How many decibels are too many?
The Morristown council may decide tonight, Monday, March 29, 2021, when it hears a request to allow rooftop dining (and drinking) at the Iron Bar.
Owner Jimmy Cavanaugh wants to seat 150 patrons atop his South Street establishment. Plans for “Rooftop,” as the expansion tentatively is titled, also call for an 18-seat bar, and standing room for more customers.
Cavanaugh and Joseph Lobozzo, a landlord of South Street apartments across from the bar, each have their hired guns–or rather, their hired audio experts–ready to draw their decibel meters and blast their numbers at each other.
Their reports are among an assortment of documents for and against the request that were sufficiently voluminous for the council to postpone a hearing earlier this month. Members and town attorneys wanted time to study more than 30 public letters and emails and at least 89 pages of police reports.
Lobozzo will present findings from engineer Matthew Anderson of the Maryland firm SSI Inc. Anderson took meter readings on a fourth-floor balcony opposite the Iron Bar in June 2019, nearly a year before the pandemic throttled the bar scene. He reported noise levels spiked between 10 pm and 2 am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, and between 4 pm and 8 pm on Sundays.
In February, Cavanaugh brought in Eric Zwerling, president of the Noise Consultancy LLC, of Flemington, to review his plans. Zwerling concluded Rooftop “is highly unlikely to constitute an acoustical nuisance” or violate the town’s noise ordinance.
That 2014 law restricts certain types of noises, including “yelling or shouting” between the hours of 11 pm and 7 am that may “annoy or disturb the quiet, comfort or repose” of others. Enforcement is a subjective exercise. Over the years, Council President Stefan Armington has argued, unsuccessfully, to equip and train police to monitor for specific decibel levels.
Absent more stringent local ordinances, towns are expected to comply with the state Noise Control Act of 1971, which imposes limits of 50 decibels between 10 pm and 7 am. That sound level is comparable to a quiet suburb, a conversation at home, or a large electrical transformers heard from a distance of 100 feet, according to Purdue University.
Cavanaugh is not proposing any music for Rooftop. Through his attorney, Robert C. Williams, he also has offered to cap his liquor license at its present maximum of 1,046 customers–-meaning that Rooftop would not increase the total number of people imbibing at the Iron Bar and his Revolution beer hall next door.
These businesses sit in the midst of at least eight alcohol-serving establishments within a block-and-a-half span on South and DeHart streets. They are in close proximity to expensive condos and apartments on South and DeHart, Community Place, Market Street and West Park Place, and to stately Victorian homes in the town’s Historic District.
Monday’s 7 pm virtual hearing, which can be streamed here, is the latest episode in a saga of Iron Bar liquor license expansion approvals, denials, town-imposed alcohol curfews, and lawsuits.
PUBLIC EMAILS AND LETTERS
Police reports stretching back to early 2019 include a noise complaint, which was resolved by closing the Iron Bar doors when a band was playing. There were a few altercations — usually involving drunken customers from out of town. Police had to use pepper spray to subdue one intoxicated 24-year-old from Plainfield in January 2019.
Last September, police were called to Revolution when a patron refused to wear a mask. Routine police inspections of Iron Bar and Revolution found no violations of Gov. Murphy’s COVID-19 emergency orders.
Letters and emails to the town, obtained by Morristown Green, were split for and against Rooftop. Here is a sampling; names were redacted by the town clerk’s office.
- “We already have spent over $1,000 for window inserts to try and block out voices of patrons lining up outside the Iron Bar at night and those leaving and loitering in the area after 2 am,” wrote a South Street resident, who may spend another $4,000 on thicker windows, in hopes of sleeping at night. “We feel that the addition of Rooftop with more outdoor music, voices, laughter, etc. throughout the night will compound this problem further.”
- The operator of an Instagram lifestyle site said his informal polls showed 97 percent support for Rooftop, though he added: “I am in complete understanding that these numbers don’t mean a thing if they are not Morristown residents.”
- A 10-year resident said she and her husband support Rooftop “100 percent.” They moved here because of the restaurants, the Mayo Performing Arts Center, and “the nightlife that are all walking distance to our house….If Morristown wants to be a place where people want to live and visit, we have to keep up with the demand. Because the demand is high.”
- In a handwritten letter, a condo owner who pays $38,000 in local taxes said this stretch of downtown Morristown is overbuilt with bars, restaurants and apartments, and overrun with noise, garbage and “human trash”: “We are entitled to a better quality of life. From Thursday through Sunday, people loiter on South Street and spill into the street, thus interfering with traffic. Their horns constantly honk. We don’t need more of this.”
- “Enough bar expansions,” wrote another downtown resident, citing the recent expansion of the Tashmoo bar to include a patio on DeHart Street.
- “This is not a city, it is a town and if we want to keep even the small amount of charm that we have left, we cannot allow this to move forward,” wrote another person.
- “Just how many patrons does one establishment need? In the days of COVID, shouldn’t this be a concern as well?” another email asked.
- A Rooftop fan countered: “Considering the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic this seems to be a very prudent concept for outdoor dining.”
- Another said the pandemic has proven the popularity of outdoor dining, but sidewalk space is limited. “The introduction of rooftop dining at the Iron Bar would provide a permanent location to enjoy this dining option without any obstruction to pedestrians or parking.”
- “The importance of local businesses in our town being able to expand, prosper and support the community has never been more important than it is right now,” another resident wrote.
- A former council member praised Cavanaugh’s business experience and “years of commitment to Morristown”; a decade-long resident cited the Iron Bar’s “discouraging history of ignoring” noise, safety and cleanliness concerns affecting neighbors’ quality of life.
THE SAGA
In 2016, Cavanaugh secured council permission to extend his license to create the Revolution beer hall. Acknowledging residents’ complaints of unruly bar crowds, the town imposed curfews. Cavanaugh got them overturned.
A year later, the council nixed Cavanaugh’s attempt to expand the license yet again, for a Mexican restaurant. He sued the town, Armington and Mayor Tim Dougherty, alleging personal bias and a pattern of harassment. The town has denied the accusations and the case is pending.
Armington has recused himself from Monday’s hearing because of the litigation. The council doubles as the town’s Alcoholic Beverage Control board.
Last August, the council approved a much smaller expansion of the Stirling Tavern, farther down South Street and away from residential areas. A few tables will sit in a partially covered “parapet” overlooking the street, according to the project’s architect. Music must cease by 10:30 pm, and alcohol cannot be served after 11 pm.
This story has been updated with additional information about noise regulations.
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