Mozambique

No injuries were reported after a small fire broke out Saturday afternoon at Mozambique in Laguna Beach. The cause of the fire, which started around 3:34 p.m. behind a wall "in a subspace area on the second floor" of the restaurant at 1740 S. Coast Hwy., is still under investigation, Laguna Beach Fire Department Division Chief Api Weinert wrote in an email. "...as of now it does not appear to be suspicious or related to the construction being done on site," he said. Damages are estimated at about $10,000, he added.

Recently, I stopped by Mozambique to check out the stage and sound system because our band, Close Enough, has been invited to play there from 5 to 7 p.m. Nov. 11 for the early bird session. Having been a past resident of Laguna Beach (living at Bluebird and Summit), I know very well to look for parking signage, which I did. Seeing none, I parked at the corner of Bluebird and Glenneyre. I parked on the east side of Glenneyre facing north and was the first vehicle on the corner. As I walked to the restaurant, I once again scanned the street for parking signage and seeing none I felt good about my parking choice (a full block away)

Mozambique restaurant got back the hour it lost less than a month ago, not by a time change, but by a council edict. The City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to extend the hours of operation at the restaurant to midnight Sunday through Thursday this summer, reversing the May 18 decision to make the closing hour 11 p.m. The trial period is a sink-or-swim test for the restaurant owner. "This is a test to see if Mozambique can be a good neighbor," said restaurant spokesman Marc Hines.

Mayor Pro Tem Toni Iseman and City Councilman Kelly Boyd will chair a meeting at 2 p.m. today at Mozambique to discuss ways to resolve complaints from the restaurant's Woods Cove neighbors. The council voted 3 to 2 Tuesday to allow the extended hours requested by the restaurant owner and vehemently opposed by some of the neighbors to continue until December while discussions are underway. "We have to fix this," Mayor Pro Tem Iseman said. One solution proposed is resident-only parking.

The City Council on Tuesday approved measures to mitigate a local restaurant’s proposed late-night hours of operation, but curtailed the hours for which the mitigation was intended. Mitigation measures worked out in meetings between operators of Mozambique restaurant and impacted Woods Cove neighbors were submitted for incorporation into the modified conditional-use permit approved for the restaurant in January. The modifications extended the nighttime operations by an hour and were subject to the review Tuesday, at which a council majority voted against the extension.

The upstairs area at the former Tortilla Flats, home of Taco Tuesday, has been transformed from cantina to shebeen. Both shebeens and cantinas were originally poor men's drinking places ? but they're nothing of the sort here. The word "shebeen" originally described an illicit bar or club in Ireland. In the 1950s, Irish immigrants to South Africa introduced the term, and it was adopted in the townships for many of the makeshift bars springing up around the country as well as in neighboring Mozambique.

Recently Mozambique Restaurant opened in Laguna Beach in the old Tortilla Flats location. Tortilla Flats had been closed for a few years, and we neighbors were looking forward to a nice business to improve the decaying building and parking lot. We were happy when Mozambique bought the building and began to fix it up. We were hopeful when they applied for their conditional use permit speaking of "community," a "family restaurant" and "nice adult...

Beach clean-up at Mozambique HelpBlueWater.com volunteers will gather at Mozambique?s lower parking lot from noon to 1 p.m. for a weekly beautification effort, beginning Sunday. Free parking is available. To reward volunteers after the cleanup, Mozambique will provide a half-off lunch menu. Mozambique is at 1740 S. Coast Hwy. For more information, contact Rick Conkey (949) 573-8624, or e-mail rick conkey@gmail.com, or visit www.HelpBlueWater.com. City committees in need of applicants The Laguna Beach City Council is accepting applications for three two-year terms on the Recreation Committee and four two-year terms on the Parking, Traffic & Circulation Committee.

Mozambique is ordered to remove extra seats, provide on-site employee parking in keeping with its conditional use permit from city.After listening to a litany of complaints by neighbors of Mozambique restaurant on Oct. 26, the planning commission acted on two documented violations of the restaurant's conditional-use permit. Restaurant owners were ordered to have only the number of seats in the exact location approved in the permit and to provide on-site parking for 10 employees, in keeping with the conditional-use permit.

