City to hear dance permit appeal

BY JERAMY GORDON
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Customers of Madison’s Grill and Tavern at 525 State Street want to dance, but they haven’t been able to since May when police and fire officials pulled the establishment’s dance permit after a change in ownership.
When the restaurant’s new owners, Diane and Derek Harding, applied for a new permit, their request was denied.
Tomorrow the Hardings will appeal that decision to the Santa Barbara City Council at 2 p.m.

On Feb. 22, the Police Department received a complaint questioning the validity of Madison’s dance permit. After a brief investigation, officials pulled the permit.
The new application was denied based on reported criminal offenses, noise concerns from the neighbors, and the fact that the new owners allowed dancing in Madison’s without a current dance permit, according to a city report.
“Over the past several years, the noise from Madison’s has been a source of complaints from neighbors, specifically the Hotel Santa Barbara which is located adjacent to Madison’s,” The report states. “The hotel’s General Manager, Tamara Erickson, and her staff, reported that hotel guests complained on a number of occasions about the loud music from Madison’s.”
According to their attorney, the Hardings relied upon representations by the previous owners that all permits associated with the purchase agreement (including the dance permit) were valid. Once the Hardings became aware of the problem with the dance permit, they immediately sought to obtain a new one.