By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Sea Isle City condo owner Doug Adams says that the loud music late at night rumbles down Pleasure Avenue like it’s trapped inside a sound tunnel.
“The later it gets, the louder it gets,” he said.
Adams appeared before City Council during a meeting Tuesday to complain about the music emanating from “Acoustic Open Mic Nights,” the teen-oriented entertainment nights held each Thursday from 9 to 11 p.m. at the Band Shell in Sea Isle’s Excursion Park.
Adams lives in a condominium complex at the corner of 42nd Street and Pleasure Avenue, about two blocks from Excursion Park.
He told Council that the music at Open Mic Nights is so loud at times that it’s impossible to sit outside on his deck and enjoy the summer nights at the shore.
“It’s really annoying,” he said.
Sea Isle condo owner Doug Adams complains to City Council about the music.
Adams urged city officials to change the hours of the Open Mic Nights next year so they wouldn’t stretch so late into the night. He suggested holding them from 8 to 10 p.m.
City officials listened to Adams, but didn’t make any promises. He spoke with some of the Council members after the meeting and came away encouraged.
“If they could do it next year, it would be great. I think they’ll look into it,” he said in an interview about the city possibly holding the Open Mic Nights at an earlier time in 2025.
Open Mic Nights are sponsored by the Sea Isle City Chamber of Commerce & Revitalization. The city is involved because Excursion Park is a public facility that serves as Sea Isle’s main venue for family-friendly summer entertainment, including concerts, movies, dance parties and festivals.
“It seems difficult to believe that it’s been over 13 years since our Excursion Park Band Shell first opened – and what a success it has been, ever since the members of the Strathmere Ensemble performed at the Band Shell’s opening night in 2011,” Mayor Leonard Desiderio said at the Council meeting. “We can all agree that the Band Shell is a very important facility for the people of Sea Isle City.”
Open Mic Nights run through the summer on Thursday nights from 9-11 p.m. (Image courtesy of Sea Isle City)
The Open Mic Nights began in the summer of 2017 and are designed to keep teenagers from hanging out and drinking on the beaches or Promenade late at night.
The idea for the Open Mic Nights followed outbursts of underage drinking and rowdy behavior by teenagers, particularly during the summer of 2016. Sea Isle, like other shore towns, continues to deal with occasional teen rowdiness and crime during the summer tourism season.
The Open Mic Nights appeal to teens and young adults between the ages of 15 and 20. Music, karaoke and games are part of the entertainment in a festival-like setting.
The Chamber of Commerce and city officials reached an agreement in 2018 to hold the Open Mic Nights from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. in hopes that teens would spend their nights in Excursion Park instead of causing trouble late at night elsewhere in town.
Adams, though, believes that 11 p.m. is simply too late. He questioned why the Open Mic Nights allow teenagers to stay out beyond the city’s 10 p.m. curfew for minors under 18 years old.
The 10 p.m. curfew was approved by the city last year as part of its broader strategy to prevent large groups of teens from causing trouble late at night.
Under the curfew, juveniles are not allowed out from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on the beaches, the Promenade and the beach blocks unless they have a legitimate reason. There are exceptions for minors who are accompanied by adults, are going to or returning from their summer jobs or are participating in formal activities such as recreation programs or the Open Mic Nights.
Debbie and Doug Adams are frustrated by the loud music.
The city allows the music at the Open Mic Nights to continue as late as 11 p.m., despite a local noise ordinance that requires outdoor music at bars and restaurants in Sea Isle to end at 9 p.m. each night.
“The only exception is soft music, which shall be permitted to 11 p.m. Soft music when played produces a relaxing peaceful ambiance and shall not include live or disc jockey entertainment or music,” the ordinance says.
The Band Shell at Excursion Park doesn’t fall within the 9 p.m. outdoor music restriction because it is a public facility, not a privately owned business such as the bars and restaurants in town.
Doug Adams and his wife, Debbie, who was also at Tuesday’s Council meeting but didn’t make public remarks, said they simply want the music toned down in some way at the Open Mic Nights to be less disturbing.
“Coming down Pleasure (avenue), it’s like a tunnel. The music comes right down at you,” Adams said.
