Bigshot's Billiards Gets OK For Karaoke, Bands

Live entertainment, from sing-along karaoke to three-piece bands, is now allowed at after a city commission removed a condition barring it from the pool hall Thursday night.

While echoes of tense conversations from nearly two decades ago emerged during the evening's meeting, they did not stop the Orange Tree Plaza establishment from getting a unanimous vote in favor of its request to have the condition removed from Bigshot's site permit.

Owner Chance Betor and city staffers said that permission to apply for a live-entertainment permit should be granted, noting that other nearby watering holes on El Toro Road, such as  and Bobby D’s Bar and Grill, have no such entertainment restrictions.

However, Commissioner Tim Hughes, the only person still serving on the Planning Commission who also was there when Bigshot's first got the OK to open, disagreed with the comparison—and with Betor's request. 

Hughes expressed his displeasure with both Betor and city staffers for allowing the El Toro Road business to become something other than a "family billiards establishment," as he said he originally expected when it opened in 1993.

However, his four colleagues on the commission disagreed with his estimation that the establishment should not be allowed to change the conditions of the permit under which its operations were originally approved.

"I see no reason to inhibit the business owner in such a way," Vice Chair Jerry Verplancke said, in a nod to Betor's assertion that businesses need to evolve to keep up with competition in a down economy. 

There is "no logic or reason" for denying Bigshot's permission to host live entertainment, Commissioner Dave Carter concurred.

Chairman Jerry Zechmeister and Commissioner Terry Anderson also spoke up in favor of removing the condition banning live entertainment from the pool hall's site permit.

Hughes, who remained perturbed even after voting in favor of the resolution, said that city staffers should have—and should in the future—bring changes to site permits approved by the Planning Commission back to the commission before making changes.

He took city staffers to task for an earlier decision allowing hard alcohol to be served at Bigshot's, which he said "undermined" the intent of the 1993 commission's ruling and led the Betors to believe that they could further change the permit's conditions.

The removal of the condition doesn't automatically grant Bigshot's permission to invite in live entertainment. Under city code, it now has permission to apply for an annually-renewed entertainment permit, according to a city staff report.

According to the Bigshot's website, the pool hall plans to host karaoke every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday starting at 9 p.m., with food and drink specials offered specifically for those nights of entertainment.

On Thursday, the commission also agreed to remove another "unusual condition" that didn't allow Betor to transfer ownership of the property to anyone, including his wife, Connie Betor, or other family members.