second March meeting Monday night. The meeting, like all of the recent meetings, was conducted via Zoom The next meeting in April will start at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30. The council voted to change the start time at the last meeting and all meetings going forward will start at 7. The city held one public hearing about a request to divide property at 14065 New Halls Ferry. The owner, Mary Nguyen, wants to use half the building as a restaurant and half as another business. The restaurant will occupy the back portion of the building, and the front portion will be something else.

The building is on the corner of New Halls Ferry and Lindbergh Blvd, in front of the Cross Keys Center. Nguyen said she did not have a tenant for the retail space, but she said that another family member may open a retail shop or flower shop there .No one spoke in opposition at the hearing and the council held a first reading on a bill that would approve the division.

The council spent much of the meeting discussing a bill that would amend the special use ordinance to allow for live performances and a cover change at Shade restaurant at 172-1756 N. New Florissant. They previously held a public hearing on the request.

Councilman Joe Eagan said he against nightclubs in the city and he thinks will make the business a nightclub. He said he would like them to continue as a restaurant.   Councilman Andrew Harris said that he was in favor of the change. He said that the city needs to change to allow cover charges.

Police Chief Tim Fagan said at a previous meeting that he was concerned about nightclubs that cover charge in the city. “I think this is a dangerous path for us to go down,” he said. He stressed that Shade had never had problems. He said he was speaking of nightclubs in general.

Maurice Rankin and Chris Alexander, owners of shade, spoke to the council. Rankin said that he did not understand why the city does not have a problem with the restaurant having events, but does have a problem with them charging for events. Rankin also clarified that the business is a restaurant, not a nightclub, and would remain a restaurant.  “I’m of the opinion that we should look at every applicant individually,” Councilman Robert Parsons said. “There have not been any issues at Shade.”  Harris said that Chief Fagan’s has concern that cover charges will result in larger crowds. He said that whether there is a cover charge or not, the building has a capacity of 101, including staff. He said that Shade wants to pay their entertainers, and he supports that.

Councilman Paul Manganelli referenced a nightclub fire that took place in 2003 in Rhode Island. The venue was overloaded and 100 people lost their lives. “I know that is a larger venue that Shade has.  Councilwoman Jackie Pagano said that her biggest concern was that the city would have to approve every business with a similar plan. “Once we open the door, we’re going through,” she said.  Harris pointed out that if the restaurant wanted to transfer their special use permit, the council would have to approve the transfer.

Manganelli said that he is not against Shade charging cover charges, but he doesn’t want to change the ordinance. Currently, Shade can hold events, but they must pay $100 per event to the city for inspections. Alexander said that paying $100 for two shows a week gets expensive.  Councilman Joe Eagan called for a vote. Parson and Harris voted “yes,” and other council members voted “no”.

Later in the meeting, the council voted on a bill that would amend the city code to allow “dance halls and similar businesses” in the city.  This would reduce the $100 fee per event and allow a yearly fee to cover all events. Parson and Harris voted “yes”, and other council members voted “no”

In other action, the council:

• Approved a request by Caitlin Gierer to keep chickens at her property on Park Side Estates Ct.
• Approved a request for a full package liquor licenses for Paradise Market located at 8471B N. Lindbergh.

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