After 2½ years of headaches and months of waiting for a final answer from the city, Simi residents who live near Candlelight Kitchen & Bar finally have the conditions they’ve fought for.

On Mon., Aug. 31, after a two-hour discussion, the council voted 3-1 to grant Candlelight a conditional use permit for amplified music and dancing. Councilmember Barbra Williamson didn’t take part in the discussion because she accepted a campaign contribution from the applicant during the last election cycle.

With the approval, the council adopted the set of conditions drafted and agreed upon by the business and the affected neighbors, whose relationship has gone from angry to affable over the past six months.

The conditions of approval, only slightly modified by the city attorney for enforceability purposes, require that Candlelight must:

•not allow walk-ins at any time.

•not allow audible music or entertainment beyond the property line.

•provide free valet off-site parking when the parking lot is full.

•employ security guards on Friday and Saturday nights and any other time the parking lot is full.

•install offsite signage prohibiting “restaurant-bar” parking on Barnard Street and at the entrance of the Oak Tree residential community.

•meet with neighboring residents every three months to discuss any issues that may arise.

“I think the quarterly meetings will be a big benefit to everyone,” said Kai Spangler, a member of the Oak Tree homeowners association, “because the applicant knows the residents are engaged in this and if they don’t follow the conditions, they are going to hear about it.”

Soroor Campbell, Candlelight partner, called the council’s decision “good news.”

“We do not want to be back here,” she said after the meeting. “We will comply. We will make the neighbors happy, our clients happy, the city happy. We’re lucky to be up there, and we do not want to jeopardize it.”

Located on the east side of town at 2525 Stow St., Candlelight is part of The Vineyards, an indoor-outdoor banquet facility that sits on the 4acre hilltop formerly occupied by Dakota’s. It has long been the target of complaints from neighbors.

The council acknowledged the requirements are stiff but said that is a burden a business must bear when operating in a residential neighborhood. When voting, Councilmember Steve Sojka cautioned the bar’s operators, saying, “Don’t mess this up.”

But Mayor Paul Miller, who cast the dissenting vote, remained skeptical that Candlelight would follow through on the deal, saying that actions speak louder than words. He also said he felt uncomfortable approving the “ridiculous” and difficult-to-enforce conditions, the likes of which have never been placed on a property in Simi before.

“We’ve been working awful hard to make this project fit,” Miller said. “It’s like we’re trying to shove our foot into a shoe that’s too small.”

The rest of the council felt the unique situation called for an unusual solution and that it was worth giving the conditions a try.

“I agree with you, Paul, that we’ve really gone out of our way—and when I say ‘we’ I mean the community—to try to come up with some kind of solution,” Councilmember Michelle Foster said. “But I don’t object to that necessarily if we come up with a solution that works.”

Some residents were concerned that the conditional use permit didn’t expressly prohibit the reestablishment of a nightclub, which was shut down about three months ago in an effort to mitigate noise, traffic and safety issues. City Attorney Tracy Noonan said that by approving a permit for amplified music and dancing, the council was essentially approving a nightclub atmosphere.

Still, the council felt confident that the restrictive conditions they were placing on the business wouldn’t allow Candlelight to go back to its previous operation.

Owner and operator Glen Gerson promised he has no intention of doing so.

“I had an agreement with the neighborhood that we would never reopen the club. I want to make that clear, that will never happen,” he said.

Candlelight will continue to be open until 2 a.m. daily.

While music cannot be heard past the property line, noise from patrons talking or lounging on the outside decks is not restricted. However, rowdy patrons or other disturbances from the property are subject to the city’s noise ordinance.

The conditions adopted by the council apply to both the conditional use and the property’s planned development permits, so if the conditional use permit is ever revoked or expires, the conditions would still be in place.

Unless there are complaints that cause the conditional use permit to be reviewed earlier, the permit will be revisited for renewal after one year.

At that time, if Candlelight has held up its end of the bargain, the permit would be extended for another five years.