Allied Arts Guild will seek rehearing Allied Arts Guild will seek rehearing (October 12, 2005)

By Rory Brown

Almanac Staff Writer

The nonprofit group that owns and operates the Allied Arts Guild is challenging the September 27 appeals court decision that threatens the guild's ability to host nighttime events on its grounds.

Robin Liston, spokeswoman for the guild's owners, the Woodside-Atherton Auxiliary, said her group will file a petition on Wednesday asking the First Appellate District Court of Appeal to rehear the case, in which Allied Arts neighbors sued the auxiliary and the city of Menlo Park.

The court ruled in favor of Allied Arts Neighbors, the group that sued the auxiliary, stating the auxiliary will have to commission an environmental impact report (EIR) if it wants to continue an expanded schedule of events.

If the ruling stands, the auxiliary will have to cover the EIR costs, and possibly the Allied Arts Neighbors' attorney's fees.

Meanwhile, city officials past and present have issued a number of claims, charges and countercharges regarding the matter, including the process by which the auxiliary won the city permits allowing it to renovate the historic complex and increase the number of special events held there.

Immediately following the appeals court decision, Mayor Mickie Winkler sent an e-mail to those signed up on her e-mail list, stating that "the misinformation regarding the lawsuits against Allied Arts, the rulings and the appeals is rampant."

"The Allied Arts [Guild] brought its permitting issues to City Council in 2002, after the Planning Commission (chaired by Stu Soffer) failed to act," she wrote.

Councilwoman Lee Duboc echoed that claim in a letter published in last week's Almanac, writing that the commission "was holding marathon sessions with no decision in sight."

But Patti Fry, a Menlo Park resident and member of the 2002 Planning Commission, challenged Mayor Winkler and Ms. Duboc at the City Council's October 4 study session, accusing both of spreading "misinformation."

The commission did take action, voting 5-0-1 against issuing permits to the guild, said Ms. Fry. The guild then took its case to the council, which ultimately granted the permits.

Public records also show that Mayor Winkler's claim that there have been no complaints issued against the guild by neighbors since the guild re-opened last year is inaccurate, Ms. Fry said.

In a report issued by former auxiliary president Barb Carson to Arlinda Heineck, the city's director of community development, Ms. Carson said there were seven "complaint letters/e-mails" submitted to the city from December 18 to March 31.

News editor Renee Batti contributed to this report.

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