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Showdown at the Sports Page
Bar owner says city is trying to shut him down over minor code violations

By Jon Wiener

An ongoing feud between the city and the owner of one of Mountain View's oldest bars is either coming to a head or nearing resolution, depending on whom you ask.

Sports Page owner Rob Graham met with city officials three times last month in an effort to resolve fire and building code violations and get his entertainment permit renewed. The two sides have remained far apart during 18 months of negotiations. But while building inspector Ron Geary is optimistic that they will be able to reach a solution soon, Graham says that he intends to sue the city if that doesn't happen.

"They're asking to comply with some stuff that is just going to be impossible to do," said Graham, who has submitted several plans for a new building on the site only to see them all rejected. "I don't really know where to go with this, to tell you the truth."

City officials say they are not out to shut down the Sports Page, which is adjacent to Century 16 Cinema, though they admit there may be no way for Graham to bring the building or the back patio area up to code. Geary said that the most recent preliminary drawings for a new building at the site are "100 miles further than they were a month or a year ago."

The Sports Page came to the city's attention after a May 2004 fire destroyed the back patio area. Graham claimed the fire was a case of arson, but the city found no evidence of that and expressed concerns about past fires at the site. Geary asked Graham to take more than 40 different measures if he wanted to keep operating.

"When you have an issue like the fire, that puts a high priority on life safety," said Geary. "There's a tremendous amount of illegal construction out there. ... If you did a room addition or a kitchen remodel, you'd be expected to get permits. That hasn't been done out there."

Graham, who bought the business with his wife 13 years ago, acknowledges that some of the problems the city has cited are legitimate. But he says that many of the city's actions, such as parking a police cruiser by his front door on a busy night last summer or ordering the removal of interior paneling that turned out to be made from fire-rated wood, seem to indicate a pattern of harassment.

City officials say they've bent over backwards to accommodate Graham in spite of some "non-serious" proposals that seemed like nothing more than stalling tactics. But the long-time patrons at the bar, who at times have watched the argument unfold right in front of them, say there is no question that the city is trying to drive the Sports Page out of business, for reasons they can't figure out.

Graham says that even if the city is dealing with him in good faith, the effect is still the same. Without an entertainment permit for the first time in 13 years, he has eliminated his weekly trivia and karaoke nights and canceled dates for live bands. Some loyal holdouts still come by to eat and drink anyway, but revenue is down 40 percent since December, and Graham has already had to lay off one of his two full-time cooks.

"We're just not going to be able to sort out every problem," said Graham. "We just can't do it."

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener