Owners of bars booted from Waterside looking to strike a deal

NORFOLK

Owners of two Waterside nightclubs shut down by the city last year said they might be willing to drop lawsuits against Norfolk if they can reopen a business inside the downtown facility.

"My clients are in the business of running establishments, not filing lawsuits," said Virginia Beach attorney Samuel W. Meekins Jr. "The win-win here would be to give them a viable Waterside operation."

Meekins said his clients would like to open a restaurant such as BlackFinn, an upscale chain his clients once operated at Waterside.

"Barring that, we want damages for being wrongfully ousted," he said.

However, Meekins said Have a Nice Day Cafe and Bar Norfolk have dropped lawsuits filed last year demanding compensation of $16 million.

The lawsuits could be re-filed, but City Attorney Bernard A. Pishko said he does not expect that to happen. "Generally, parties do not non-suit when they have a high evaluation of their prospects," he said.

The nightclubs' owners still believe that the city illegally shut them down in August 2009, Meekins said. A lawsuit contesting Norfolk's actions is scheduled for trial in February.

Deputy City Attorney Adam Melita said city leaders are in the process of deciding Waterside's future.

"As much as we would like to answer that question for them, we can't," Melita said. "Not only is the decision about whether to put a restaurant in there above our pay grade, so is the decision about whether Waterside is going to be there."

Bar Norfolk and Have a Nice Day Cafe were closed after city leaders expressed concerns last year that both clubs were repeatedly violating state liquor laws.

In Norfolk, in addition to a Virginia Alcohol Control Beverage license, any restaurant serving alcohol or providing entertainment must also have a license approved by the City Council called a special exception.

No other city in South Hampton Roads licenses restaurants in the strict fashion that Norfolk does.

When the council voted not to approve special exceptions for both nightclubs on Aug. 18, 2009, owners said they felt ambushed.

Within days, both restaurants opened their doors and served alcohol in defiance of the council's vote, saying they didn't need a special exception. Their doors were then padlocked by Waterside Associates, the private group that technically owns Waterside.

Waterside Associates, which operates Waterside, is closely supervised by the city.

A Circuit Court judge later ruled that the clubs served alcohol without a license and the city and Waterside Associates acted lawfully in shutting them down.

The judge also ordered the two sides into mediation. Melita said discussions continue with Meekins and law partner John J. Faber Jr., although without a mediator.

Meekins contends his clients had the right to operate when their clubs were shut down because they were grandfathered by permits previously granted by the council.

"The real issue for the court is did we have the right to operate," he said. "We believe we did."

Melita said that the city has the right to rescind special exceptions in the state code. "Essentially it's a permit, and if you don't comply with the terms, you lose it."

Since the bars have left, few businesses remain in Waterside, and several community groups now say they want the city to raze the facility.

The council is expected to determine Waterside's fate in December.

Pilot writers Deirdre Fernandes, Dave Forster, Marjon Rostami and Jeffery Sheler contributed to this report.

Harry Minium, (757) 446-2371, harry.minium@pilotonline.com