Hearing Tonight: Turning Cody's Space into 'Mad Monk' Eating & Music Complex

Berkeley's Zoning Adjustments Board is scheduled to hold a public hearing tonight, April 11, on the proposed reincarnation of Cody's bookstore into a eating and entertainment complex that has "Mad Monk" somewhere in the name.

The building owner, Ken Sarachan, and Berkeley-based Avila Design are seeking a use permit to fill the long-vacant space prominently located at Telegraph Avenue and Haste Street with four restaurants, a bar, a retail outlet and a live music stage.

On the ground floor would be two "quick serve" restaurants, a "small retail store," a "full service restaurant" and a "live performance stage." Upstairs would have another full service restaurant "serving distilled spirits at bars located on the second floor (and occasionally on the ground floor)," according to the use-permit application.

The project appears under a variety of names in the application materials, including

• Mad Monk
• Mad Monk Center for Anachronistic Media "Analog Asylum"
• Mad Monk's Food and Entertainment Complex

Sarachan is founder of nearby Rasputin Music on Telegraph, named after a Russian mystic sometimes referred to as "the mad monk."

A Feb. 19 letter to Berkeley's planning director from the executive director of the Telegraph Business Improvement District, Roland Peterson, urges approval for "the Mad Monk nightclub."

"Telegraph Avenue is in dire need of new replacement businesses to make the area more attractive," Peterson says.

The city and local business organizations have long been struggling to revitalize the iconic stretch of Telegraph Avenue just south of the UC Berkeley campus.

The proposed stage would feature "a constantly changing mix of musical artists performing a full range of entertainment options," according to the application.

The flower stand beside the building would be incorporated into the project as a new flower stand.

The Zoning Adjustments Board meeting, which also includes hearings on two other zoning applications, starts at 7 p.m. in the City Council chambers. 

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