LAKE FOREST ? Six guys from South County who bought a former Black Angus site just off the I-5 hope it will be the place to be during next year's Kentucky Derby.
They envision a room filled with ladies in hats, an upscale restaurant and a betting scene where patrons can gamble on the ponies while watching the races on big screens.
Developers Bruce T. Lehman, left, and Brad McKinzie are two of six partners planning to transform the former Black Angus restaurant in Lake Forest into a high-end restaurant and sports bar with satellite horse race betting. The site is near the I-5 Freeway and Lake Forest Drive.
EUGENE GARCIA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
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"We want to build a fun, vibrant, classy place where horse racing becomes a social activity," said Brad McKinzie, one of the six partners hopeful that the city's Planning Commission lets them open Sammy's, a fine-dining restaurant with mini-satellite horse wagering. "Having it open for the Kentucky Derby ? now, that would be fun!"
City officials aren't so sure they'll bet on the idea just yet, however.
McKinzie, a 25-year executive at the Los Alamitos Race Course, and his longtime friend Bruce Lehmen, a real estate developer, say the Lake Forest location is the perfect spot for a vision they've been crafting with their golfing buddies for three years.
But while the six call it perfect, city planners haven't given the OK to spring open the race gates. The Planning Commission reviewed the project two weeks ago and had some concerns. They questioned how well an adult-use business fits into the family-minded Lake Forest vibe. They also wanted to know more about plans for the exterior and changes to the parking lot. McKinzie and Lehman, who with their partners bought the 10,000-square-foot building in 2009, want it to operate as a trendy restaurant with a mini-satellite horse-wagering lounge as an extra.
Planning Commissioners are interested to hear more about the proposed $1 million remodel of a building near the city's gateway. The developer proposal calls for a renovation inside and out, including new landscaping and an upgrade to the weed-overgrown parking lot.
Jerry Verplancke, commission chair, said that while the applicants had hoped for an immediate decision, commissioners are still considering many factors related to the gaming lounge?? among them, a proposal to require that guests be 21 or older. Since Sammy's is being billed as a high-end American cuisine restaurant, commissioners asked the applicant to rethink how it might become a family-oriented place in addition to being a wagering lounge.
Commissioners will also consider how the zoning code affects combining gaming and dining. Security concerns will also be taken seriously, Verplancke said. The commissioners will also balance the city's family-oriented theme with a request for an adult-oriented business.
In past years two adult clubs at the city's entrances?? Captain Cream (also known as Captain's Cabaret) at Lake Forest Drive and Rockfield Boulevard and the Library Gentleman's Club at El Toro Boulevard and Rockfield?? shut down. A Hooters restaurant that opened three years ago in the former Library building also recently closed.
In turn, city officials have focused their efforts on reinvigorating old shopping centers, spending more than $800,000 renovating 10 city parks and building a state-of-art $39 million sports park The city is also continuing to focus on the community recreation center and completing a final gap closure on Rancho Parkway. In the next few years, developers are expected to have built more than 4,000 homes in the city.
"Our job is to look at the code and decide, is it prudent to have this here?" he said.
The commission plans to revisit the Sammy's concept at its last meeting in October. In April, the panel approved an ordinance that allows mini-satellite wagering.
In 2007, the California Legislature passed a law allowing mini-satellite wagering facilities at restaurants and bars. All wagering would be operated by Southern California Off Track Wagering Inc., an association of race track and race horse owners created to oversee and administer statewide satellite facilities. According to law, the facilities must be 20 miles from a horse track and 10 miles from another satellite wagering facility. The closest wagering spot is in San Clemente.
McKinzie, a Huntington Beach resident, said he and others in the industry were delighted when San Clemente's OC Tavern, already popular for sports-watching, decided to go for the mini-satellite horse racing.
"We all made pilgrimages down there when they opened," he said.
Planning Commissioner David Carter also reported to his colleagues that he went to visit the site. It's different from the one McKinzie and Lehman have planned in Lake Forest, he told them. The tavern was already a sports bar when satellite wagering was added.
Phillip Ramminger, a manager at the tavern, said business is booming even more with the horse racing. A lot of locals were really excited for it to start up but the bar draws people from all over. He also said it's brought in a new type of clientele.
"It's a lot higher-class?? there are a lot more Bentleys parked out front," he said. "Everyone is like a family. Everyone helps each other out. If one has a good pick on a horse, they have no problem telling other people about it. They're real gentlemen."
That demographic, McKinzie said, one he perceives as underserved in the Saddleback Valley, is what he envisions at Sammy's in Lake Forest, too. He and his partners want to take it up a notch by also offering fine dining and dancing. They like the Lake Forest area's demographics and view their clientele as a high-end, higher-educated and older group.
"We won't have children throwing cheese pizzas or offer booster seats here," Lehman said.
Designs call for one-third of the restaurant's space to be a horse-race wagering room. The room would be decked out with leather-upholstered chairs, two- and four-person tables, and soffits housing high-definition, flat-screen TVs showing horse races from local tracks.
Horse race fans would be able to bet on live races from Thursday through Sunday. All the money bet would go to the same pool as those betting at Santa Anita Park, Los Alamitos Race Course and Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. The advantage, Lehman said, is horse race fans could experience the thrill of live racing without having to drive to the track.
By state law, only those 21 and older would be allowed in the horse room during betting days, which generally are Wednesday through Sunday. Operating hours would be 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Friday. On Saturday and Sunday they would be from 9 a.m. to midnight. Security guards would be present during wagering and an armored transport would remove the money.
Before the 2007 law, off-track bets could be placed at other racetracks, some tribal casinos and fairgrounds, and by phone and on the Internet. Yet horse racing still faced falling revenue. McKinzie said establishing mini-satellites would attract new bettors and generate more money for the industry. And just maybe those new bettors would go to the tracks and become horse-racing fans, he said.
In Lake Forest, Lehman and McKinzie said they expect to hire at least 40 people. The city would also get one-third of 1 percent of what would be wagered at Sammy's, McKinzie said.
Lawmakers wanted to boost the industry to save thousands of jobs and revenue generated for the state by the horse-racing industry, said Rod Blonien, a lobbyist for Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress.
Contact the writer: 949-454-7307 or eritchie@ocregister.com or twitter.com/lagunaini
Source: http://www.ocregister.com/news/horse-373003-race-city.html
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