Why is the city of Sacramento at war with a beloved Greenhaven bar? | Opinion
Sacramento’s dive bar scene is heaven to those who indulge in the less fancy watering holes. The most tight-knit and friendly communities can be found in these dives, but one bar is stuck in a needless battle with Sacramento City Hall.
The Trap is nestled in the Greenhaven neighborhood off Riverside Blvd in a building that dates back to 1861. (For context, California became a state in 1850, the same year the city of Sacramento was incorporated.)
The bar is now owned by Gregg Lukenbill, former owner of the Sacramento Kings, who brought the team to town from Kansas City in 1985.
When you enter the Trap, you are met with the sounds of classic rock and the smell of chicken wings frying in the kitchen. Past the U-shaped bar are two billiards tables occupied by players competing to be the best pool player of the day.
During a recent visit, I noticed a container of darts to my left. As an amateur darts enthusiast, I jumped with excitement at the sight of it. But I looked around, and I couldn’t see any dartboard, just the two billiards tables.
“Where’s the dartboard at?” I said loud enough so a fellow patron would graciously tell me.
“It’s out in the patio, but we can’t go out there because of the city,” a gentleman explained.
Unbeknownst to me, a battle was ensuing between Lukenbill and the city of Sacramento.
Sacramento fights over a historical landmark
On July 10, the city closed The Trap’s patio area, limiting the bar’s capacity to only 49 people. The decision came after the city cited 11 violations of the California Fire Code. Meanwhile, the bar owners sued the city for negligence.
“The Fire Marshall notified the owners of The Trap, a Greenhaven-area landmark business, that unreasonable risk of fire and harm to customers exists in certain portions of the business due to significant improper electrical connections and illegal building construction and materials utilized in the patio areas of the business,” a city spokesperson said in a statement.” As a result, the Fire Marshall has ordered that those areas may not be used.
However, on Monday, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Rockwell halted the city’s efforts to ban the patio.
Good on Judge Rockwell to prevent what has become an unnecessary escalation between two entities that should be collaborative partners.
“The City is particularly sensitive to how a temporary closure of the patio area can impact The Trap’s revenue stream,” the city said in a declaration. “However, rules are rules, and although exceptions can be made depending on extenuating circumstances, those circumstances do not here exist. It should go without saying that the sanctity of human life takes obvious precedence over the possibility—even certainty—of profit loss for a business.”
What gives?
Rules may be rules, but they can also be abused and be an unfair use of power.
“The City has reached its breaking point with unelected bureaucrats, wielding unchecked authority with no oversight, and imposing burdensome regulations that stifle small businesses,” The Trap said in its lawsuit against the city. “When these entrepreneurs resist or challenge such flagrant overreach, they face retaliatory actions, from punitive fines to targeted audits to code violation orders, designed to intimidate and silence any dissent.”
This could set a bad precedent for how the city deals with small business owners. The city seems open to the idea of entertainment within the city limits yet they are fighting with an owner who wants to breathe life into a historic building by making it a gathering place for people to spend their leisure time and spend their money.
Sacramento vs. small businesses?
I’m sure the city doesn’t want to make hindering local institutions a normal occurrence, but they keep doing that.
This whole situation reminds me of last year, when the city essentially let the Rio City Cafe die after it refused to fix the restaurant’s deck.
Further, if the city wants to appear as pro-small business, they’re not going to achieve that goal by going after the owner of a historical landmark.
Sagas like these aren’t just between the owner and the city. They affect people in the Greenhaven community as well.. They see The Trap as a place to go after a long day at work, a refuge from a crazy world.
The city should fix this situation, not make it worse.
With fights like these, Sacramento is living up to the idea that it is anti-business.
That’s not a good look.
This story was originally published July 25, 2025 at 8:58 AM.
