Lobster Pound offers compromise on amplified music plan

On the eve of a public hearing on its request to relax the outdoor loudspeaker ordinance to extend the hours of amplified music, the Weirs Beach Lobster Pound has pared down its proposal to apply only to "the very heart of The Weirs" and only Fridays and Saturdays as well as those Sundays before holidays falling on Mondays.

The issue first arose last September when attorney Paul Fitzgerald, representing the Lobster Pound, asked the City Council to change the loudspeaker ordinance to permit amplified entertainment throughout the commercial resort district until 12:30 a.m. seven nights a week between Memorial Day and Columbus Day.

City Council will hold a public hearing on the matter at City Hall on the night of Tuesday, May 26.

The current ordinance prohibits amplified music past 10 p.m. throughout the city, except during Motorcycle Week. Fitzgerald accompanied the proposal with recommendations to authorize the Licensing Board to require measures to contain and dampen the sound and to permit decisions of the Licensing Board to be appealed to the City Council.

Fitzgerald offered his original proposal in the wake of confusion that arose when Richard and Michael Ray, owners of the Lobster Pound, planned to stage a three-day rock music festival over Labor Day weekend. The Rays only learned of the ordinance after booking the performers and advertising the event.

Meanwhile, at least a couple of neighbors had complained about the amplified sound coming from the deck of the restaurant during the summer. In addressing the complaints, city officials discovered that the Licensing Board erred by granting an outdoor loudspeaker permit that allowed bands to play until midnight each night through October. Ultimately the City Council agreed not to enforce the ordinance over the Labor Day Weekend enabling the Rays to proceed with their scheduled event. At the same time, the council agreed to revisit the issue before the opening of the next tourist season.

Before the council got back to the subject this year, the Lobster Pound applied to the Licensing Board for a permit to play amplified music performed by soloists, duets, trios and quartets from noon to midnight on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from May 2 until October 1. The board denied the permit.

Meanwhile, the council scheduled a public hearing on the loudspeaker ordinance for May 26, which together with the Lobster Pound's request of the Licensing Board, prompted owners of hotels, motels and cottages, along with residents, to close ranks in opposition to a change in the ordinance. "We sell sleep," said Fred Clausen of Proctor Cottages. Echoing Clausen, Tom Pucci of the Grand View Hotel said last month that "this issue is picking up steam and becoming quite divisive."

In what Fitzgerald describes as "in the true spirit of compromise," the Lobster Pound now asks that the hours for amplified music outdoors be extended from 10 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and occasional Sundays from Memorial Day to Columbus Day.

Moreover, the extended hours would apply only to an L-shaped area beginning at the Lobster Pound on Endicott Street North, extending south to the intersection with Lakeside Avenue, and running along Lakeside Avenue to Foster Avenue. Fitzgerald stressed that the area consists almost exclusively of "commercial establishments, restaurants and entertainment of various varieties." He said the proposed was designed to mollify residents together with business owners who believe that the extended hours would have an adverse impact on their enterprises.