Clifton council denies entertainment license for La Habana 59 after hours, noise and parking concerns

The Clifton Municipal Council voted to deny an application for an entertainment license for La Habana 59, a proposed Cuban restaurant and live-music venue, after more than two hours of testimony from the applicant, his attorney and more than a dozen neighbors and business owners.

The motion before the council sought to deny the entertainment license application for the property at the former Chengdu/Shenzhou restaurant. Supporters of the application said the business would operate as a family restaurant with limited live entertainment; neighbors said the proposal would function as a nightclub and resurrect the problems long associated with a closed nearby venue known as Pub 46.

Why it matters: Council members and public speakers described repeated, long-running problems in the neighborhood—noise late at night, people loitering and urinating, spilled trash and vehicles parked in residential streets. Several speakers said those problems persisted for years while Pub 46 operated, and they argued the La Habana proposal shared the same features that produced those problems: live music until late hours, dancing and service that shifts to primarily alcohol after 11:30 p.m.

The applicant, Pedro Ordonez, said he…