David Cooley, the founder of WeHo lounge The Abbey, voted Logo’s “Best Gay Bar in the World,” is steaming mad following the City of West Hollywood Planning Commission’s decision last night to deny the bar a dancing and entertainment permit. The restaurant sent us an enraged and not-so-balanced press release today reminding us of its many humanitarian accomplishments while condemning the city commission as a cabal of clueless meanies.
The message? While Cooley has employed over 190 people here (hurrah!) and has been “one of the largest tax revenue generators for our city,” the planning commission (Boo! Hiss!) “had not done their research and were unsure on how allowing dancing at The Abbey would impact parking,” despite support from “the community, Sherrif’s office, parking officials,” and on and on. Cooley himself even chimes in about his hurt feelings and disbelief, saying, “I have supported the community and my customers for nearly 20 years…It is disheartening how the City Planning Commission chose to treat The Abbey tonight.”
A hearing is planned for June 16th and The Abbey is urging customers to go on the attack early. You can feel some of the heat and join the fracas over on The Abbey’s Twitter if so inclined to keep West Hollywood from becoming Kevin Bacon’s Beaumont. Now for the important question: Is there a single person left in this town who isn’t somehow pissed off after CInco de Mayo?