Council agrees to discuss Chief Crazy Horse issue at its next meeting

Chief Crazy Horse owner Dianna Hill fears she may have to close her business. Photo by Bob Lickter

Police Chief Lou Trovato testified there was little the city could do for Hill since the ABC is a state regulatory agency. Duane Strauser, who is the president of the Nevada City Chamber of Commerce, said he had discussions with ABC personnel and they had told him it was the police department that had problems with the noise.

The Nevada City council decided Wednesday night that it will weigh in on the plight of the Chief Crazy Horse Saloon and Grill.

  The councilors agreed to put the item on the agenda for their next meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 9, after the owner, Dianna Hill, her employees, customers and supporters testified in the public comment portion of the council meeting that they wanted the city's backing in her ongoing negotiations with the state's department of Alcohol Beverage Control, or ABC, which regulates restaurants and bars.

Hill, who has owned the Crazy Horse for three years, has applied for a license to sell food to minors in her establishment on Commercial Street in the historic downtown district. Once she made that application, Hill said the ABC told her to quit selling the short-order food she had been serving, which has hurt her business significantly.

In order to get that license and to sell food again, the ABC has asked the business to accept a number of conditions including limiting the noise there because one person lives within 100 feet of the bar. Chief Crazy Horse, which has been a fixture in the downtown since 1964, is a popular venue from live music and leaves its front door and windows open. It is also across the street from Coopers, another popular venue for live music.

Police Chief Lou Trovato testified there was little the city could do for Hill since the ABC is a state regulatory agency. Duane Strauser, who is the president of the Nevada City Chamber of Commerce, said he had discussions with ABC personnel and they had told him it was the police department that had problems with the noise.

In the meantime, Hill says she is losing thousands of dollars a month in food sales and fears she may have to close the business if she can't sell food and liquor soon.