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Council Watch
Planners give the OK to new karaoke machine at bar
New owner says music will expand his business hours
By Cecily Barnes
He's an advocate of the bold entertainment for JR's Sports Bar and Grill Restaurant next to Safeway on Winchester Boulevard, but owner Jim Koshiyama won't take a turn at the karaoke microphone himself.
"I can't carry a tune," the bar and restaurant owner says matter-of-factly.
Extra practice time isn't the reason Koshiyama wants to see microphones at his bar. Rather, having owned Fourth Street Bowl and run its karaoke machine for years, Koshiyama knows the good business sense of a karaoke machine.
"It lets [customers] take their hair down and relax," Koshiyama says. "And if someone's not a really strong singer, it's OK because everyone's in the same boat."
Koshiyama, who is from Milpitas, and his partner, Ruth McDonald, from Berryessa, closed escrow on JR's, formerly called Gary's Sports Bar & Grill, two weeks ago. Wasting little time, Koshiyama appeared before the Campbell Planning Commission May 25 for permission to fire up his karaoke machine.
"We have a sports bar now, and most sports are over by 9:30, quarter to 10," he says. "Now we can start with the karaoke after that."
Because the restaurant/bar is located inside a shopping center, next to a Safeway and an adequate distance from any private residence, the request was quickly granted, along with permission for extended hours until 1:30 a.m. rather than the former closing time of 11 p.m.
"This application was forwarded to the police department, and they are not concerned about the establishment and its expanded use," senior planner Sharon Fierro said.
Campbell's wannabe singers can now creep out of hiding and onto the stage. And to those who don't think they can sing, Koshiyama has a few words of encouragement.
"People that can't sing for a damn, give them about a year and they get a lot better," he says. "You wouldn't believe the improvement they make."
In other business May 25, the Campbell Planning Commission made an exception to the city's sign ordinance to allow DeVries Data Systems to post two signs above the second floor sill of the two-story East Campbell Avenue building. The sign consists of individualized bronze letters that will spell DeVries Data Systems. The city's sign ordinance requires that signage be placed below the second floor sill of a multi-story building.
"The reasoning is that it would be more architecturally compatible to spread the signs out over the building than to concentrate them all on the ground floor," said associate city planner, Tim Haley. "The general attitude was that they weren't asking for a large amount of signage."
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Campbell, California
