Pressure Cooker

Westport United's stand has hardened since early October. Then, the group's president, Jim Grow, as well as Castaner and others, was willing to live with the club if it had only a 1:30 a.m. liquor license. But at the group's November 5 meeting, Grow says, "We voted that XO has to go. We don't want any bar in the neighborhood."

The group has sought advice from Legal Aid attorney Jeff Williams. (Legal Aid's Neighborhood Attorney Project has a contract with the city's Neighborhood and Community Service Department.) XO's management, after first ignoring complaints from Grow and other residents, increased security and cleaned up trash around the club and continues to do so. And XO managing partner Stuart Salomon has the support of the Westport Merchants Association, particularly longtime Westport businessman Bill Nigro, part owner of The Beaumont Club and Torre's Pizzeria. Salomon was unavailable to comment for this article.

At an October 11 meeting at Westport Presbyterian Church, exchanges between Grow and Nigro took on trademarks of a personal feud. Nigro claimed to have held a noise meter in front of Grow's house on Wyandotte and found that "the noise levels were pretty minor." Grow called Nigro's claim incredible and wondered whether Nigro was behind the untrue rumors that Grow was a felon. Nigro accused Grow of "leading a crusade" and trying to prevent the American Ingredients Company from renewing XO's parking lease. If XO fails to regain or replace those parking spots, the club could lose its 3 a.m. license, says Eldon Audsley, the city's director of regulated industries. Or it might have to downsize. "City codes tie square footage to available parking," Audsley says.

American Ingredients officials would not say whether the lease would be renewed or whether XO was negotiating for its renewal. But on September 5, the company's vice president of finance and administration, Joel Krichiver, wrote to Salomon: "As you should be aware, there have been a variety of incidences resulting in damage to our property from patrons of your club this year. We also find drug-related containers in our parking lot many mornings, evidence of drug-related activities.... As responsible property owners we are concerned for the safety and preservation of our property as well as our reputation as a good neighbor in this community. This situation simply cannot continue. Therefore, we must inform you that it is our intention not to renew the Parking Lot Use Agreement we have with you and which expires December 31, 2000." The company had received information about complaints concerning XO from Westport Neighbors United.

But the police don't think XO is a haven of drug use. "The club is not the problem," says Ell's operations sergeant, Rebecca Fleming. "It's the things that happen outside the club. These issues affect every club; same in Westport as everywhere else. It's a matter of dealing with the issues inherent with people doing drugs and drinking. I don't think anybody sees XO as 'that's the place (to get drugs).'"

She believes the biggest reason American Ingredients wanted to end the parking lease was fear of being sued if an injury or death occurred on its property.

By all accounts, Audsley wants a resolution. "We can broker an agreement," he said at the October 11 meeting -- and then warned, "If revocation occurs, it can permanently bar an owner from holding a (liquor) license again."

Audsley gives the impression that he doesn't want the XO issue to go that far. But he also sticks to the city code. "We take complaints very seriously," he said at the church meeting. "The first obligation is to be fair. We've been videotaping (near XO) and have seen a variety of events. When push comes to shove, the neighborhood is going to win every time."

Audsley says he hasn't received any "outside political pressure" concerning XO's 3 a.m. license. One source predicts XO will solve its parking shortage by "double dipping" -- the alleged Westport practice in which multiple businesses claim the same parking spots to meet city codes. Audsley says his department will continue "field surveillance" for the remainder of the month. "Then in December we'll sit down with the license holder, the owner, and neighborhood folks and see if we can come to an agreement. XO is a December priority project."

Without a serious reevaluation of the impact of 3 a.m. clubs in Westport, and if the underage crowds return, some businesses may find that their priority could become simply staying in business. City officials and business owners who claim to be urban revivalists have to remind themselves that despite the rejuvenation that can come from diversity, nobody wins if businesses drive homeowners from a community. Nor does the mayor's office have legitimacy if it bemoans the harmful effects of drunk driving without examining the impact of more than 100 clubs with 3 a.m. licenses in Kansas City, Missouri.

As I wrote in September ("Move the Clubs," September 21), the city should offer up some tax breaks to local businessmen and send the large, 3 a.m. Westport clubs downtown, where the entertainment district should be and where the traffic won't kill a taxi driver's desire for a fare.