Westminster planning panel approves alcohol upgrade and live-entertainment permit for Brookhurst restaurant

The Westminster Planning Commission on Aug. 6 approved a conditional use permit to allow an existing restaurant at 15351 Brookhurst Street to upgrade its on-site alcohol license from type 41 (beer and wine) to type 47 (general — beer, wine and distilled spirits) and to offer live entertainment at occasional banquets.

Staff recommended approval after reviewing zoning, parking, and police information. "Staff recommends that the planning commission approve the planning case number 2025-0048 subject to recommended conditions of approval in the draft resolution," said the project planner, identified in the record as Associate Planner Steph.

The restaurant, occupying Units 101 through 107 of Brookhurst Square Shopping Center, was presented as an existing operation established in 1993. According to the staff presentation, the building is 7,880 square feet, contains about 299 dining seats and a roughly 120-square-foot stage/dance area (about 8% of the restaurant floor area). Staff reported approximately 146 on-site parking spaces serving the center. Westminster Police Department told staff it had no calls for service at the site in the previous 12 months and did not oppose the alcohol upgrade or proposed entertainment.

Trung Vu, an Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) licensing consultant speaking as authorized agent for White Palace Inc., told commissioners the owners expect on average six or seven large banquets per year and smaller private parties three to five times weekly, and that the business is prepared to meet the 46 conditions attached to the CUP. "We are confident that we can meet all 46 points imposed by the CUP," Vu said.

Commissioners asked about noise, parking and neighbor impacts. Staff noted the property is buffered by adjacent commercial and medical buildings, and that the city’s noise ordinance and ABC requirements would apply. The record shows the applicant is required under ABC process to notify residential units within 500 feet; staff said no protests were received as part of that process.

A public commenter who identified himself as familiar with ABC restrictions urged the commission to clarify several conditions, including training and record-keeping for alcohol servers and the requirement that entertainment not be audible beyond the licensed area. Commissioners asked staff to consider suggested edits; one commissioner explicitly asked staff to incorporate any relevant information raised at the hearing into final conditions.

Chair Hamadi moved to approve the resolution; Commissioner Anderson seconded. The motion passed 5-0. Staff read the standard appeals language: the commission’s decision becomes effective 15 days after the decision date and may be appealed to city council in writing within that period.

The approval allows live entertainment only as described in the CUP and binds the restaurant to the resolution’s conditions and to the city municipal code and ABC regulations. The commission recorded no separate enforcement action; appeals and enforcement would follow existing municipal and ABC processes.