News

Still no peace between Blue Note, neighbors

By Bill Moss, Published: June 8, 2012

Frank Sinatra sang "New York, New York" at 70 decibels. Old Blue Eyes' legendary pipes sounded just fine but his crooning didn't help the Hendersonville City Council settle a dispute between downtown residents and T's Blue Note Grill.

Councilman Steve Caraker last month asked the city staff to explore ways the city could lower the volume at downtown bars that are close to downtown residents.
"The long and short of it is as a staff we have not found the silver bullet" to solve the problem, City Manager Bo Ferguson told the council. Current city ordinance allows noise up to 70 decibels until 11 p.m. and 60 decibels from 11 pm until 7 am.
Jim Hall, the owner of apartments in the 100 block of Main Street, spoke on behalf of his tenants, whose apartment is next door to the upstairs jazz club, and on behalf of his investment. He said he hoped to market his upstairs apartments as vacation rentals.
"Our whole block is residential except for the old Expressions location," which is now the Blue Note, he said.
Gus Campano, who lives at the 108 N. Main St. apartment with his wife, Lisa, and their son, said the family expected a certain amount of noise living downtown. "What we didn't expect was to get a nightclub inside our apartment at 70 decibels," he said. "It makes it unusable."
Carroll Therian "T" Robinson, the owner of the Blue Note, told the council he's never been cited by officers. "I've been called on but I've never been against the law," he said.
"Why would you move downtown on Main Street and want to live in a nice quiet peaceful place?" he asked outside the council room. "That make sense to you?"
Stuart Rubin, owner of the building the Blue Note rents, said residents were wrong who said the old Expressions restaurant never had music. "There was always music at Expressions," he said. "When people come to their country home and move downtown they're expecting more of a noise level than out in the country.
"Like T, said we're trying to work with our neighbors, we're not breaking any laws, we try to get along with everybody. I don't think they've had any problems since I was informed of it a couple of years ago. We're not looking for a fight. We're looking to get along. This business and entertainment has been here for many years."
Council members kicked the issue to the Planning Board.
"There is no easy answer to this and I doubt that we can solve it tonight: two uses that are both legal but not necessarily compatible," said Mayor Barbara Volk.
Caraker said: "I'd like to see Planning Board to study how these two entities can co-exist. I think we need to tweak the decibel ordinance and maybe times of day."
Added Councilman Jeff Collis: "For those of us who remember when downtown closed at 5 o'clock, it's a good problem to have. I wouldn't change the decibel level. I think it's reasonable. If you're going to live downtown there's a level of noise that you're going to have to deal with."