The club must receive a conditional use permit to operate legally.

The Minnesota Avenue club serves as a sanctuary for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts, but has operated for 29 years without a permit. This fact eluded the city until 2003 when neighbors filed complaints about excessive noise and parking problems.

San Jose senior planner Carol Hamilton said the planning department is currently reviewing the club's application and plans to hold a community meeting within the next few months. The city would like the planning commission to review the permit in November, Hamilton said.

The purpose of the permit is to impose conditions relating to the club's operation, such as noise, parking and hours. For neighbors such as Chris Piekarski, the permit process offers the possibility of relief from the club's 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. operations, he said.

Piekarski, who lives on Iris Court, has a home that borders the Alano Club. A cancer patient, Piekarski spends much of his day at home. Piekarski said he and his wife, Sherry, can hear the traffic constantly coming and going on the club's gravel parking lot. They also get an earful of cursing and arguing from the club's rear deck.

Many of the people at the club use the space as a safe environment during their recovery or attend one of the Alcoholic Anonymous meetings held in the building.

"I appreciate what they're doing. They're fighting for their lives just as I am," Piekarski said. "That being said, it's not appropriate for the neighborhood."

Helen Solinski, former Willow Glen Neighborhood Association president and current board member, believes it's important that the Alano Club operate as a business because of its hours and parking issues.

When the Alano Club was finally ready to submit its permit application in June, code enforcement deputy director Mike Hannon brought together an Alano Club representative with Hamilton, San Jose District 6 council aide Tony Filice and neighbors to discuss their concerns.

"I think the city's doing a great job trying to open the lines of communication," Piekarski said.

Piekarski, who has worked with five Alano spokesmen since 2003, said he is also pleased with the current Alano spokesman. The spokesman wishes to remain anonymous to protect his anonymity as a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. He has attended meetings at the Alano Club for 15 years.

The club's spokesman began working with the city and neighbors after code enforcement shut the club down for six days in January. When the club learned it needed a conditional use permit, it was immediately willing to file the paperwork, but the co-owner of the building, Stringfellow Properties, was not. The application was incomplete without both signatures. Because of the club's willingness to sign, Hannon extended the application deadline to June 21, which the club met.

For the deal to work, the club had to buy Stringfellow's half of the property so it could become sole owner. In March, the Alano Club filed a lawsuit against its co-owner in Santa Clara County Superior Court to compel Stringfellow to sell.

According to the Alano Club spokesman, Stringfellow has since agreed to sign the permit application and the Alano Club plans to purchase Stringfellow's half of the property.

The Alano Club, he said, "does so much for the community because this disease touches every family."

The Alano Club is also prepared to work with neighbors to bring the property up to code standards, the spokesman said. "What it's gonna take is both of us giving and taking," he added.