Bubba Gump Gets Council Go-ahead

By Oliver Lukacs
Staff Writer

Sept. 10 -- In exchange for design tweaks that will benefit the public, the City Council Tuesday night granted the new 9,000-square foot Bubba Gump family restaurant a more “cushioned” alcohol service permit, paving the way for construction of the new building on the pier slated to begin in January.

The three-story building -- which will replace the half-century-old Boathouse -- will offer two levels of outdoor dining with seaside views and alcoholic drinks, which the Planning Commission had limited to 25 percent of the restaurant's annual gross income.

The Paramount-owned restaurant chain, named after the popular academy award-winning movie “Forrest Gump,” appealed the Planning Commission decision, arguing that nearby eateries received a 35 percent cap on alcohol sales. While alcohol sales at their 11 other U.S. restaurants averaged little more than 20 percent, company officials said they wanted the same economic flexibility afforded their competitors.

The Council compromised, raising the cap for the $4 million “shremp” restaurant, which rises 40 feet above the beach, to 30 percent, while soliciting a concession to redesign their beach-to-Pier elevator to be inviting and accessible to the public, not just customers.

“I don’t buy that everyone else gets 35 percent so you should get the same,” said Council member Ken Genser. “We’re trying to tailor conditions for a family restaurant. The Viceroy (hotel and other adjacent competitors) are not family restaurants.” However, he added, “I think they should get some cushion, but not as high as 35 percent.”

“I understand that they are a corporation and they have investors, and they have to look out for themselves, but we have our own people to look out for,” Genser said. “It’s a corporation, it could be sold,” he said adding that their specialty can change to targeting a bar crowd.

Council member Robert Holbrook jumped to the restaurant's defense, pointing out that the percentage cap was arbitrary and doesn’t accurately reflect the actual amount of alcohol being sold.

“More alcohol dollars doesn’t really mean more sale of actual alcohol,” Holbrook said, adding that it could just mean the drinks are more pricey.

“As a business person you want to protect yourself,” and a higher percent allows for flexibility to adapt to a changing economy, Holbrook said. “You’re there to make a profit, and we benefit from that. This is a symbiotic relationship.”

The either/or argument was small-minded, argued Council member Michael Feinstein. “Their place should be active at night,” he said, pointing out that alcohol-serving establishments are what sustain nightlife on the Pier. “I think we can gain a family restaurant, and a nighttime venue.”

However, Feinstein -- who said he was disappointed the corporate chain was quickly chosen to occupy the City-owned parcel on a pier filled mostly with small businesses -- wanted a concession in exchange for his support.

Since the City is “giving away public space to a corporation with no public benefit to sell stuff on the Pier,” Feinstein requested, and was given, a message board where events on the Pier can be posted to replace a menu on the southeast side of the building.

But it was another condition (number 57 approved by the planning commission), which requires that the restaurant circle the construction site with a 10-foot-tall plywood wall and an expensive sound absorption blanket to muffle noise, that brought about a surprising compromise.

While the City agreed to forgo the absorption blanket and agreed to allow the plywood wall to be replaced with a chain-link fence, Bubba Gump offered to compensate local businesses for whatever damage might be caused by the sound impact during the two weeks the construction crews are pile-driving.

Mayor Richard Bloom said he was happy with Bubba Gump’s offer and praised the business as a “good neighbor” for the goodwill effort, but he worried that the condition “sets a precedent and an expectation that might be difficult (to live up to) in the future.”