Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Noise draws ire of neighbors
FAYETTEVILLE — An increasingly popular uptown restaurant and music venue wants to expand hours and have more shows, drawing the ire of several residents living in suburban homes nearby.
JJ’s Beer Garden and Brewing Co., which opened this summer at 3615 N. Steele Blvd., regularly has hosted free concerts on Thursday evenings. Planning commissioners in December 2015 granted the restaurant a permit to have music one night a week from 6-9 p.m.
On Monday, the commission considered changes to the permit that would give JJ’s 18 concert dates in addition to the Thursday shows and allow music until 11 p.m. Commissioners tabled the request 6-0 until the next meeting.
Jonathan Curth, city planner, said staff has received numerous complaints about the establishment from residents who live in a subdivision just southwest. Complaints focused largely on the noise coming from the outdoor stage area during concerts and soundchecks.
A handful of neighbors spoke against the possibility of later hours and more frequent concerts. Megan Brosh, who said she has two young children and works from home, handed out to commissioners a petition with 21 signatures of residents against the request.
“My family and I are not opposed to the business itself, we are just opposed to the time expansion,” she said.
Jody Thornton, owner, said he didn’t know how popular the place would get when he first applied for the music permit.
Average attendance has been about 1,600 patrons, with shows as high as 2,500, he said.
The restriction of having music only on Thursdays has made booking acts difficult and the venue has had to turn away charitable organizations wanting to have benefits there, Thornton said.
Potential customers from regional cities have trouble making it to shows with enough time to enjoy them before they end, he said.
“All I tried to do was build a concept that would work,” Thornton said. “We
went and put out a new playground for kids to play on to accommodate their families. We’ve tried to do everything we can to make an awesome experience for Northwest Arkansas.”
Despite numerous calls to police for noise complaints, officers have issued no citations. City staff found the business out of compliance once on May 19, a Friday,
and sent a letter accordingly.
Planning staff recommended the commission deny the request.
“We noted in our staff report for the original conditional use permit in 2015 that a venue that operates multiple times per week and late into the night is not compatible,” Curth said.
“We feel that amending the conditional use permit to allow this will aggravate a condition currently seeming to cause a lot of frustration for residents in the area.”
Commissioners suggested Thornton look into building a wall or placing vegetation outside that would mitigate the sound. Thornton said he had cost concerns about the idea and asked for a vote instead.
Despite that, the commission voted 6-0 to give Thornton two weeks to explore options to cut down on the sound.
Commissioner Matt Johnson said a full commission should also be present for the vote since three members were absent Monday.