The West Hartford Town Council will hold a public hearing on the proposed ordinance, which would require amplified music to be shut down by 11 p.m. and require certain businesses to obtain an ‘entertainment license.’

Activity at Los Imperios, at 904 Farmington Ave. in West Hartford, has blamed for neighborhood disturbances and the business has also been subject to a large number of zoning infractions. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

By Ronni Newton

West Hartford officials are hoping to effectively curb noise and disturbances in residential neighborhoods, and a proposed ordinance set for public hearing by the Town Council is designed to give police another tool to control businesses that create public safety issues.

As drafted, the ordinance would require businesses in West Hartford that regularly or occasionally have DJs or offer amplified live entertainment to shut down the music by 11 p.m., including on weekends. It would also require businesses to obtain an an annual entertainment license from the police, at a cost of $500. The police chief would have the authority to approve or deny the license, and the authority to revoke it if the business fails to comply with the conditions of the entertainment license.

Under the proposed ordinance, promoters would also be required to submit event applications for a $100 fee. If activities are deemed to require a police detail, the business owner will be required to foot the bill.

The Town Council voted Tuesday night to hold a public hearing for the proposed ordinance on Oct. 13, at 6:30 p.m. in Council chambers.

“It’s too early,” Town Manager Ron Van Winkle said when asked about the 11 p.m. music curfew. The ordinance is still in the early stages of development, he said, and discussions have not yet been held with local establishments that might be impacted. The curfew time will “almost certainly” be adjusted, he said.

“We are reacting to problems with restaurants that are ‘outliers,’ that continue to ignore efforts to get under control,” Van Winkle said. Once the curfew time is adjusted, he does not anticipate that most restaurants will have a problem with the ordinance. He also does not anticipate most will have any problem obtaining, or keeping, an entertainment license.

Assistant Police Chief Robert McCue said, however, that an entertainment license should be a more effective way of controlling an establishment like Los Imperios. “No other place in town has a problem spilling into the neighborhood at this level. Others happen occasionally, but not constantly.”

After scores of reported disturbances, 11 fights, assaults, and an incident where 13 shots were fired right outside its 904 Farmington Ave. location in early September, Los Imperios had its liquor permit suspended by the State Liquor Control Commission. The permit has since been restored. The town has also sought an injunction against Los Imperios for zoning and other violations, and that case will be heard in Hartford Superior Court on Oct. 18.

Issuing daily zoning infractions, at $67 each, have not yet proven effective in bringing Los Imperios into compliance, Van Winkle said.

“The state controls the liquor license,” Van Winkle said, whereas the entertainment license could be revoked by the police chief if a restaurant causes problems, giving the town much greater control. It’s an enforceable way of saying, “You listen, or this is the possible outcome,” he said.

McCue said that the State Liquor Commission only takes action for what happens within the four walls of a business. “Their control is limited when it’s outside, because [a problem] didn’t occur under the control of a permittee.” The proposed ordinance will make a restaurant/liquor permittee responsive to the impact activities have on the neighborhood.

Los Imperios often has 200-300 people departing at 1 a.m. on weekdays and at 2 a.m. on weekends. There’s limited parking on site, so patrons spill out into residential streets where the disturbances often occur, McCue said.

Other towns, including Danbury, have found an entertainment ordinance to be an effective means of controlling businesses that are operating outside of town ordinances and making owners accountable for noise and other disturbances. Corporation Counsel Patrick Alair originally drafted the ordinance for West Hartford several years ago when he served as deputy corporation counsel, but it had not been officially proposed until this week.

McCue said an entertainment license should be easy to obtain and easy to keep. “But if there’s a problem, it gives the police latitude.”

Other provisions of the proposal include keeping live or amplified music contained within the building. It also prohibits “teen nights” unless they are held in completely separate sections of the establishment.

The proposed ordinance would not apply to activities of non-profits, school or religious services or performances, or activities sponsored by the town or held on town-owned property.

“We will listen to the public debate and make adjustments,” Van Winkle said. Both Van Winkle and McCue said that multiple edits to the proposed ordinance are likely, perhaps even before the Oct. 13 hearing.

Van Winkle said that the neighborhoods around West Hartford Center are some of the most attractive and most popular in town. “We don’t want to lose that, or lose the restaurants,” he said, but the problem is making sure that restaurants realize that they are operating in residential neighborhoods.

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