The Northstate Archive : January 2015

JANUARY 7 1989

Flyer From Bonedog's Archive

UPDATE!

"This show (the flyer you posted) Never happened. Rico's Pizza backed out on us hosting it there at the last minute. This flyer was actually going to be the 2nd time Operation Ivy was going to play Redding's. This flyer here is actually the show they played at which was Redding's 2nd show at the Retail Clerks Union (Later became the Plumber's Hall. This show was Feb. 20th 1988 for my friend Payge's 18th birthday. Only the local bands got to play before the Police shut down the show cause we didn't have a Dance Permit. So what did we do? We moved the show to Snot Labeled's (My band) our singers house in old shasta. His mom was out of town so Mr. T Exp., Operation Ivy and Crimpshrine took turns playing 15 minute sets each in I-Sick's living room until 2:00 AM when the sheriff's dept. said the party could continue (even with minors drinking) but the music had to stop. Fun night!"
-BONEDOG

The Plaza was a short lived venue located off of Bechelli Lane, near the corner of Hartnell Avenue that opened in the spring of 2007. It was only open for maybe a month or two before the City of Redding pulled the plug stating various weak reasons for it's closure. To all of us in the scene in 2007, it was very obvious that we'd been given a raw deal by the city and singled out for not fitting the conservative mold. There was such an outrage in the community for the closing of the Plaza that there was a city hall meeting scheduled to discuss the issue. Not much came from the meeting except for frustration. But one positive thing that came from all of this unrest was the forming of the city youth council. With the help of the youth council, we were allowed free access to the Caldwell Rec Center and the MLK Center. We can really thank Ben Paulsen (Separation / Set It Straight) and Callie Burgard (youth council member) for bridging the gap between the city and scene in the years of 2008 to 2010.

City Hall Meeting For The Plaza

Here below is an article that was published in the Record Searchlight in 2007 about the closure of the Plaza.

City of Redding closes music venue The Plaza

By Lauren Brooks

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

When 23-year-old Taylor Maddox walked into The Plaza, he was surprised to find a letter from Redding city officials shutting down his fledgling concert site.

He had permits and Planning Commission approval for his new entertainment business and Redding's new teen music scene -- at least he thought so.

The Plaza, a drug-free place for teens to hang out and listen to hard-core, straight-edge music, has hosted six concerts since it opened about a month ago, Maddox said.

And Maddox had 19 additional concerts scheduled this summer.

But the letter, signed by city Planning Manager Douglas DeMallie, changed his plans.

Now he's out about $2,000 for The Plaza's startup expenses, including the wood stage and sound system. About $200 of that was spent on the city's permits and about $300 was spent on filing fees and other such expenses, Maddox said.

He also has a two-year lease, but the landlord is releasing him from that obligation and charging Maddox $50 a day until he moves everything out, Maddox said. He hopes to have the space cleaned out in a couple days, he said.

Dated Friday, the city letter acknowledged that though the Redding Planning Commission had approved a zoning clearance on May 2 for the commercial entertainment business, "the zoning clearance was issued in error."

"It has come to my attention that the parking requirements for a commercial entertainment use cannot be satisfied at this site," DeMallie wrote.

Nestled in one end of a small strip mall on Bechelli Lane, near Hartnell Avenue, The Plaza shares parking with Destino, a hair salon, and Nello's Place, a long-time Italian restaurant.

The 2,500-square-foot Plaza suite requires 63 parking spaces when used for public assembly, but has only 47, the letter said.

In addition, Nello's restaurant "requires all available parking spaces in the evening," the letter continued.

Though Maddox was issued a zoning clearance, the staff member who handled it "did not adequately account for the parking requirements of the existing restaurant at the site" the letter said.

On Monday, Maddox said he's isn't sure if he wants to move to another place. He worries that the city will never support a new entertainment business for young people.

"It's very frustrating," he said. "It seemed like we hit a home run. But I guess not."

Later that afternoon, Building Official Bill Nagel said that Maddox chose not to get the other two approvals necessary before opening The Plaza.

In addition to the now-invalid zoning clearance, Maddox needed a building permit and approval from the Redding fire marshal, Nagel said.

Maddox said that the fire marshal told him that the maximum occupancy for The Plaza building was 299, but later said that he made a mistake and should have said it was 150 people. Maddox said he didn't think The Plaza had attracted more than 150 people at any of the concerts anyway.

But Nagel countered that The Plaza is in a retail building that's not designed for concerts. If there was an emergency and the crowd panicked, people could be killed, he said.

Yet Maddox said a city staff member told him that he needed only a business license and zoning clearance to open The Plaza, which he had received.

"We tried to jump through all the hoops," he said.

Nagel blamed the mistake on a lower-level staff member who issued the zoning clearance in error.

On Monday, the Record Searchlight received at least 21 e-mails about The Plaza's closure. Most of them expressed teens' frustration at the closure and complained that Redding doesn't have a place for them to listen to music in a drug-free environment.

"Why is it that the city of Redding wants to help promote drug and alcohol free places for kids to go, but keeps shutting them down?" wrote Kayla Walden, 19.

Eric Amantite, 18, wrote "The less activities there are, the more chances there can be for a young adult to start in a downward spiral of alcohol and drugs."

Meanwhile, Paul Harper, 21, suggested that a positive outcome to The Plaza's closure is possible.

He said that Maddox, local businesses and the Redding officials should work together to find a new place for teens to listen to all types of music. He hopes the city will volunteer to help and that everyone will "try to make things better for the future," he said.