NOISE NETS ANOTHER FINE FOR HARBOURSIDE
Zoning conditions for outdoor venue haven’t been met, Jupiter says.
JUPITER — The list of fines incurred by Harbourside Place LLC since it opened in December 2014 keeps growing.
A live music event held without the proper permit last month at the $150 million waterfront entertainment complex on the northwest corner of Indiantown Road and U.S. 1 is expected to draw a $5,000 fine from the town, plus administrative costs.
The case was set to be heard at a June 13 code compliance magistrate hearing but was pushed back to July or August.
The fine stems from a May 18 Harbourside-sponsored event that featured live amplified music at the venue’s amphitheater.
Harbourside is required to obtain a special permit to host an outdoor amplified event — such as a performance by a band — because it has not met the conditions of its zoning approval that would qualify it as an outdoor venue, town attorney Tom Baird said.
Harbourside did not obtain a special permit before the May event.
Prior to this latest fine, the venue already had incurred $40,500 worth of fines from the town, Baird said. All were assessed in 2015.
Just two months after Harbourside held its grand-opening celebration, the venue was assessed $16,500 worth of fines for violating a noise ordinance. The town cited Harbourside three times after a Jan. 29, 2015, outdoor concert that it says was louder than the town’s 55-decibel limit.
Harbourside filed a lawsuit against the town in 2016, and the tug of war continues.
Earlier this month, Harbourside notified the town that it planned to appeal a decision by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra denying its bid for a preliminary injunction.
In its bid for the preliminary injunction, 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.”
The town suspended code enforcement activities while Harbourside’s lawsuit was being considered, Baird said. Once Marra ruled in the town’s favor, the town began to enforce the conditions of the venue’s zoning approval and any other code violations.