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Show City officials to consider lawsuit against noisy Alamo Draft House c It started last April when three Park City policemen hauled an intoxicated ; man out of the Alamo Bar under a barrage of insults from the crowd. The city reacted by closing the bar for 72 'hours. , ' ' Bar owners Mark Stemler and Cindy ' David said the closure was a violation of the procedure outlined in the city's liquor licensing ordinance, and they asked to be reimbursed for the profits they lost during those three days. When 1 the request was denied, Stemler and David filed a lawsuit in federal court against the City and Police Chief " Frank Bell, which claimed that the summary closure provision of the ordinance is unconstitutional. In addi-: addi-: tion to their lost profit they are seeking ; $100,000 in punitive damages. 1 Since that incident, City Attorney Tom Clyde said, "all summer the city ' has received a steady stream of calls complaining about the noise emanating emanat-ing from the Alamo." According to Clyde, the City Council has decided that there has been sufficient criticism to warrant a hearing to determine whether to revoke the Alamo's business and Class C liquor licenses. The decision to revoke the Alamo's license would require a cdrt action. Clyde said the revocation hearing had nothing to do with violation of the city ordinances, but would be based on a state statute for "abating a public nuisance." The City Council will hold a hearing on whether to file a lawsuit against the Alamo on August 4. Alamo owners Stemler and David said they feel the most recent charge is a direct response to the exposure which their original suit has received. "The amazing thing is that we feel we've put a lot of time, money and effort into renovating and running several businesses busi-nesses on Main Street (they also own The Club and Janeaux's) and that we've done a service for Park City," said Stemler. "I think the City has lost sight of the forest for the trees." David says she has studied the local ordinances and feels the Alamo is on steady ground. "I've checked and the Alamo is in compliance with the noise regulations and with the rules about open doors," she said. The city has set the maximum outdoor noise level at 80 decibels. David claims that the musicians have checked their meters and have kept them below 90 decibels indoors, which they feel couldn't exceed 80 decibels outside. As to the doors and windows, David said they are allowed to be open, but they nave tried to close them during the performances and to only open them for ventilation between sets. The owners added that they have hired a doorman to avoid incidents like that in April. - "If you remember how that hap-pened hap-pened there was a guy outside the bar who was drinking and the police told him to come in here. He might not even have been a customer here and yet they told him to get in the bar. Then they pursued him into my bar in what I feel was a very unprofessional manner. I certainly don't approve of the crowd's reaction to the police, but I feel that if they had arrested him out on the street in the first place, it never would have affected my business," Stemler explained. As for the noise, David said they have begun to do some canvassing of the neighborhood residents and several of them, she said, say there is no problem. "We want them to provide us with some written documentation of the complaints, like who is calling and when." Although Stemler and David feel that the city misadministered the case in April, Stemler commented they are hoping to come to a positive agreement with the council next Thursday. |
