CENTRAL DISTRICT: It seems to attract drug peddlers, prostitutes, and violent crime, but Deano's Cafe & Lounge on Madison Street always survived, defying several years' worth of neighbor-driven efforts to close it. Only now does it appear the end is nigh. On February 23, Mayor Greg Nickels's office mailed a letter to the Washington State Liquor Control Board suggesting that it not renew Deano's liquor license, which expires this month. The board will consider the matter at a meeting on Monday. "When a city objects to a license, we take that very seriously," says Bob Burdick, a spokesman for the board. "It's a major factor in whether or not to renew a license." There's no question about the crime that surrounds Deano's, but in the past the city has struggled to prove it exists inside the bar. The board upheld Deano's license when the city challenged it in 2002. This time, the city's letter, signed by Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis, describes incidents it believes are attributable to the bar itself: the murder in Deano's parking lot last April, an incident last June when the bar's manager refused to allow a police officer to enter to arrest a drug dealer, and multiple instances of patrons smoking crack in the restrooms. The owner, Dean Falls, who had part of his finger bitten off when breaking up a fight between two female patrons last December, may be more inclined to sell his property if the bar's liquor license is revoked, or at least that is the hope long expressed by homeowners nearby. Falls did not return calls for comment. GREENWOOD: Leilani Lanes will meet a wrecking ball soon, but there was hope in Greenwood that the new property might present an opportunity to revise outmoded city building codes that restrict heights to 40 feet in urban villages. But that was up to Mastro Properties, which purchased the property and plans to put apartments and stores at the site. The company would have had to apply for rezoning, and the Greenwood Community Council had expressed its willingness to help convince city planners of the idea's merit. Mastro, however, is not particularly interested in playing pioneer: "It's not an option [Mastro] is likely to explore" because a rezoning would bring the costs that come with delaying construction and designing the structure all over again. Instead, it appears the building will be short and square—a design that is becoming derisively known as "Borg architecture" by frustrated Greenwood residents who have seen Star Trek. —TF