Protecting La Venta

We Need Your Help

Save La Venta Inn!

A Cherished PVE Landmark Since 1923

We Love La Venta. But this beautiful property that has brought so much joy needs your help.

The City of Palos Verdes Estates has told the owners of La Venta that they must amend the zoning code that has been in place since 1948. And that has prompted a couple of our nearest neighbors to lobby for onerous regulations that could make it very difficult for La Venta to continue.

We need your support:

Please come to the City Council meeting APRIL 25, 6:30pm at City Hall The Council intends to take up La Venta’s operating conditions at the April 25th meeting. We urge supporters to attend that meeting and let the council know that you support La Venta’s continued operation.

La Venta’s operator and owners will be presenting a list of restrictions that we hope will satisfy the council and the neighbors who’ve objected to our post covid reopening.

After meeting with opponents of La Venta, PVE City Council’s Ad Hoc Committee proposed their own list of restrictions that, our previous tenants warn, would threaten La Venta’s existence:

Here are some of the proposed restrictions:
- A maximum limit of 135 guests for seated dining. This needs to be a minimum of 200 to capture some larger parties.
- No parties of more than 75 guests on more than two consecutive days. La Venta’s wedding business is primarily on weekends. Losing a Friday or a Sunday would significantly harm the business.
- No two events on the same day except for the months of June, July, and August. Wedding season continues through October. La Venta needs the ability to book those parties to off set the slow season.
- A limit of 24 guests for outdoor dining on the veranda. The veranda can easily hold 60+ guests
- Events on Sunday would have to close by 9pm. This will kill weddings on Sunday evenings. A 9pm closing means the bar closes at 8:30pm.
There are other restrictions, but these are the most detrimental to La Venta’s bottom line. The 100-year-old property has always operated within the fire marshal’s maximum occupancy of 300. A limit of 135 guests for seated service would cripple the business. La Venta needs to provide the venue size people require, and that is a maximum of 200 people. The business has been built around the busy high season months from April to October and that has been enough to carry La Venta through the slow winters. Limiting consecutive days of events would cause La Venta to close. Closing at 9pm on Sundays would cause many prospective clients to look elsewhere.
La Venta is 100 years old. The expenses of keeping up the property are far greater than any other business in Palos Verdes Estates. Please do not implement the above restrictions which would threaten La Venta’s ability to operate as it has for most of the past 100 years.

Thank you,

Click here to see our response to the proposals

Here are the facts:

The 1948 code allows La Venta to be used for hotel and restaurant purposes within the “existing” building. For almost 75 years, that 1 sentence code section has made it clear that La Venta has a preexisting commercial use right with no limits on those uses. And it is obvious the 1948 code was enacted to protect the existing building not to limit outdoor use of the property. And La Venta has every right to continue that preexisting use under that applicable City code.

The owners of La Venta have always tried to be good neighbors. So when operations resumed after the mandatory COVID shutdown and the City approached the operator and owners about trying to be more specific as to the uses of La Venta, the owners and operator agreed. Our mutual goal was to craft regulations that enable the Inn to continue to operate as a viable business and provide the neighbors with a set of expectations and limits they can count on.

Your Questions Answered

We are committed to truth and transparency and are happy to answer your questions. These are the handful asked most frequently by community members. Feel free to contact us with your additional questions.

La Venta clients are required to consider parking as part of their event plan. The available options are:
1. Hire a valet company to stack cars in the La Venta parking lot.
2. Hire a shuttle service to bring guests up from a designated gathering area outside the immediate neighborhood – usually the hotel where the majority of guests are staying.
The La Venta staff parks on the north side of Via Del Monte (bordering La Venta) where there are no homes. This gives our guests room to use the La Venta lot and has our team quickly exiting the area after an event.
We have made a number of decisions that will prevent potential disruption from shuttles:
- Shuttles are permitted for guest transportation. However, shuttles are NOT allowed to idle on Via Somonte as previously allowed.
- Shuttles are 14-passengers or less. Shuttles over this size are required by law to be equipped with backup beeping mechanisms. Keeping shuttles smaller eliminates the potential for backup beeping disruption to neighbors.
- We contract with one transportation company that understands our required rules and wants to work in accordance so they may return for the next event.
Currently, there are no existing limitations on sound. We are committed to being responsive and gracious neighbors and so have worked with the most well-respected sound engineer in the world, Veneklasen Associates, to conduct a sound study. After that thorough study, we are proposing a 55 decibel (dB) limit, measured at the property perimeter.
Great question! 55 dBs is between the sound of moderate rainfall and conversation. Our sound study showed the neighborhood sounds measured between 34 dBs and 57 dBs, without any noise from La Venta.
We have a parking lot attendant stationed at the driveway entrance and property line at every event to direct guests and measure sound throughout every event. Measuring the sound, they communicate levels via walkie-talkie to the team closer to the event epicenter. If the sound starts reaching its limit, the team inside is notified immediately. Our commitment to being a good neighbor means that our policy is to fix any issues as they happen - not wait until we hear complaints.
Please call or email any concerns directly to our venue manager, Duncan Blount. His cell phone is 310.504.4347 and his email is manager@laventa.com.
Call during events, during the week, anytime. If you believe we are mismanaging noise or any other issue – please reach out.
We want to work with our neighbors to foster and maintain a great relationship.
Absolutely. We can be issued violations from the Code Enforcement Officer, the police can come to the property during an event to turn off the music, we can be called into the city government process once again. There are many mechanisms of accountability.

Proposed Restrictions

The owners of La Venta Inn, whose family lived on the property starting in 1944, are committed to being good neighbors and have worked with the city planners and attorneys to outline clear parameters for the property.

Review The Restrictions

History of La Venta Inn

1923

La Venta Inn opened in 1923 and was the first structure built on the hill. It was originally a sales office for the planned new residential development that became this City, and also served as overnight lodging and a restaurant for potential purchasers visiting the site.
1924-1925

The first wedding was held at the Inn in 1924, and that use has continued almost nonstop until today. In about 1925, the Inn expanded its use to all kinds of social events.
1939

Although the City was incorporated in 1939 (16 years after La Venta first opened), it was not until 1948 that the City Municipal Code was amended to refer to the Inn.
1944

Mrs. Margaret Schnetzler bought the Inn in 1944 from the actor Frank Conroy. She used the property as a private residence.
1955

After numerous local residents asked Margaret if they could use La Venta for ballet classes, church services, and weddings, she graciously accepted and in 1955 took out a business license to open a restaurant and venue hosting events for the greater community.
Now

Margaret’s grandchildren are now the owners of La Venta with grandchildren of their own. The family has cherished and maintained La Venta for 77 years. Still using it as a meeting place for the now extended family to come together. This iconic property is also a big part of Palos Verdes Estates. We hope for your support in keeping it an unparalleled asset for us all.