Falmouth businesses that serve alcohol are now subject to new, stricter entertainment regulations.
The Falmouth Select Board voted on Monday, July 15, that those businesses must take steps to limit sound from the entertainment, so it cannot be heard beyond their walls or lot lines, unless given specific permission.
The new regulations apply to any business holding a liquor license that also wants to provide entertainment. Without exception, the text states that the select board will not issue entertainment licenses to businesses that cannot contain entertainment noise to its property.
Prior to the new regulations, the town struggled to enforce its entertainment bylaw. Town Manager Michael Renshaw said the new text aims to make it clearer to the boardâand businesses subject to the regulationsâwhat the actual rules are. The new rules restrict entertainment noise to either the walls of the building or to property lines. They also create a wide definition of âentertainmentâ that includes âdancing by patronsâ and could include outdoor use of small speakers.
During the public hearing held before the vote, the board wrestled with various concerns raised by its members and the audience.
âI have real concerns about the feasibility and enforceability of containing the sound of outdoor entertainment within property lines,â select board member Heather M.H. Goldstone said. Dr. Goldstone was the sole vote against passage of the new text.
Dr. Goldstone also shared her concern that the new regulations could set up a double standard for town events and private business entertainment. She said she can hear noise from The Lin Whitehead Band Shell and from Commodoresâ games from her home and expressed worries that the regulations would significantly alter those Falmouth staples. Under these regulations, Town Counsel Maura OâKeefe said, only events requiring entertainment licenses will be subject to the regulations.
Ms. OâKeefe said upcoming events at the bandshell that will serve alcohol will be subject to the new rules.
Select board member Douglas C. Brown said the new regulations are not so much about the text itself but about crafting a better sense for license holders to engage in community-approved entertainment while also running a business.
âWeâre holding you to a standard that we know is not really possible,â Mr. Brown said. âWeâve got to have something to be able to stop the neighborsâ complaining.â
Marc P. Finneran, a member of the zoning board of appeals who said he was speaking as a member of the public, said he thinks the new text will not accomplish what it sets out to do.
âIf you enforce [the regulations] equally, youâre going to eliminate any of the outside concerts that they used to have at the ball field,â Mr. Finneran said. âThese rules seem to be eliminating any outside entertainment at allâŚI think these are a little bit too extreme.â
Despite concerns, most members voted in favor of the regulations, citing ease of standardized application going forward.
âI was seeking greater enforceability, but also looking for standardization and consistency,â Mr. Renshaw said. âThis is a vast improvement over what we currently haveâwhich is nothing. Is it perfect? NoâŚbut I think itâs an improvement.â
The approved regulations (with two minor amendments made to clarify intent) set a difficult standard to which businesses must adhere. They create a standard that the town counsel said will prevent exception-making by the select board. Each business and entertainment license is different from the others, the town counsel said, noting this approach is the best way of keeping that problem tenable.
âThis is an attempt to provide walls where there were none,â Ms. OâKeefe said.
Edwin (Scott) P. Zylinski II, vice chairman of the select board, said the new regulations will help businesses adhere to the complex wishes of the Falmouth neighborhood communities and governmental enforcement.
âI think that it at least gives all the businesses a baseline to go off of, to work,â he said. âIt was so ambiguous up until this point; it seemed like each business had a different set of rules.â
Even before passage, the rules came up Monday when the board approved an all-alcoholic beverages common victualer license to a new business, The Irish Goodbye Pint House at 444 North Falmouth Highway (Route 28A). Robert Bell, the proposed manager of record, plans to offer weekend entertainment but requested a seven-day license to allow for special events and holidays.
That prompted the board to raise concerns about the ability to adhere to the proposed new entertainment regulations of the business even before passage, showing a brief and early example of the future entertainment license process.
Mr. Bellâs attorney, Anthony J. Tsakalos, said he and his client had already reviewed the language and ensured the board the new business would promote entertainment in compliance with the regulations, and ensure that entertainment noise would not extend beyond the building walls or property lines.
The select board also approved a new process for reviewing entertainment licenses. Special event applications that require an entertainment license are now reviewed primarily by the town managerâs office, which can mark particular applications for future select board review. That process will be used largely to more quickly approve licenses for regular special events like the Falmouth Road Race, while granting more scrutiny to special events that are not held regularly and known about.