Harwich Could Pull Plug On Amplified Outdoor Music

HARWICH – Efforts to restore amplification outdoor music to establishments in Harwich Port have received no support from the select board. The board may, in fact, consider not allowing amplified outdoor music at any establishment. 

The attorney for Ember Pizza and The Port restaurant, Dina Browne of Blitzer and Blitzer, said both have been denied outdoor amplified music permits while it is allowed at other nearby establishments. She called for parity among establishments in the village.  

“Both Ember and The Port have been punished with the loss of amplified music outside,” Browne said in an Aug. 18 session on the request by Ember Pizza to bring back amplified music to the restaurant.

Ember Pizza and The Port restaurant are owned by the Brackett family. Browne said The Port has not had a noise violation since 2009 and Ember Pizza since 2019. There has been no evidence over the past five or six years that there has been any disruption to the public or safety issues as a direct result of the establishments, Browne said.

“We’re asking for parity, that we are treated the same as any other establishment in town,” Browne said. “We would like our amplification back.”

“We may have to do something with other licenses, but if we treat everybody the same, for sure, it’s not going to be everybody gets amplification,” said Chair Donald Howell. “It could be the other way.” Establishments that currently have outdoor amplified music may lose that right, he said.

There are other establishments with multiple noise violations in town that are as close to neighbors as The Port and are given outdoor amplified music permits without any discussion, said Browne.    

 “I feel, Mr. Howell, you are going to say so it’s working, you don’t have amplified music and there have not been complaints,” Brown said. “That’s like saying Mr. Handler hasn’t struck out, when he never got up to bat.”

 She said the establishments are looking for fairness, adding that both provide livelihoods for multiple people in town.

Browne said patrons are more likely to go to establishments with amplified music and stay for multiple hours, allowing those establishments to have a competitive advantage.

 The town has not adhered to the general laws that require the board to give her clients a public hearing when they seek modifications to entertainment licenses. She said without that compliance, the town is obligated to approve the license request.

 Neighbors sides with the select board.

 “You don’t have to hear it, you can feel it right through the floor boards: thump, thump, thump, right through the floor of the house,” Michael Hershey of Woodland Road said of the days when Ember had amplified music outside.

To say amplified music doesn’t contribute to noise is absurd, he said. It’s at the expense of the whole neighborhood, Hershey said.

Maura Ferrie abuts The Port restaurant and called conditions there “untenable,” adding that the remedy is not to exacerbate the situation. Ferrie said she calls the police department often because she can’t sleep, and when the establishment closes at 1 a.m. patrons pass through her yard. 

“I can’t sit out on my deck, there is a cacophony of music from The Port and Perks. It’s already changed the character and safety of the town. It’s very difficult to be a neighbor,” she said. 

 “The noise is a serious concern,” said Martha Mason, who lives across Route 28 from The Port. “Harwich Port [has grown] dramatically and drastically since I was a kid. We have to start thinking about how we’re going to handle it because it’s going to be a safety concern. 

“The noise is a problem,” she added. “There are a lot of people down there, it’s late and it’s packed and a lot of people are yelling. I don’t see why they need outside amplification.”

The new entertainment license has a nuisance provision so it doesn’t have to be just sound, said Bob Nickerson, a neighbor across Route 28 from Ember. Nickerson said over the past two years Ember has been very good because they have had only acoustic music outside.

But Nickerson said late at night when people leave the bars, he hears screaming and yelling and people throwing road construction barrels in his yard. He said he is concerned about the addition of outside amplified music. 

“It’s not a good decision, we don’t need it,” Nickerson said of allowing amplified outside music.

“There have been no attempts to develop a noise management program of any sort,” said Pleasant Street resident Bob Cohn. “There’s been no change in enforcement methods and results, no change in the results of noise violations hearings. The only result is a slap on the wrist, nothing has changed in the last several years in any significant way.”

“I’m opposed to outdoor amplified music in Harwich Port,” said Ken Mason, who owns the building across the street from The Port. 

Mason said when he was on the planning board they worked on a master plan designed to keep Harwich Port the quaint village it was. They provided mixed-use zoning to allow more residential housing. Ten p.m. is too late to allow outdoor music. He recommended outside music end at 8 p.m. 

 “Why do you need amplified music when they are already overcapacity with lines 100 feet waiting to get in now?” he said.

 Browne said the lines form because the restaurant wants to be sure the people having dinner are comfortable. She said last year The Port and Ember spent a lot of money to determine their occupancy capacity.  The Port capacity is 240 and Ember Pizza is 210 based on engineering reports, Browne said. 

The board agreed that the overall topic of outdoor amplified music would be a topic of discussion in the future. 

 Browne asked if the board would be acting on Ember Pizza’s request to allow amplified outdoor music at this time. 

 Howell said a request for a motion earlier in the evening received no response from the board, thus the board would be taking no action on the request.