The city gave business owners and several neighborhood associations a sneak peek Monday at proposed changes to laws that regulate live entertainment and noise levels at bars and restaurants throughout Jersey City.
The city has for years struggled with how best to balance the growth of its nightlife scene with the needs of residents – some of whom welcome the lively atmosphere that comes with living in a thriving urban community, some of whom have complaints about noise and other issues that stem from the city’s bars and restaurants. The city is now trying to strike a compromise.
Under a series of proposed amendments, the city would set strict decibel levels for live entertainment at bars, restaurants, and nightclubs and dictate hours when such entertainment can occur.
The hope is that the changes will allow businesses to hold live entertainment and attract customers without being a nuisance to the community.
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While restaurants throughout the city will be affected by the proposed changes, the downtown area known as Restaurant Row, along Newark and Jersey avenues, could be affected the most. This area has a high concentration of popular restaurants that host live entertainment, including LITM and Madame Claude Café, and a number of downtown neighborhood associations have often raised concerns about noise.
Members of these associations and business owners who met with city officials Monday gave the proposed changes mixed reviews, however.
Amendments to the entertainment law could be introduced by the City Council as early as this week, in time for the council’s last meeting before the New Year. They would then come up for a final vote at a subsequent meeting.
However, the amendments might not be formally introduced until early 2012.
How loud is too loud?
“Obviously, one of the things that Jersey City has experienced over a number a years is growth in its restaurant and bar sector, and this sector is one of the many positive aspects that brings people to Jersey City,” said Carl Czaplicki, director of the Department of Housing, Economic Development, and Commerce. “Unfortunately, for a long time we’ve had a quagmire where the only way that you could have [legal] entertainment in a venue or a restaurant was to get a nightclub license. And, because of our zoning laws, you could only have a nightclub license in the Highway Commercial District [along Tonnelle Avenue and Route 440].”
Czaplicki said this created a problem for venues elsewhere in the city that wanted to host events like jazz brunch Sundays, comedy nights, live music, or other entertainment. These businesses, Czaplicki said, could either forego having live entertainment, hurting their ability to draw customers, or apply for a variance from the city allowing them to host live entertainment. Businesses that didn’t get a variance have often hosted live entertainment illegally, sometimes to the annoyance of nearby residents.
Making matters worse, until recently the city had no subjective way to determine whether noise coming from nightspots was “too loud” or not. Residents would often call the police to complain about music coming from a business. Responding officers had to decide whether in their opinion the music was loud enough to be a nuisance.
Over the summer the city purchased five decibel meters. An inspector can now use a decibel meter to determine whether the entertainment is above or below an accepted volume threshold.
In September, a trained inspector began using a meter to take volume readings whenever residents called police to complain about noise. The city has used this information to come up with new acceptable volume levels for live entertainment.
If the proposed changes are approved in their current form, restaurants and bars will be able to obtain an entertainment license that will allow them to host live performances that can’t exceed 55 decibels between noon and 10 p.m., and 45 decibels after 10 p.m.
The stage or area where the entertainment is taking place must also be at least 10 feet away from an entrance door or open window.
‘Good compromise’ or double standard?
The changes received mixed reviews from residents and business owners on Monday.
“I’ve been here 15 years and I’ve been waiting for the city to revise the entertainment ordinance ever since I got here,” said Anthony Susco, who works as a DJ and books bands. “From my perspective, it’s going to help modernize the city because it’s finally going to give a lot more businesses an opportunity to host live entertainment. There are many establishments that have live entertainment, but they’re doing it illegally. And there’s an arbitrary city enforcement system regarding whether those businesses get into trouble or not.”
But restaurant owner Tom Parisi said the proposed changes create a double standard for live entertainment versus other types of entertainment.
Parisi, the owner of Tommy 2 Scoops near Exchange Place, recently opened the Brightside Tavern on Bright Street. The tavern has a piano that can’t be played legally until the proposed amendments go into effect and Parisi applies for an entertainment license.
He’s frustrated that his baby grand is subject to laws and regulations that don’t apply to jukeboxes that blare recorded music at other bars.
“The issue really shouldn’t be about whether I have live music or music that’s piped in from a jukebox,” said Parisi. “The issue should be the level of noise that’s being created, period.”
Resident Richard Boggiano, who has often had noise problems with two businesses on Newark Avenue, also questioned whether the city has enough resources to adequately enforce the new decibel levels. Currently, there’s only one trained inspector available for the entire city.
But other residents had a different take on the proposals.
“Where it stands now, I think it’s a very good compromise,” said Jim Ayers of the Village Neighborhood Association. “I’ve been sitting at the table since one of the first meetings on this issue. It was really all over the place before. I thought they were going to merge some of the [outdoor events at Grove Plaza] into this, which they didn’t do. That kind of surprised me. But I’m happy with it.”
Rob Crowe, also a member of the Village Neighborhood Association, said, “A lot of the problems now have to do with a few businesses that are taking advantage of the situation, you know, some of the bars. So, I think [these proposals] may help.”
The proposed changes to the city’s entertainment law only affect bars and restaurants and do not apply to such outdoor events as Creative Grove, Groove on Grove, the farmers market, or the town square events in the Newport neighborhood. These popular events have occasionally drawn noise complaints from residents in Newport and the Grove Pointe development at Grove Plaza.
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.