Town Council passes 11 special amusement permits, but one downtown home owner said the bass music makes her home thump.

Carrie Jones

just now

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Bar Harbor Bicycle Shop.

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BAR HARBOR—After two public comments, the Bar Harbor Town Council made quick work of the special amusement permits on its docket.

Special amusement permits are the permits the businesses that sell alcohol have to acquire to play music at their establishment. The town also has a general noise ordinance. These ordinances govern which hours of the day music can be played each day and how loud it can be. Bars must close at 1 a.m.

If there is a complaint about the music being too loud, the police department can be notified and see if it is too loud via a measuring device that records the decibel level.

However, one woman who lives on Kennebec Street worried about the bass, which thrums through her home, she said.

“I have a problem with the sound, particularly, the bass sound,” she said. “The thumping was going on in my house.” She later added, “It’s not just the decibels. It’s the wavelength of the sounds and bass notes have a very wide broad wavelength that transmits very easily through wood structures for one thing. So what I’m getting is not the higher I’m not getting any of the noise from the restaurant, but those bass notes are traveling from that restaurant across the street, through the house and creating this thumping feeling.”

There have been no substantiated complaints about any of the downtown establishments on the Tuesday night permit application list.

“I’ve lived with it last year. I haven’t complained, but before it got approved again, I wanted to get this point out,” she said.

The only other speaker, another Bar Harbor resident who lives with his wife on Center Street, which is also downtown said that he and his wife have patronized the Annex on Rodick Street for years and it’s an excellent business. The woman who complained about the bass agreed.

“We go there a couple nights a week and we found that business to be an excellent business,” he said. “They’ve worked very hard over the last couple years to put in significant improvements. They’ve added over the years tiles, acoustic tiles. They’ve added disperse speaker systems. They’ve even put a cork backboard there. And all of that diffuses the music actually and softens the music and makes it a higher end music venue. And the support they put behind that business is quite impressive.”

He also spoke to the sound engineer that the Annex uses to adjust music levels.

“My wife and I go up and down the coast all the time to listen to live music. We go to Portsmouth and Camden, Portland area. And I can say unequivocally that this is one of the best music venues in the state, small music venues. I think they’re an excellent business and they should have the support. It’s a jewel in this town.”

Councilor Randell Sprague suggested that perhaps there is a special device to measure bass noises. Bass lines—those lower notes—are not specified in the noise ordinance.

He also stressed that if nearby residents had issues with noise, they should lodge a complaint.

The Council unanimously approved the following 11 special amusement permits:

• Ivy Manor Inn, 194 Main St., Class D
• Bar Harbor Club, 111 West St., Class B and D
• Atlantic Oceanside, 119 Eden St., Class B and D
• Balance Rock Inn, 21 Albert Meadow, Class A
• Side Street Café/The Annex, 49 Rodick St., Class B
• Testa’s, 53 Main St., Class D
• The Travelin’ Lobster, 156 State Hwy 102, Class D
• 1932 Criterion Theatre, 35 Cottage St., Class B
• Jack Russell’s, 102 Eden St., Class B
• Sassafrass Café and Parlor, 1317 State Hwy 102, Class B and D
• Kebo Valley Golf Club, 136 Eagle Lake Rd, Class B

Member Deborah Vickers owns a property near the Criterion Theatre and the Annex and did not know if that created a conflict of interest. Councilor Joe Minutolo moved there was no conflict. The other councilors unanimously agreed. Chair Maya Caines and Councilor Steven Boucher had excused absences.

“I’m happy to see a um a lot of places doing live music,” Vickers said during “Councilor Comments” at the end of the meeting. “That’s nice that we’re trying to work that into the framework of the town. And just to let people know if you have concerns call and have a meter reading. You know, if you’re concerned that it is too loud, reach out to somebody.”

“I enjoy the live music immensely,” Sprague said and reiterated that if neighbors have issues, they should lodge a complaint.

He worried about the bass sound carrying and wondered if that could be factored into measurements.

“It’s so important that neighbors call and complain if they have a complaint because on our special amusements permit, there’s a line right here. It’s like, you know, ‘no noise complaints received from current operations.’ And it it helps us a lot if it’s like, ‘oh, we got 10 complaints, one substantiated or non-substantiated.’”

Sprague later said in his comments, “I think there is a flaw in the measurement system and I don’t know enough about audio engineering to understand completely, but it is a resounding theme: the bass sound. That’s what we always hear from people that are opposed to any amusement permits.”

“The only thing I comment about that would be if the owners of a (or the) proprietors of an establishment realize this, then maybe they can try to work with the neighbors and take that to make our corrections,” Councilor David Kief said.

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LINKS TO LEARN MORE

Council Agenda

To watch the meeting.

CORRECTION: Apparently, our brains are extremely tired and that should have been that bars must close by 1 AM not 1 PM. So many apologies. This was corrected at 11:55 AM (I promise), October 8.

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