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Monte Rio’s septic woes sink the Pink Elephant
Sonoma West > Archives > Sonoma West Times & News > News > Monte Rio?s septic woes sink the Pink Elephant
by Frank Robertson
Sonoma West Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, December 27, 2009 3:58 PM PST
Monte Rio’s historic Pink Elephant bar closed last week after owner Tim Parker discovered the price of complying with county building code requirements was more than he could afford.
Parker said he’d like to put in a needed new septic system as part of a planned bar renovation but the estimated $50,000 to $80,000 installation cost puts it out of reach at a time when he already has cash flow problems and has filed for bankruptcy.
“I’m out of money,” said Parker. “I’ve gone as far as I can go with this.”
The news stunned Monte Rio residents for whom “the Pink,” as locals call it, served as a cultural landmark where old hippies, bikers and Bohemian Club bon vivants have all rubbed shoulders beneath the bright neon-lighted Pink Elephant sign above the bar’s front door. Except for a brief closure in the 1990s, the Pink has been open since 1937.
“It’s a crying shame,” said Villa Grande resident Ken Wikle. “That place has been a landmark forever and the way Parker was running it, it was a nice place.”
The bar was also gaining a reputation as a good place to eat, with Parker and staff turning out restaurant fare that attracted customers other than the Pink’s denizen die-hards.
“It’s a funky place that I’ll hit up after ab diving or a mushroom foray,” said a San Francisco customer’s comment on an online Web site. “The food is good as are the drinks. It’s the kind of place that makes me glad I live in San Francisco.”
A recent visitor from New York praised it as “an awesome cheap dive bar.”
Parker started work last month on improvements including new bathrooms in the approximately 100-year-old building. He hoped to reopen last week but a county building inspector, apparently acting on a complaint, determined the extent of the new construction exceeded the permit’s “scope of work.”
Parker now needs to prepare plans that detail the restroom replacement project that was under way, said Shems Peterson of the county Permit and Resource Management Department (PRMD).
“What he has to do is give us plans on what he’s planning on doing. We asked him to stop working until he submitted plans to cover all the additional work that he started,” said Peterson, PRMD’s supervising building inspector.
Parker removed the Pink’s bathrooms and planned to relocate them but had no permit for that work, said Peterson, adding that Parker can go back to PRMD with plans, pay penalties and reopen.
“We didn’t close it down. We did not post the building unsafe or deny access,” Peterson said.
“The existing bathrooms were out of compliance,” with accessibility requirements for people with disabilities, he added. “Now that he’s removed bathrooms that automatically triggers full compliance. A building permit of that extent triggers septic compliance. Had he talked to us before we would have warned him,” of what the larger scope of work would entail, Peterson said.
The Pink’s septic system borders Dutch Bill Creek which flows into the Russian River, a designated “impaired” waterway in Monte Rio owing to elevated pathogen levels.
Parker said he knew he was doing more work than his permit allowed but he felt it was crucial to keep the business going and didn’t think anyone would complain.
“I don’t begrudge the county. The septic system was failing,” said Parker. “Unfortunately it’s a matter of money.”
Parker bought the 72-year-old bar three years ago from former owners Rich and Donna Davis, who were then his father- and mother-in-law.
“I put everything I had into that place,” said Parker. “In the three years I owned the place every dime I made went right back into the building. I did what I could to make that place keep going.”
Liquor business had slowed in the current recession but food sales were up, said Parker. The menu ranged from house-made pizza and the Satan Burger embellished with chilies, cheese and bacon to specials such as lamb shanks and “prime rib every Thursday,” said Parker.
The Pink served food after other local restaurants had closed, making it a place where nearby resort guests could go for a late dinner.
“There aren’t a lot of places to eat in Monte Rio and not a lot of places to eat inexpensively,” said Parker.
The Pink has been a mainstay of downtown Monte Rio since the 1930s and is one of the last existing commercial buildings on Main Street where the lack of a modern sewage disposal system has been an obstacle to almost any new commercial venture.
When Parker bought the Pink three years ago Monte Rio was on the verge of getting a new $20 million sewage disposal system but that project was halted two years ago owing to the expense.
Now only Bartlett’s Market across the street remains open downtown, plus Noel’s auto repair and a thrift store. The Monte Rio firehouse up the street is up for a planned renovation that too will require a new septic system.
The Pink will go back to the bank, said Parker, to be sold in foreclosure.
“I don’t know what I’ll do,” said Parker, 43. “I was there 80 hours a week. I put everything I had into that place.”