This other day we mentioned an altercation at a restaurant “just south of Beacon and Columbian.” This restaurant is the Saigon Nice, formerly the Tan Tuu Quan, at 4864 Beacon Avenue South, and things haven’t been so nice there lately: there was another fight last night, and two people were stabbed. One of the victims went out to his car and returned with a gun, but was stopped by security from re-entering the club. The suspects and victims then both fled. The victims later received treatment for non-life-threatening injuries, but the Seattle Police Department says “there is very little suspect information.”
The owners of Saigon Nice signed a Good Neighbor Agreement on June 4 with the North Beacon Hill Council under the guidance of the City Attorney’s office. Good Neighbor Agreements, or GNAs, are voluntary agreements between retail businesses and local neighborhood organization, in which the retailers agree to modify their businesses in ways that will restrict behavior harmful to the community. For example, a convenience store with a GNA might agree not to sell certain types of alcohol that are favored by street drunks, or might agree to remove a phone booth used by drug dealers.
In the case of Saigon Nice, we’re not sure yet what the exact terms of the GNA are, but this Mid Beacon Hill post from April suggests what the eventual GNA may have included: “…they will welcome police into their establishment, not hinder investigations, call police when they see suspicious or illegal activity, paint over graffiti immediately, keep the area clean, follow all the laws including not serve liquor after 2am and not serve minors, etc.”
Given the incidents of the past couple of days, the question is whether Saigon Nice has been living up to its GNA.
On the Beacon Hill mailing list, Shelly Bates writes:
“The GNA helps the community to have a little more influence over an establishment’s liquor license. City Attorney John McGoodwin, who works out of the S. Precinct, assisted with the GNA and will be following up with Liquor and meeting with the owner of Saigon Nice ASAP. If anyone knows of more information regarding the two incidents this past week or of any unreported incidents, please contact Mr. McGoodwin with that information at john.mcgoodwin@seattle.gov.”
