City revokes hookah lounge's live entertainment permit

Mosaik Hookah Lounge at 11029 Downey Avenue had its live entertainment permit pulled last week. Photos by Alex Dominguez

DOWNEY -- A downtown hookah lounge will have to severely adjust its operation after the Downey Planning Commission last week made several changes to its conditional use permit.

Changes at Mosaik Hookah Lounge, located at 11029 Downey Ave., include the removal of live entertainment, the exclusion of customers under the age of 21, and the prohibition of loitering outside the business, with the exception of a queue along Downey Avenue for entry.

The Planning Commission also rolled back the hookah lounge’s hours of operations. It now must close by midnight when it previously stayed open as late as 4 a.m.

According to the agenda item, representatives from police, fire, planning, and the city prosecutor’s office met with Adnan Saab, owner of Mosaik Hookah Lounge, in September to discuss recent incidents that have happened at or as a result of the lounge.

Saab is a distant third cousin of Downey councilmember Alex Saab.

Downey Police have been called to the hookah lounge 18 times since Nov. 13, 2016, for a variety of complaints, including arguments, yelling, fighting, theft, and drinking in public. Many of the incidents occurred after midnight.

The meeting with Adnan Saab included a new site inspection of the hookah lounge in which several violations of the business's conditional use permit were found, including modified floor plans that had not been approved by the city, live entertainment during hours not permitted, dancing, and the lack of a security plan submitted to Downey Police.

The fire department also found numerous fire and building code violations. Some of these violations have already been addressed and the hookah lounge has until Jan. 4 to comply with the fire department’s lists of corrections, officials said.