By Donald Wittkowski
After getting an earful from noise-sensitive residents, City Council on Tuesday killed a proposal to allow Sea Isle City’s outdoor bars and restaurants to play music for an extra hour on weekend nights.
The proposed ordinance seemed doomed from the start when Mayor Leonard Desiderio, who is a bar owner in town, asked Council to withdraw it prior to the vote.
When Council President William Kehner told Desiderio that he believed the ordinance would be voted down by the governing body, the mayor responded, “Good decision. Thank you.”
The proposal, if approved, would have permitted outdoor bars and restaurants to play music on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights until 10 p.m., an hour later than currently allowed.
With two members absent, Council introduced the ordinance by a bare 2-1 majority on May 20. All five Council members were present on Tuesday and unanimously voted against the plan after listening to sharp objections to the ordinance from local residents during a public hearing.
Several residents made it clear they did not want to endure an extra hour of loud music disrupting their weekend nights.
“We are really, really having problems. It’s gotten to the point where I can’t take it anymore,” said Bill Keleher, who lives on 40th Street near the LaCosta Lounge, a popular downtown bar.
Keleher said the music at LaCosta is so loud at times that it causes the deck at his home to vibrate.
“I need your help,” Keleher told Council. “I need some resolution.”
Responding to Keleher’s comments, City Business Administrator George Savastano said, “We have heard you, loud and clear, sir.”
Savastano noted that the mayor has directed his administration to take steps to address the noise complaints.
James Bennett, the owner of LaCosta Lounge, originally supported the idea of extending the hours for outdoor music. But Bennett said he changed his mind after speaking to his neighbors and hearing their concerns. Bennett asked Council to withdraw the ordinance, drawing applause from the audience.
Another local resident, Sharon Kronmiller, said the outdoor music emanating from the bars is so loud on some nights that it drowns out the TV at her home.
“It’s unlivable anymore,” she said. “It’s just not fair to us.”
Kronmiller rents out her townhouse when she is not there. She said she fears the loud music, combined with unruly behavior by intoxicated bar customers, may disturb her guests and also harm Sea Isle’s attempts to portray itself as a family-friendly summer tourist town.
She implored the mayor to speak to the bar owners and bartenders about the importance of cutting off drinks to patrons, particularly young ones, who are obviously intoxicated.
Kronmiller expressed relief after Council voted down the proposal for an extra hour of outdoor music, saying she believes it will help make the city more attractive to visitors.
“I want my guests to come back every year to Sea Isle and enjoy the town,” she said.
Council had discussed the possibility of extending the hours for outdoor music as part of a broader package of proposed regulatory changes to liven up the entertainment and dining scene this summer.
One proposed ordinance, which would have extended the hours for dining and drinking outdoors from the current 11 p.m. curfew to midnight, failed to gain enough support from Council during the May 30 meeting and died.
