Willow Glen residents who were offended by the sexual innuendo carried by the Beavers name and menu were pleased to find D's owners Deirdre Haggerty, Florence and Patrick O'Sullivan making in-roads toward establishing a more family-friendly venue.

But then residents on neighboring streets like Meredith and Blewett avenues starting getting an earful of noise from the establishment's late-night activities and began complaining to San Jose District 6 Councilman Ken Yeager. Along with Yeager's office, the residents sent a slew of complaints to the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association, the San Jose Police Department and the city code enforcement department.

"We were at our wit's end," Yeager said, referring to the complaints that piled up in his office along with the repeated permit violations. "That's when I really became discouraged."

In early October Yeager said he began contacting the owners of D's and various city agencies. Florence O'Sullivan wanted to meet with neighbors to address their complaints about noise and the restaurant's late-night hours. However, Yeager suggested that the owners work with the neighborhood association.

At the Nov. 10 neighborhood association meeting D's owners discussed residents' concerns. Willow Glen Neighborhood Association President Helen Solinski said the association was "pleasantly surprised and optimistic." She believed the new business would be an asset to the downtown.

But the problems continued Solinski said. "I felt that they addressed the concerns of the neighborhood," she said. "They started off on the right foot, but it just sort of spiraled downward and I don't know why. I was a little shocked and saddened that they didn't follow the business plan."

On Nov. 27, 2004 at 1:54 a.m., the San Jose Police Department was called to break up a fight in front of D's. According to San Jose Police spokeswoman Gina Teeporten, the scuffle involved 30 to 100 people. When officers arrived, she said, the individuals disbanded, but one 21-year-old San Jose resident was arrested for being drunk in public.

During the fray, one person was pushed and fell through the window of a vacant business located at 1177 Lincoln Ave., Teeporten said. The injured party was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital. He did not know who pushed him, Teeporten said.

O'Sullivan stated that he did not remember the incident, but said the individuals involved in the disturbance could not have come from D's because it was closed.

O'Sullivan said that the establishment has not been open until 2 a.m. since it transitioned from Beavers to D's in September. Although he did say D's used to have DJs spinning music between 10 p.m. and midnight, he said the establishment has had no live music since October.

San Jose Code Enforcement Deputy Director Mike Hannon said the department received numerous complaints, many of which were routed to the police, including disturbing the peace, public drunkenness and excessive noise. Hannon confirmed that the restaurant had exceeded the number of special events by 11 days, staying open past midnight and hosting live entertainment.

Under an existing conditional use permit granted to previous owners, D's must close at midnight except on 10 nights of the year, when the restaurant is having special events. On those nights the restaurant is available for only private use, it must notify the planning director and nearby neighbors that it is having a special event. These are the only evenings that the establishment is allowed to stay open until 2 a.m.

On Dec. 15 D's was told to cease and desist its late-night activities by the San Jose Code Enforcement Department, and conform with a compliance order.

Hannon said that since the Dec. 15 compliance order the department has not received any complaints, and that the owners are complying by closing at midnight. However, Hannon noted that the order has "significantly impacted their business," because customers coming to the establishment were attracted to the live entertainment and late-night hours.

O'Sullivan said, "Business is terrible now. We'll probably close down soon if it keeps going like it is."

And he added, even though the owners are complying, police and code enforcement continue to come to D's every weekend to check on the restaurant.

Yet former Beavers operations manager Harley Markling said the violations are not exclusive to the new owners. Markling said that when he worked at Beavers, he would regularly keep the bar open until 2 a.m. with little reaction from nearby residents. He admits that he was not supposed to keep the establishment open past midnight, but said he was able to work with the residents who complained about the late-night hours.

He also said Beavers hired DJs to play music on weekends, but that resulted in a loss of revenue so the restaurant discontinued it. When Beavers was owned by John Karamanos, Markling said police and code enforcement rarely visited the establishment to regulate noise.

Although Beavers had few legal issues, Markling said he knew the business was not popular with Willow Glen residents. The former employee left Beavers shortly after the new owners came in. He believes the negative opinion of Beavers has haunted the owners of D's and contributed to their conflict with residents.

"[The owners of D's] came into that business with not a lot of people in their corner," Markling said.

But Solinski doesn't concur with Markling's assessment. She said the association wants the business to succeed, but said it will take all the parties working together to make that happen.

At the Jan. 5 Willow Glen Neighborhood Association meeting, Blewett resident Raquel Dominguez said that D's remained open until 2 a.m. regularly throughout November and December, sending noise into the neighborhood that was so loud it was "thumping."

According to what Dominguez told the association, D's would request a private weekend-night party, but would then stay open until 2 a.m. all weekend. Dominguez said that she went to the restaurant during an event that was supposed to be closed to the public and was able to get in.

However, Florence told the willow glen resident that the owners and employees did not attempt to dodge their permit by feigning a private party.

Yeager said Beavers and The Glen—the previous businesses which were both owned and operated by Karamanos—had a bad reputation for nearly four years. However, noncompliance has been worse under the D's owners, he added.

But after a meeting with the owners and nearby residents, Yeager is more positive about the situation.

"I'm delighted for the first time in about four years that this issue will be resolved and that we have an owner that's willing to comply," Yeager said.

Code enforcement deputy Hannon said that his office has been much quieter since D's was asked to comply with its current permit. In his several visits to D's, he said, Haggerty has been both cordial and respectful. "We're not anticipating any more problems. She's been cooperative," he said.

San Jose senior planner Carol Hamilton said D's owners are currently working on a permit application that would allow the business to stay open until 2 a.m. She said the restaurant plans to hold a community meeting on the late-hour permit request prior to the item coming before the planning commission. Hamilton said the department hopes to have D's permit on the planning commission's March 23 agenda. However, she noted that the planning commission does take previous permit violations into consideration when granting new permits requests.

But O'Sullivan said D's might not even be around when his application comes before the planning commission if business continues downward.

Florence said he believes residents are not in favor of the restaurant and that D's has been unable to generate enough business to meet monthly expenses.

"[Opening this business] was the biggest mistake I ever made," Florence said. "The neighborhood doesn't want us there. They don't want to provide entertainment for the younger generations."