Oct 16, 2025
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by The Witham Family Hotels Charitable Fund.
TREMONT—A request by Tremont resident Paul Beatley to discuss a potential ordinance amendment that would include language to address noise levels in town was honored at the Tremont Planning Board meeting on Tuesday night, October 14.
Approximately 33 members of the public, many with differing views on the subject, showed up for the discussion which began with Beatley telling the planning board why he feels the town needs an enforceable noise ordinance and eventually ended with the board’s vice chair having to use the gavel to restore order.
Planning Board Vice Chair Brett Witham was acting as chair due to the resignation of Planning Board Chair Mark Good on September 22.
“This became an egregious problem in July. It was in July when there was a special event. The noise levels became unreasonable, became in fact, egregious,” Beatley said.
Beatley explained that he and his wife own and live at 5 Flat Iron Road which is approximately 400 feet away from Archie’s Lobster, according to Beatley. Beatley added that he and his wife were at the meeting to ask the planning board to press the select board to adopt a noise ordinance for the town as there is no current noise ordinance.
The Beatleys moved to Tremont and into their house in 2018 when Archie’s was still the abandoned McEachern Lumber yard. Last year was the first year that the Beatleys noticed music and it did not bother them because it was directed out over the water. This year, according to Beatley, the direction of the projection of the music changed and it was being played inside of an outbuilding whose opening faced their home and it seemed much louder than the previous year.
In September, there was another special event and Beatley said that he measured noise levels, at peak, of 91db on their porch. Beatley also said that for this event there were strobe lights pointed in the direction of their residence.
“Archie’s generously donates their time and facilities for community events like that to happen,” said an audience member.
“So, we did on three separate occasions, as good neighbors will, go and ask them to turn down the volume,” Beatley said. “We were informed that they had a permit issued by the town to play the music and therefore, nothing would be done about it. We suggested that perhaps they might reorient the music away from our home and perhaps to a more diffuse location on the harbor.”
Beatley feels that the special amusement permits that are issued by the town, to multiple businesses, were issued in violation of Tremont’s own laws and that the town is at a point where a specific noise ordinance is needed.
Beatley then read a potential ordinance that he wrote and which a large amount of was modeled after the noise ordinance of Southwest Harbor. In this proposed ordinance model, Beatley suggested that the noise limit should be 55db. That proposed ordinance was provided by Beatley along with his address to the planning board and some images he created.
Beatley Address To Planning Board 10 14 25
189KB ∙ PDF file
Planning board member Ben Harper said that the permits are issued by the select board and that any proposal for a new ordinance should go before the select board and be outside of the code enforcement officer’s purview, especially given that enforcement of the ordinance would often take place outside of the CEO’s work hours and would be better served by being enforced by the police department.
Witham, noted that 55db (decibel) is equivalent to the hum of an operating refrigerator.
In his presentation, Beatley referenced the Environmental Protection Agency as a noise equivalency and rating source. Two different EPA noise documents can be accessed here and here. Both documents are from 1974.
One audience member said that she wanted to note that the special amusement permit does not state or limit how many days or hours the music can be amplified and those that live close to the source have no idea if this is going to be “blasting at us in the morning, the afternoon, the evening.”
Jean Warren who lives on Three Dog Lane echoed Beatley’s sentiments about the noise having gotten worse over the years. She said that she enjoys going to Archie’s and that as good neighbors they have been communicative about noise concerns and it was working really well until this summer.
“Despite our goodwill and best intentions, I think we are at the point where we do need to have some kind of protection for us so that we can use our property but that Archie’s can still do business,” Warren said. “Right now, there is no framework for us all to be able to live within.”
Another audience member asked if lobstermen would be able to start their boats in the morning or if Gott’s would be able to run its crusher in the morning under such a strict noise ordinance as what Beatley is proposing.
“Normally a special amusement permit is issued for a certain amount of time, it’s renewable every single year, it sounds like the problems, I mean because, just a noise ordinance, will affect all of us,” an audience member said. “It sounds like if there is a problem with a business and their noise or their lights, then people should be showing up to the selectmen’s meeting, before, when they show up to renew their license every single year.”
This allows the selectmen to know if there are issues and they have the power to deny a permit if they want, she said.
“They close at eight o’clock at night, so I am just wondering how much noise there is?” asked another audience member.
Other audience members said that Archie’s music actually stops at 7 p.m.
Witham said, “I think what we will do; we can talk to the select board. I do think as I am looking at this, it’s an annual permit. It probably should have some more detail, like the hours, the days, you know, just kind of some more guardrails around it.”
“I would like the board to educate itself on the harmfulness of 91db for five hours on private property. I think you owe it to the citizens of this town to educate yourselves as to what noise nuisance is,” Beatley said, “You have an opportunity to pass a noise ordinance to protect the well-being and the health of the entire town. But you need to understand and you need to learn what those noise levels are.”
“You had me for a little while, but when you start being patronizing ,you lose me really quick,” responded Witham.
Becky Hopkins said, “When you buy a property in a commercial zone, I don’t think you have the right to come in and change all the rules for the commercial zone. I think if you don’t like the noise and you don’t like what’s going on, plant your trees, build your fence, take care of yourself, but I don’t think we can come in and decide that everything has to change just because a different business is there than was what there before.”
Dan Lorey, a professional local musician said, “This town has existed since the mid-1700s and it has been incorporated since the mid-1800s. We have gotten along all this time without a noise ordinance. There’s 1,500 people here and if you start allowing two, or three, or four, or five, six people to dictate how the other 1,500 have to live, you’re going to wind up with Bar Harbor. And Bar Harbor is out of control right now.”
Harper asked if there was anyone from Archie’s present at the meeting and the owner, Heather Lewis, spoke up and said that she was present along with her husband, who is a co-owner.
Lewis said that Archie’s got its special amusement permit last spring when its liquor license was issued and that they play music on Friday nights, Sundays, and Mondays, as well as an occasional special program.
“I have worked with the neighbors to try to control this. I do not have strobe lights or spotlights. I have lights on the outside of my buildings that illuminate the parking so when it’s after dark, patrons are leaving and they can see their car. Those lights go off during the day. I will admit, occasionally, when I have tried to rush out of there at night, I probably have not switched off those lights so that they will darken the parking lot. My apologies. They do go off during the day, but I have never set a strobe light off in anyone’s direction,” Lewis said.
Lewis continued, “I have tried to accommodate noise and direction, of which way those speakers go. I have spoken with all of my musicians who have come there, let them know about our community of neighbors and that we should try to oblige by that. I can’t dictate the tide and the weather when I am playing music on those certain days, nor am I going to cancel on a musician because it might be high tide and the noise is going to travel. I have never had them blasting the music. I have had a couple of events where they have been louder. And we do have bad communication because they have come over and gotten into our face during our open businesses and accosted us, and we are not going to tolerate that. I am running a business there; I am doing the best I can. I am only playing music from five to seven, I have never had music later than that.”
“On September 27, it ran from three until eight and there were some strobe lights,” Beatley responded.
After Beatley’s response to Lewis, multiple people started heatedly talking to each other in the crowd, causing Witham to resort to gaveling the audience back under control.
Witham than said that the planning board had heard enough on this subject and that they would be communicating to the select board about this issue and recommended that the others also communicate with the select board.
Unless otherwise noted, all photos: Shaun Farrar/Carrie Jones/BHS
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