(Rendering of Whaler Restaurant courtesy of Rudy Alegre, architect.)

“We will take this neighborhood to a new level,” Mike Dobson, CEO of Whaler wrote in a letter to Robin Rudisill, chair of the Land Use and Planning Committee for the Venice Neighborhood Council. We will make it “great for local residents and proud of the world class destination that it is.”

The Whaler was reviewed by LUPC last Tuesday after being the subject of the previous LUPC meet. The restaurant wants to serve alcohol in their downstairs patio. This would not allow for an increase in the number of patrons.

To mitigate the sound, the Whaler plans to install a sound-deadening awning along with glass that is sound protecting. The Whaler group also verbally committed to installing an awning in the upstairs patio. Downstairs patio awning would be closed by 10 pm Sunday thru Thursday and 11:30 pm on Friday and Saturday. Decibel levels are to be taken at 8 and 11 pm and recorded in a log.

The Whaler group has security that would use a clicker to monitor number of patrons. Once at the max of 214, admittance would go to “one in, one out” policy. The security would also patrol the area until 3 am.

The Whaler restaurant at the end of Washington has long been a subject of distain for local residents. Many of the residents attended the previous meet and expressed their concern regarding drunks walking in the neighborhood making noise, defecating, and in some cases destroying private property.

One resident expressed an additional concern regarding alley north of Whaler. Darrell Preston, Whaler operations manager, and resident checked out the situation after the meet. Alley commercial owners had lights but they were not on. Preston said he speak with the owners. One resident said all resident owners should have lights on in the alleys.