Every school day, Vilma Armas watches her 16-year old daughter walk to Miguel Contreras Learning Complex from their apartment near the corner of Lucas Avenue and West 3rd Street.
It’s the same intersection where the Silver Platter, a historic LGBTQ+ Latino bar, wants to relocate.
The mother is opposed to the proposal and she’s not alone as many of her neighbors and the Los Angeles Unified School District have raised concerns about opening a bar near six school campuses in the Westlake neighborhood.
“It’s just not a good decision to open that there,” Armas said. “We’re against it for the safety of our children and ourselves, too.”
At a July 14 hearing, city staff with the Los Angeles Department of City Planning heard the proposal to relocate the Silver Platter after its longtime location on 7th Street was slated for demolition for a new housing development.
Multiple neighbors were unable to speak up during the virtual hearing because of their work schedules, language barriers, age and difficulty navigating the online meeting’s comment system. The bar’s owners have applied for a permit to sell alcoholic beverages and install a 15-foot neon sign at the new location on West 3rd Street.
No decision was made at the hearing. Instead, the zoning administrator left the public record open for 30 days to allow additional written comments before issuing a decision.
City staff are balancing the bar’s cultural and historical significance with concerns raised by the Los Angeles Unified School District and residents about parking, noise, traffic and public safety.
Supporters argue the bar is an irreplaceable cultural institution and a safe place for Spanish-speaking gay Latinos, transgender Latinas and working-class immigrants.
“This is not a new bar coming to the neighborhood,” said Martha Vasquez, who runs the bar with her mother, Margarita Xatruch. “It is an institution asking to keep its doors open in a neighborhood that it has belonged to for 60 years.”
Residents say they’re not opposed to the clientele or the bar’s legacy but rather the proximity to where people live, work and where children attend school.
The department will weigh in on the conditional use permit at a later date. Marie Pichay, city planning associate with the City Planning Department, said the case is under advisement and a decision has not been reached. Staff directed future questions to their spokesperson.
The Silver Platter has operated since 1963, becoming one of Los Angeles’ oldest and most enduring gathering places for queer and transgender Latinos in Westlake.
But after more than six decades at 7th Street and Rampart Boulevard, the family-owned bar was forced to find a new home when the property was slated for redevelopment as a mixed-use housing project during the pandemic. News of the proposed development was first reported in Kim Cooper and Richard Schave’s newsletter, Esotouric’s Secret Los Angeles in May 2024.
Rather than leave the Westlake neighborhood, the owners spent months fundraising and searching for another location before settling on 1403 W. 3rd St., about a half-mile from the original location.
Supporters say remaining in the neighborhood is essential to preserving the community the bar has served for generations.
Preservation advocates have identified it as a culturally significant site, and in 2025 it was named one of the nation’s Endangered Latinx Landmarks, according to the Latinos in Heritage Conservation.
“The next best thing for this historic institution to remain the important cultural landmark that it is, is to stay within the Westlake-MacArthur Park neighborhood,” said Jesi Harris, the applicant’s representative, during the virtual hearing.
Weeks after the virtual hearing, Roni Lopez stood in the lobby of his apartment building, surrounded by neighbors who gathered to talk about the proposal.
Lopez has lived in the building for more than a decade and was one of the few residents who spoke during the July hearing to voice his opposition.
Like many of his neighbors, Lopez, a pastor in South Los Angeles, said he is not opposed to the Silver Platter or the community it serves. His concern, he said, is the proposed location.
Residents remember the previous bar that occupied the ground-floor commercial space was a bad neighbor.
There was late-night noise, people drinking or lingering on the front steps of the residential building, and bar patrons blocking access to the apartment parking entrance and loitering around the nearby DASH bus stop.
Several residents said the block became noticeably quieter after the business closed and worry another bar would bring back the same problems.
“The city will be responsible for the decision it makes,” Lopez said. “As you can see, there’s a large community here that does not want that place to open.”
Applicants for the Silver Platter dispute the characterization, describing the bar as a quiet gathering place whose patrons have long depended on its low profile.
The applicants also said they agreed to several operating conditions, including opening after the school day, installing security cameras, coordinating with nearby schools and other measures.
LAUSD nevertheless opposes the proposal.
Julissa Hernandez, legislative liaison for the district, said LAUSD recognizes the Silver Platter’s history but is still concerned about a late-night, alcohol-serving establishment adjacent to multiple schools. Hernandez said the proposed site is near six LAUSD campuses.
Esther, Vilma’s 16-year-old daughter, shares those same concerns. She even wrote a letter to her city councilmember, Eunisses Hernandez, urging the city to reject the Silver Platter’s proposal.
“I think it’s really inconsiderate to open a bar that close to not only one school, but an elementary school, and then you have middle schools and other high schools around here,” she said in her letter.
Isaac Vargas writes for the LA Local, a nonprofit newsroom covering Los Angeles communities.
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