Where are they now?
Meet Charlie and the gang
Imagination Theater brings beloved comic strip characters to the stage.
County baseball talent has sights set on major leagues. Sports, A8
News, etc., B1
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Volume 171 • Issue 84 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
Wednesday, July 20, 2022
Trip to Green granted green light again Eric Jaramishian Staff writer The Placerville City Council voted to approve the Trip to Green program in which traffic lights on Highway 50 through the city will be set to green during three weekends this fall. The program will flip those lights green going east and westbound on the highway to improve traffic flow and reduce detoured traffic and gridlock onto local roads such as Broadway and Main Street. Signals will go green from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the first weekends of August, September and October, which includes Labor Day Weekend. Right-turn movements will be permitted on and off the Highway 50 at select locations. To get around Placerville motorists can also use streets that go under and over the highway. The council voted in favor due to peak traffic season in the county causing traffic to back up throughout Placerville. “It takes away our ability to move around town during challenging weekends and it’s even spilling over into the weekdays now during high impact traffic times,” Councilmember Dennis Thomas said. “It’s disrupting our
ability to have safe and quiet neighborhoods and interrupting our quality of life.” Traffic control will be implemented each day unless special circumstances occur, like another wildfire emergency.
“(Peak traffic season) is something that affects all of our businesses and us as residents.” — Michael Saragosa, Vice Mayor of Placerville Trip to Green is not a new concept. The El Dorado County Transportation Commission approved the program in June 2021. Plans were set for the lights to green in 2021 during the weekends of Sept. 17-19 and Oct. 15-17 but instead the strategy was put to use in August to help move Caldor Fire evacuees through Placerville. Councilmember Patty Borelli said while the program would be an inconvenience to residents, the alternative of having traffic spill into neighborhoods also needs to be addressed. She also voiced concern for how businesses might be impacted. “In respect to our businesses too, we don’t want to lock it up if people are going to get disgusted and not want to go in,” Borelli said. “There are so many factors into this to consider.” Vice Mayor Michael Saragosa called the program a “necessary evil”. n
PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE
See Green Light, page A5
Mountain Democrat photo by Sel Richard
What’s missing at this popular roadhouse? Lease negotiations that have not yet come to agreeable terms prompted the owners of The Purple Place to take down their iconic neon sign and store it for safekeeping. The Purple Place continues to operate on Green Valley Road in El Dorado Hills and the owners plan to put the sign back up when they have a new lease in place.
The Purple Place might lose its place Sel Richard Staff writer
D
ubbed El Dorado Hills’ original roadhouse, this little slice of history is embroiled in lease negotiations — negotiations that became public when patrons noticed the restaurant’s lighted sign missing — which threaten to force The Purple Place owners Mike and Denise Hountalas to close their doors. It would be a blow to the likes of Bill Collinge, who rode his motorcycle in from Roseville and has been coming since he was a kid. “It was a pretty run down bar and pool hall way back when,” he recalled. “But when these folks bought it, they turned it around into a really great restaurant. It’s a destination spot.” Although the bar and grill were established in 1955, Diana Anders, her partner Pat Evans and her daughter Amy Anders opened the restaurant portion in 1985. Mike and Denise bought the business in 2006 from Matt and Stephanie Luther of VMJ Restaurants Inc., who only owned it for a few years since purchasing it from Diana. Diana’s daughter Amy is the
“It’s so sad that we can’t seem to work it out with our landlord.” — Denise Hountalas, who owns The Purple Place with husband Mike current owner of Green Valley Center, the property that houses The Purple Place. “We acquired the trademark right to ‘The Purple Place’ name under the express terms of the purchase agreement,” attested Denise, noting that she was friendly with Diana, who continued to frequent the restaurant until her death. “We obtained signatures from the landlord and original owner approving the transfer of the trade name and signage along with the escrow documents of the sale.” The day the sale was finalized, the couple began with 12 employees, including Ann White, who has worked at the restaurant for 29 years and still serves breakfast every morning. They have since grown the local landmark to more than 50 employees, enduring pandemic shutdowns. Despite setbacks, the restaurant is busier than ever. Denise credits Mike’s expertise for much of their lasting success.
“My husband has been in the restaurant business his whole life,” she said, explaining that at 7 years old he was cracking eggs at the Cliff House, which his family owned. Prior to buying The Purple Place, Mike ran institutions such as the Pasadena Ritz Carlton, Kimpton Group, Paragary Restaurant Group and a plethora of high-end San Francisco eateries. The couple also co-owns Poor Red’s BBQ in El Dorado with the Genovese brothers. While managing The Purple Place, Denise entrenched herself in the community. With three boys who grew up in El Dorado Hills, she is a former Lakeview Elementary PTA president and has donated to countless fundraisers. “For 15 years I have not said no to anyone,” she declared. The former biker bar is now famous for its family friendly n
See Purple Place, page A9
Sunday blaze prompts evacs Some 7 acres burned Sunday afternoon in a grass fire in the Diamond Springs area. The blaze was first reported at about 1:20 p.m. behind a residence on Pearl Place, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff’s personnel evacuated residents of the nearby Diamond Terrace Apartments, Diamond Drive and the southeast end of Black Rice Road as fire crews contained the fire. The cause is under investigation. Cal Fire Public Information Officer Diana Swart confirmed two vehicles were destroyed and no structures were damaged. Mountain Democrat photo by Eric Jaramishian
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