Deli Expected to Get OK to Serve Alcohol

Over the objections of a local homeowners group, Jerry’s Famous Deli Inc. is expected to get City Council approval Wednesday to serve a full range of alcohol outdoors at the newest of its eight California locations.

The restaurant, in the 21800 block of Ventura Boulevard just east of Topanga Canyon Boulevard, opened in December. It has served beer and wine since that time, said Judith Hirshberg, field deputy for Councilman Marvin Braude, who represents part of Woodland Hills.

Gordon Murley, president of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Assn., appealed the deli’s application for a permit to serve alcohol on the 890-square-foot patio built along the sidewalk. He cited concerns about a possible need for more police patrols as well as the appearance of the site.

The City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee rejected Murley’s appeal earlier this month. The full council will have the final vote.

Council and committee members “are enamored of the [political] process and they think Jerry’s Deli is marvelous,” Murley said. “We think it’s not so marvelous, especially when police cars are tied up dealing with stuff in that parking lot.”

The restaurant sits at a notoriously congested West Valley corner that features two major supermarkets and a shopping center full of popular local and national retailers. Given that setting, Hirshberg said use of the restaurant property should indeed be scrutinized.

“I wouldn’t want a bar going in there, for example,” she said. “But they [Jerry’s] have proven themselves to be good neighbors in the communities where they’ve been. So I don’t see a concrete reason for not allowing them to continue. . . . If someone wants to buy a drink of Scotch, there are a lot of places where they could do it more easily.”

Murley acknowledged the matter was a foregone conclusion but said he nevertheless plans to join other residents at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.