BC- CRACKIN” THE WHIP….on the volume ….
Excerpts…
“Fort Lauderdale tells beach bars to be quiet after 11 p.m.
Live musicians at Fort Lauderdale beach’s bars have been given an 11 p.m. bedtime by City Hall.
Code enforcers are cracking down on loud music late at night in bars all over town, including at the historic Elbo Room at Fort Lauderdale beach. (Click here to see my Friday post on this, with a videotaped interview with Gary Gore the guitar player.)
The beachfront bars and restaurants were ordered to stop blaring their music after 11 p.m. or face heavy fines.
City code manager Michael Maloney said there’s not a complete curfew on music; just on loud music. Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom said the noise enforcement was prompted by condo residents’ continuous complaints.“It’s a constant battle between the residents and the entertainment district,’’ said Rodstrom.
The city passed a new, stricter noise law a year ago, and in January began to turn down the dial on “excessive noise at the beach,’’ Maloney said. Inspectors took decibel readings, and issued noise citations.
The loud music didn’t stop.
Beach residents know they’re not moving to a pastoral, quiet setting, he said.
Penrod, whose family has owned the iconic bar for 30 years, said she thinks the crackdown “will hurt us.’’ “It’d be like going down to Key West and Sloppy Joe’s closing at 11. It doesn’t make sense.’’
On a recent weekday, musician Gary Gore was on stage in the extremely casual Elbo Room, belting out “I Alone.’’ Live acts used to play until 2 or 3 in the morning. Now the bar switches to quieter house music after 11.
Gore was so baffled by the crackdown, he could only theorize that someone wants the land to build “more high-rises.’’
“It’s obviously absurd. It’s someone playing with the political process, messing with the democratic process. … Who are we loud to? We’re across the street from the beach.’’
At the northern end of the same block, Cafe del Mar general manager Arturo Soares smoked a cigar at a sidewalk table.
“This is the last party block on A1A,’’ he said, “where people of every walk of life are welcome to come down. …. We embellish the experience with live entertainment.’’
“By 11 o’clock, even my canned music needs to be off,’’ he said. “No music outside at all.’’
And, he said, “the minute you shut off your music, everyone leaves.’’
At the nearby Venetian condo, resident Vicki Mowrey said she didn’t complain, and those who did should “move to Weston,’’ Broward’s western-most city.
“It’s like moving next to the train track and complaining because the trains go by,’’ she said, “which people do all the time.’’
Full text link below….
