Show can’t go on - for now - at new Costa Mesa club
On Friday afternoon, a banjo-toting band called Moonsville Collective showed up a few hours early for its 8 p.m. gig at a new Costa Mesa venue called Maison.
The bar and nightclub at 719 W. 19th St. is new to the music scene. According to Maison’s Facebook page — where users have already granted the place a nearly 5-star rating — at least four bands have performed since the beginning of March, and several other bands are booked through May.
But unbeknownst to the members of Moonsville Collective, what Maison didn’t quite have lined up was any official permission to actually be a nightclub music venue. Or a business at all.
Furthermore, according to city inspectors, Maison hadn’t acquired any permits to legally remodel the interior of what used to be the Lions Den.
On Friday, the show was over before it started. At about 6 p.m., city officials red-tagged Maison, placing an immediate closure to the club until its owner, Roland Barrera, makes good on being in compliance with building codes, as well as getting all the necessary permits and inspections.
“All the safety features were not installed,” said Khanh Nguyen, the city building official, adding that “it’s unusual for a business to do a lot of work without pulling any kind of permit.”
Problems included a single entry and exit door instead of two, officials said. Prior to the red-flagging, Maison’s workers, to fix that particular problem, started tearing down the front wall in a quick effort to build a second door. The job was not completed in time.
Nguyen said other interior improvements weren’t done yet, including a missing knob on a restroom door, no exit signs, tripping hazards and an unfinished floor. Fire Chief Dan Stefano, who visited the club alongside his department inspectors Friday, said he also had concerns related to fire and life safety issues, such as problems with the club’s lighting, its lack of an emergency egress plan and other fire code problems.
While the citation closed the venue to the public, workers were permitted to stay.
“They’re allowed to work this weekend and just fix everything that we told them to do,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen said Barrera will also be fined next week on the unpermitted work his crews did thus far. The exact amount was not determined as of Friday, but it could be about $1,000.
Barrera also owns a speakeasy-style bar, Casa, near Maison. In 2013, Barrera was named as a suspect in a federal investigation involving a Ponzi scheme. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit is ongoing.
Barrera’s company, The SUN Grp LLC, was also involved in Costa Mesa’s troubled 60th anniversary party in 2013. The firm was paid more than $120,000 to provide entertainment.
Nguyen said while Barrera didn’t have City Hall permits for Maison, he did present written permission from the building’s owner to do remodeling work.
Maison, which occupies a 4,200-square-foot space, is a tenant in a building that includes restaurants and a laundromat.
When asked for comment about the club’s unpermitted work Friday afternoon, Barrera told the Daily Pilot that he was “just trying to get through it all right now.”
On the city’s presence while inspecting his club, where he was helping sweep up, he said, “We’re just trying to get it open.”
Requests for additional comment from Barrera on Saturday morning were not returned. On its Facebook page, Maison said Saturday’s show headlined by Infinity Ink, a deejay duo from London, was moved to Casa, Barrera’s other bar.
Before coming to club Friday afternoon, Barrera presented his plans to City Hall, which then granted him some plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits. Earlier that week, they also required him to hire a licensed architect; he had been going forward without one.
Potential improprieties about the club first came to City Hall’s attention on Tuesday, after Steven Chan, who owns a home near Maison, shared his frustrations with the City Council.
He said he noticed “around the clock” construction going on there. He added that, after inquiring at City Hall, he found out that the business had no remodeling permits and was promoting itself as a live-music nightclub, not just its permitted use as a bar.
“Kitchen’s being ripped out. Marble’s going down on the floor,” Chan said. “And the neighbors have not been notified in this change of use.”
On Wednesday, city officials inspected Maison and issued a stop-work order. They directed Barrera to halt any construction until further notice, but also gave him specific instructions to fix certain problems.
On Friday, Chan said he had contacted corporate representatives from businesses near Maison — including Smart & Final and AutoZone — about what was occurring at the club. He also contacted Live Nation, an event website that lists Maison’s shows and posts links for tickets.
As for Moonsville Collective, the band ended up playing instead at the Big Belly Deli, down the street from Maison.
“Special thanks again to [Big Belly Deli] for letting us have a ramble on their porch last night,” the band wrote on its Facebook page Saturday. “Great to meet lots of new friends.”
