It was standing room only Monday afternoon, as people gathered in the San Luis Obispo City Council Chambers for the re-review of Libertine Brewing Company’s permits.
“We’re very thankful for the support that the community showed us today,” said John Pranjic, Libertine’s Events and Marketing Manager.
After more than an hour of public comment, the city decided to approve maintaining the existing minor use permit.
“It’s a safe place for other people to go,” said one person during public comment.
“Choose to support live local music, choose to support local art. choose to support your community,” said another speaker.
Many who spoke at Mondays meeting were in favor of supporting live music at Libertine.
The review of Libertine’s minor use permit came in response to multiple noise complaints against the bar and restaurant.
Following the meeting, KSBY spoke with the couple who filed the noise complaints. They live a few houses down from Libertine.
“This isn’t about the musicians; this is about the venue,” said Thomas Barnard. He and his husband, Chris Baisa, have lived in their Broad Street home for almost two years. One of them wakes up around 4:30 a.m. for work. He says the noise is impacting his ability to sleep.
They say they were not trying to end live music at the venue, but instead have Libertine make changes to reduce noise.
“Be a good person. Run your business appropriately. Take care of your neighbors. Be responsible and insulate your building,” Baisa said.
They say they’ve spent $70,000 trying to mitigate sound at their own property through insulation and new windows and doors.
KSBY spoke with Pranjic about what improvements have been made at the bar to reduce sound.
“We decided to make the change where we put our stage in a different location. Our speakers now point back at our own venue,” he said.
He adds they have added other soundproofing measures, too.
Other neighbors who spoke at the meeting say they don’t have a problem with the noise.
“If you can’t take the noise, invest in some earplugs,” said one neighbor.
“In the eight years that my family has lived one block from Libertine, concert noise or other disruptions have never been a problem,” said another neighbor.
For Barnard and Baisa, they say this decision was the final straw.
“We put most of our retirement into this house. We fixed it up, it’s a 100-year-old Craftsman, and we’re really proud. We painted it ourselves; we did all this work, it’s beautiful, and now we’re going to have to leave it,” they said.