Fullerton Delays Vote on Permit for Ice House

FULLERTON — City Council members Tuesday night postponed a decision on whether to prohibit large gatherings, including weddings and birthday parties, at the controversial Ice House banquet hall, the site of several violent incidents in the past year.

Police had urged the council to revoke the permit because of recent gang-related shootings and confrontations at the Ice House, a popular location for weddings and birthday and anniversary parties.

“Ice House management denies it, but the [Police] Department’s intelligence reveals that gang members are now going to the Ice House at nearly all events,” Police Chief Patrick McKinley wrote in a report to the city. “It is common knowledge in the neighborhood that free beer can be obtained at the Ice House. . . . It would appear that security is frightened of gang members, and therefore, allows them to enter with the hope that nothing will happen.”

McKinley said he met with the hall’s owner, George Bushala, on Monday in an effort to devise a new plan for the Ice House.

Bushala said he would agree to new rules set by the chief and that he would close his business himself if violence occurred again, McKinley said.

With that assurance, and possible other conditions, McKinley withdrew his recommendation that the city close the hall.

The council will consider the matter again at a meeting Aug. 15.