HARBOURSIDE TAKES NOISE BATTLE TO APPEALS COURT
Entertainment complex appeals District Court’s denial of injunction.
JUPITER — There’s no end in sight to the noise dispute between the town and its Harbourside Place waterfront entertainment complex.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra denied Harbourside Place LLC’s bid for a preliminary injunction against the town.
On Monday, the town was notified Harbourside has appealed the District Court’s order, town attorney Tom Baird confirmed. The appeal now goes to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
“Harbourside’s appeal is unlikely to succeed because the District Court specifically determined that Harbourside has not met the conditions of its approval that permit it to host outdoor events, including concerts without first having obtained a permit from the town,” Baird said.
“Having now had the benefit of the court’s opinion, Harbourside can expect that its continued failure to respect the council’s approval of its project by refusing to implement the appropriate sound monitoring and mitigation conditions it agreed to will result in the assessment of fines,” he added.
In its bid for a preliminary injunction against the town, Harbourside argued a town noise ordinance violated its constitutional rights of free expression and unlawfully restricted its ability to have live music performed.
But in his order issued May 10, Marra wrote, “The Court finds that the Town did not adopt the ordinance in order to target or retaliate against Harbourside, or as a means of controlling the content of musical performances.”
He also found “it would not serve the public interest to enjoin the enforcement of a constitutionally valid ordinance.”
Built by developer Nick
Mastroianni, Harbourside Place opened with fireworks and music in December 2014, but has generated complaints from nearby residents about excessive noise.
In 2015, a frustrated Mastroianni said he had gone “above and beyond” meeting town requirements, blasting officials for suspending up to $350,000 in annual payments to the $150 million waterfront entertainment center.
“The town’s persona non grata attitude will cost the public the very benefits (for which) the project was approved by the town council,” Mastroianni said at the time. “I haven’t met a person yet that hasn’t said ‘thank you.’ ”
Harbourside Place was approved by the town as a designated entertainment development. Part of being an entertainment development is providing music from the amphitheater. The music has been the source of most of the complaints from the town.
Efforts by Harbourside to muffle the sound include about $35,000 in plastic sound curtains between the stage and the Intracoastal Waterway and the installation of carpet on the stage.