Edward Gately reports via AZCentral that a “new downtown entertainment complex” in Scottsdale has experienced a minor delay in expanding their premises and their hours.
“Bottled Blonde” and “Livewire” are over-brands atop the old Axis/Radius owned by Les and Diane Corieri, campaign contributors to Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane, incumbent council candidates Linda Milhaven and Dennis Robbins, county supervisor Steve Chucri, and incumbent state house candidate Michelle Ugenti. So the Corieris will get what they want eventually, after the city council majority’s little kabuki theater of campaign-year concern.
However, we shouldn’t forget that the Corieris’ establishment (under the old name, which I presume was changed to help duck liability) allegedly over-served the drunk driver who permanently disabled Fiesta Bowl visitor (and Kansas university student) Cody Clark in a car vs pedicab collision, for which the Corieris and the City of Scottsdale are being sued in Superior Court.
Funny how Scottsdale city staff never brought that up during city council consideration of this item.
Here’s Gately’s article:
Scottsdale delays Bottled Blonde, Livewire permit ruling
Edward Gately, The Republic | azcentral.com 9:05 a.m. MST June 5, 2014
Bottled Blonde/Livewire are replacing Axis/Radius, which closed in summer 2013. Planning staff to return with amendments that more clearly state what is being requested for approval. Two councilmen don’t want to approve additional hours of operations on weekends and New Year’s Day
The Scottsdale City Council has postponed consideration of amended permits for a new downtown entertainment complex because of confusion over expanded hours of operation the owners would be granted.
Les and Diane Corieri are seeking amendments to their bar and live-entertainment permits for Bottled Blonde, a craft-beer hall with an expansive outdoor patio,and Livewire, an indoor live-entertainment venue that will accommodate about 1,000 patrons. Bottled Blonde opened early this year and Livewire is set to open by year’s end.
The venues are replacing Axis/Radius, which closed last summer on Indian Plaza across from Maya Day + Nightclub and are located in the city’s entertainment district, considered the Valley’s nightlife epicenter. It includes a high concentration of bars and nightclubs, and attracts thousands of patrons every weekend. The district is south of Camelback Road between Scottsdale and Miller roads.
The Corieris are seeking the permit amendments to add more indoor and outdoor areas to both Bottled Blonde and Livewire. In addition, they want to be able to open Bottled Blonde at 9 a.m. instead of 11 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, and no time restrictions on New Year’s Day.
Vice Mayor Guy Phillips said he would support the amendments if the expansion of hours for weekends and New Year’s Day were taken out. He made a motion to do so, which was seconded by Councilman Bob Littlefield.
Littlefield said, “These are the guys who violated their conditional-use permits” by staging after-hours parties into this past New Year’s Day without permission even after being warned by city staff.
The Corieris’ Hi-Fi Kitchen & Cocktails, at 4420 N. Saddlebag Trail, was one of three bars that staged the after-hours parties.
In January, Littlefield asked the council to place on a future agenda consideration of whether to revoke the conditional-use permits of Hi-Fi Kitchen & Cocktails, Smashboxx, a nightclub formerly at 7419 E. Indian Plaza, and El Hefe Super Macho Taqueria, at 4425 N. Saddlebag Trail.
Phillips was the only council member who voted for his motion.
“We didn’t really punish them; we never do,” Littlefield said. “So the last thing we should do … is give them that ability.”
Tim Curtis, the city’s planning director, said the “real request” besides the floor plan changes involve the hours of operation on New Year’s Day, not on weekends. However, Artie Vigil, representing the Corieris, said they do want to expand the hours of operation on weekends and New Year’s Day.
Vigil is an architect and urban designer at AV3 Design Studio.
Councilwoman Virginia Korte said planning staff needs to go back and redraft resolutions that can be clearly understood as to what is being presented for approval.
“In the council packet, it does say weekends and New Year’s Day,” Littlefield said. “I don’t know … how that slipped through.”
The council then approved Korte’s alternate motion to postpone consideration of the amendments until its Wednesday, July 2, meeting. Littlefield cast the only no vote.
The council also approved amendments to the bar and live-entertainment permits granted in 2012 to Maya Day + Nightclub. Owner Shawn Yari plans to add indoor and patio space, as well as new outdoor patio space along Indian Plaza.
Maya Day + Nightclub opened in spring 2013. It anchors a complex that includes three other bars and restaurants, Hi-Fi Kitchen & Cocktails, Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row and Derby Public House. Yari’s Vice/Virtue, a restaurant and bar, is slated to fill the final vacant space in the complex.
3 Comments
Everything runs its course. I’ve seen bar districts come and go in Cincinnati and Kansas City. St. Louis had a hot area years ago called Gaslight Square and the young party crowd moved on from it too. The bar district in Scottsdale will die also as their crowd is a fickle group that will become tired of the area eventually. It may take a couple of years but it will happen. Get ready Tempe and/or Glendale; you could be the next big party scene for the 21 year old crowd.
Scottsdale’s reputation as Mini Vegas (recent Fox news) has just been up graded to Valley’s nightlife EPICENTER per Scottsdale Republic. The arts and culture of Scottsdale seems to have taken a back seat to this proliferation of bars, drunks, police activity and law suits. What will that horrible pedicab accident cost the tax payers? Will see see another property tax increase when that case is settled?
Good point about the legal suit about the Bottled Blonde involvement in the destruction of a young man’s life. You are right I didn’t know their involvement.
But neither this story or Beth Duckett’s about Fan Fest were the important stories from Tuesday night’s city council meeting IMO.
Fan Fest funding was a given and a super presentation given to the Tourism Development Commission. Take that from someone that watched the 1996 SuperBowl in a Beijing hotel lobby.
The real story I hope the Republic reports eventually is about the incompetence of Scottsdale management of Westworld ($10M over budget) and now adding a commercial fireworks show at the same time the CC voted to update the Fireworks ordinance and lockdown ANY use of fireworks in the Westworld area.
CC is desperate to hide the Westworld money lost. CC “citizen advocates” waived city ordinances and did not allow a citizen vote & now discount events that taxpayers loose even more money.
A $50M indoor arena is changing the character of the area. Now with an annual commercial fireworks show, they endanger our community with wildfires as well.
No longer do members of the CC claiming they “protect the citizens choice” ring true. Fireworks, rock concerts and alchohol sound more like a bong vs a ring.