CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT REQUIREMENT FOR THEATER-RESTAURANT IN M1 USE DISTRICT

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broadly to include any type of eating establishment, its inclusion as a permitted use means only that property within the zone may be used without restrictions for restaurant purposes only - that is, for the purpose of serving food. Insofar as Harlequin seeks to use the premises for the quite different and distinct ~~~kr.taose of staging theatrical productions, it is not entitled to ~a%~ :~o under the zoning ordinance's listing of "restaurants" ~., ~s a permitted u se . The permission given to "restaurants" by Section 41-472 would also extend to accessory and incidental uses, both by the express provision of that section (in Subsection (h)(1) ) and by the normal rules of construction applied by the courts to zoning use provisions. Green_field_v. Board of_Ci_y Planning Com'rs of Lo_s_Angeles (Ct of App. ) 45 P2d "119. In some cases, the offering of entertainment might be argued to ~->e m?rely incidental to the use of premises as a restaurant. S~~: _., 1~.: ~..'~ver, is not th~~ c3se with Harlequin. The theatrical productions to be offer{~c~ are such that the public interest in the facility will be due ut least equally to the entertainment as to the food. The z-aerfo.rmances will not serve merely to make the Harlequin Dinner `T'heater more attractive than other eating establishments to a ~:erson who wishes tc dine out. A person will patronize the Tarlequin Dinner Theater for the purpose of viewing the theatrical pro~~iuctic~i, wY,icla is being staged. The line between entertainment ,_ wh:_cl, is m~~~rely incidental to restaurant service and entertainment which is itself a distinct and different use of property may not ire capable of exact description, but it appears more reasonable to place the Harlequin proposal in the latter category. 'T'heatrical performances would be conditionally permitted i.n an M-1 zone because they are a permitted service use in a cammerci~l zone. Any place of assemblage for purposes of enter- tair,rr~ent are a permitted use in the C3 zone (SAMC Section 41-395) . It is therefore concluded that Harlequin may use the premises for the purpose of serving food to customers without restriction by the City z oning laws, but it may not stage theatrical performances in the absence of an approved conditional use permit. II Harlequin may contend that the City's zoning ordinance, insofar as it classifies the uses permitted in the M-1 zone, is arbitrary and unreasonable and therefore ineffective to prevent a_t from operzting the proposed tl-,eater-restaurant. The argument wuu7_d run to the effect that the proposed use - a theater- re<<t.aurant - is no mUre detrimental to the surrounding area than some of the unconditionally permitted uses, which include kennels, ,. laundry and dry cleaning establishments, service stations, and r-e:-:t.aurants . 132