The Hermosa Beach City Council Tuesday night unanimously denied an appeal from Peter Mangurian, owner of Scotty’s restaurant, to change his conditional use permit to allow the sale of liquor, a 24-hour takeout window, patio seating and live entertainment to his establishment.

Mangurian brought the issue before the City Council after the Hermosa Beach Planning Commission April 16 unanimously denied his request. In 1985, the council approved, on appeal, a CUP change to allow the sale of beer and wine in the establishment.

In 1993, the City Council, on appeal, approved another CUP change to allow the sale of liquor, live entertainment and 24-hour operation hours. Mangurian never followed through with the change and the approval has since expired.

Community Development Director Sol Blumenfeld suggested the council deny the request based on the many concerns residents and the five commissioners have voiced in recent months.

“It’s important to note that it would be very difficult to attenuate noise and this was a concern of the Planning Commission,” he said. “Because of the nature of the building, it becomes very difficult to deal with the noise issue in respect to this particular building.”

Local architect Patrick Killen, who attended the meeting to represent Mangurian, said the sale of liquor would be used for restaurant patrons only. Killen also said Mangurian, who lives in the area, hopes to maintain a level of noise suitable for residents living in the area.

“Peter has done more than most other owners and the city has granted these changes to other owners in the past, who say they cannot compete with other businesses,” said Killen. “I believe Peter’s intent is to keep an unobtrusive eating establishment and to have a small bar to be able to serve alcohol to his patrons.”

Councilman Sam Edgerton thought Mangurian’s attempts to change his CUP seemed somewhat halfhearted.

“This is a very bizarre thing and I think the impression we get and the public gets is that Peter is not really sincere about getting this,” he said. “It’s almost as if he is putting it out there to see what the City Council is going to do and I’m never going to vote for anything unless the other guy is sincere about doing the project. You have to come down here and say eyeball to eyeball what you’re going to do. This is a big issue.”

Councilman Michael Keegan was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.