No injuries were reported after a small fire broke out Saturday afternoon at Mozambique in Laguna Beach. The cause of the fire, which started around 3:34 p.m. behind a wall "in a subspace area on the second floor" of the restaurant at 1740 S. Coast Hwy., is still under investigation, Laguna Beach Fire Department Division Chief Api Weinert wrote in an email. "...as of now it does not appear to be suspicious or related to the construction being done on site," he said. Damages are estimated at about $10,000, he added.

Neighbors of Mozambique may not be satisfied with location and design changes for an outdoor elevator and a reduction in the number of umbrellas and heaters for a proposed roof deck. But the City Council voted 4-0 on Tuesday to approve the project, a revision of the plan first approved in a 3-2 vote by the Planning Commission in October and appealed by neighbors, based on the potential to block neighbors' views. Councilman Robert Whalen recused himself because he was on the commission when it reviewed the project.

Mozambique Steak House has had its ups and downs with the Planning Commission, but an elevator and a rooftop deck have been approved. The commission voted unanimously Oct. 24 for the 1,205-square-foot deck, but split 3-2 on the exterior elevator, after reviewing modifications to the original plan, which lowered the elevator shaft by 30 inches and spiffed up the façade with a tile roof. "I voted for the elevator because I thought the applicant and the architect had done what we requested in reducing the height of the elevator and articulating and incorporating it into the design of the building," Commissioner Linda Dietrich said.

Planning Commissioners sent architect Marshall Ininns back to the drawing board to improve the design of an elevator shaft before they would vote on the rooftop deck proposed by Mozambique. The commission indicated Wednesday that they favored the idea of a rooftop deck for the steakhouse restaurant, but that the proposed elevator was an unacceptable eyesore. Ininns was given a month to come up with a new design for the elevator, which is required to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. "I can't vote for the project with the elevator as is," said Commissioner Norm Grossman, whose lead was followed by the other commissioners.

Recently, I stopped by Mozambique to check out the stage and sound system because our band, Close Enough, has been invited to play there from 5 to 7 p.m. Nov. 11 for the early bird session. Having been a past resident of Laguna Beach (living at Bluebird and Summit), I know very well to look for parking signage, which I did. Seeing none, I parked at the corner of Bluebird and Glenneyre. I parked on the east side of Glenneyre facing north and was the first vehicle on the corner. As I walked to the restaurant, I once again scanned the street for parking signage and seeing none I felt good about my parking choice (a full block away)

Resident-only parking privileges will continue in the so-called "Quiet Zone," an area near Mozambique Steak House. The City Council voted 3 to 2 Tuesday to continue the preferential parking program meant to quell residents' objections to noisy bar patrons. Councilman Kelly Boyd appeared to waver before voting for the continuation, based on his concern for the economic outlook for the restaurant if denied its entertainment component. "Business is tough all over town," Boyd said.

City officials will review at Tuesday's City Council meeting the nighttime residents-only parking program on the streets around one of the city's most popular restaurants. Dubbed "the Quiet Zone," the program was designed to muffle late-night noise that disturbs Woods Cove residents who live within blocks of Mozambique Steakhouse. The plan squeaked by the council at the Feb. 15 meeting on a 3-2 vote, which approved a resolution that included a six-month review to determine if it should be extended or revised.

Laguna Beach city officials Tuesday will discuss permit parking within a proposed zone surrounding Mozambique Steak House. If approved, parking will be restricted to residents from Carmelita Street to South Coast Highway and Bluebird Canyon Drive to Center Street, including both sides of Glenneyre Street, for a trial period, starting about April 1. Mayor Toni Iseman and Councilman Kelly Boyd proposed the program after leading meetings with...

Disgruntled Woods Cove neighbors of Mozambique restaurant might get an early Christmas present. The City Council voted 4 to 1 on Tuesday to hold a public hearing on Dec. 7 to consider the general public's opinion of a privileged parking program for Woods Cove residents up to six blocks away from the restaurant. The residents' complaints about the disruption of their lives by tipsy or just ebullient restaurant patrons who park on the streets rather than the free valet parking prompted the council's action.

Glenetta Betty Farrell's life was celebrated Sunday at St. Mary's Episcopal Church. The long-time resident of South Laguna died at her home Oct. 10. She was 79. "Her life was a remarkably deep and rare combination of rich culture and compassion for the needy," son-in-law Rolland Edward Baker said. A dedicated teacher, Farrell directed a Montessori School after graduating from college where she studied literature and education. She taught English to Mexican friends whom she met while at the ranch in Baja California where she and her husband, James Moies Farrell, had a second home for 20 years.