The city wants to come down on the Lift Lounge & Grill and the issue comes down to a scheduled appeal Tuesday on the City Council agenda.

Let's call it a microcosm for a larger debate as the city drafts a potential ordinance intended to level the playing field in the regulation of bar-restaurants. That law is due to come before the council in spring. The Lift Lounge debate Tuesday is a microcosm or, as one local wag puts it, "a showdown at the Lift Lounge and Grill."

The council meets at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 1666 N. Main St.

The council had just had a retreat session with a lot of talk about the urgency of drafting an ordinance to give the city a better handle on controlling problem saloons. Then, on Jan. 29, Walnut Creek police scrambled responding to three closing time brawls in a row, resulting in two people taken to the hospital and nine arrested. One drunken fight, at the Cinco de Mayo restaurant, was so contentious that police used pepper spray.

On Tuesday, the council will hear an appeal by Lift Lounge to a Planning Commission ruling that the city change the conditional use permit for the Locust Street bar, including a push of closing time back from 12:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. City reports cite a history of police service calls, including off-site consumption of alcohol, assaults and the July arrest of a Lift bouncer for sale of a controlled substance.

In the Lift appeal, attorney David J. Bowie said the city staff report's evidence for violations of the permit was "thin." He said the city changes to the permit "would likely spell the end of the Lift business — something which is fundamentally bad for the city of Walnut Creek."

Beyond the issue of closing time, a resolution before the council includes:

• several provisions to ensure the lounge serves food as well as beverages in late hours as a "bona fide eating place."
• a prohibition of live entertainment (private parties to be permitted with permission of the chief of police).
• a prohibition of reduced-price drink promotions.
• provisions for adequate and trained security staff.

The issue is so hot that a poll asking opinions on the issue drew the greatest response in Walnut Creek Patch history — 129 and counting.

• Forty-five people voted that the city should "restore the positions of four officers and one lieutenant, as police leaders advocate."
• Thirty-five said "take legal action to close some problem bars."
• Thirty-three stated "pass a strong nuisance law, monitor compliance, then decide on hiring additional police officers."