Solana Beach Council Lifts Ban on Dancing at Diego’s

SOLANA BEACH —  After a two-hour discussion with the owners of Club Diego’s that lasted past midnight Monday, the Solana Beach City Council declared a truce with the popular but controversial nightclub.

Council members “suspended their suspension” of Diego’s dance permit and made no moves toward shutting the club down, said C. Samuel Blick, attorney for Diego’s. In return, the club agreed to keep a closer watch on the number of people allowed into the club.

Blick said the council’s suspension of the dance permit, which occurred Oct. 27, was not enforced after he met with the Solana Beach city manager and city attorney the next day. But he said that Diego’s experienced a drop in business last week after news of the suspension spread.

Councilman Jack Moore said the owners of Diego’s listened to the concerns of people in the community at the meeting and “indicated a willingness to be good neighbors. We just weren’t talking before.”

He said that, although nothing was formalized, the council received assurances that Diego’s would work on the problems of noise, litter, parking and, most importantly, occupancy limits. Moore added that city workers will review the amount of new parking capacity around the nightclub and consider raising its occupancy limit.

Blick said the preliminary recommendation of an expert hired by Diego’s was to raise the limit from 395 to 520 people. “In the meantime we will comply with the present limit,” he said.