More than 50 people packed the hearing room of the Cleveland Board of Zoning Appeals on Monday morning, an unusually large turnout for the board’s meetings.
The draw? Debate on the popular Irish bar and restaurant, the Harp, which sought a variance to present live music — something it’s been doing since it opened 13 years ago.
While owner Karen O’Malley said she was merely seeking to operate legally, some neighbors objected that the variance would be a blanket permit to present music both indoors and out. Supporters of the Harp dismissed the concerns as something that only cropped up twice a year — on St. Patrick’s Day and July 4 when it’s noisy everywhere. But neighbors like Julie Kurtock, who brought along attorney Alan Rapoport, were concerned that patio music could become a regular summer occurrence.
O’Malley acknowledged that she wanted to offer music outdoors as often as possible, but told Scene that the music she normally presents — blues, folk, and Irish acts like Walkin’ Cane and Brent Kirby — are “not as boisterous” as the act that provoked complaints on St. Patrick’s Day: the Boys from the County Hell.
Councilmen Joe Cimperman and Matt Zone, and Eric Wobser and Tom McNair from the Ohio City Inc. Development Corporation testified in support of the Harp.
But as Bill Merriman, president of the Franklin Block Club which serves the neighborhood adjacent to the Harp, pointed out, no one was denying Harp was good for the community; the neighbors just wanted peace and quiet.
Ultimately, the zoning board overlooked the neighbors’ concerns and granted the variance. Kurtock indicated that they are considering an administrative appeal to the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas.
Merriman said afterward that he was taken by surprise when, toward the conclusion of the meeting, Cimperman presented the members of the zoning board with a “good neighbor agreement” he said had been worked out between the Harp and nearby residents. Neither he nor Kurtock had even seen the agreement prior to the hearing.
This article appears in May 30 – Jun 5, 2012.
You live in a city folks. There will be noise and commotion. If you want silence, move to the country.
its in the middle of a shit hole neighborhood, the least of these people concerns should be live music once in a while. you can still see hookers walking detroit road at night
This is a perfect example of people that have nothing better to do in life, besides bitch! #getalife
Not a WHOLE lot going around in that part of the world and the Harp is one of the only stars over there…Good Lord you’d have thought this was Rocky River and an offending dog park….What a bunch of buttsticks…
The Board certainly did not “overlook” the concerns of the neighbors opposing the variance. They weighed the costs and benefits and decided that the money the Harp brings in for the city in taxes and fees, as well as the intangibles, like having a responsible, successful and committed establishment in a budding neighborhood, outweighed the inconvience experienced by some of the residents twice a year. Being a good neighbor works both ways, and sometimes in order to better your city and the community in which you live, you have to make some sacrifices. They are lucky they are only disturbed twice a year; that St. Ignatius with its sporting events and marching band practices disturbs me on numerous occasions.
I am not here to start a war but maybe if you are not living close to it you should remember the saying ” If you have nothing good to say don’t say it at all.” Especially when you have nothing worthy of being said.
Whether it is your choice of a place to live or not, in comparison many of the residents of Ohio City would give an arm not to be stuck in SUBURGATORY. Ohio City is also being filled with the suburban empty nesters who want a real life.
If you read the newspapers you would see that the prostitutes are often arrested with johns from North Olmstead, Parma, Lorain, Westlake, Rocky River, Strongsville…. Many residents would prefer they not be here, that being said they really do not harm anyone living here.
You apparently have not been to Ohio City in some time. Our restaurants and bars are crowded with suburbanites who can’t stand it anymore and come in to town for some really good food, not chain restaurant hell, but really good food. Just to mention a few.
The Flying Fig
Crop Bistro
Market Garden Brewery
Cento
Mc Nulty’s Bier Market
Great Lake Brewery
Hecks
The Lite Bistro
Le Petite Triangle
Momocho
Most of the time we have a very quiet neighborhood with very little noise. When there is live outdoor music in the summer, which is often 3 times a week not 2 times a year, I can hear it in my bedroom 3 blocks away from the harp. I can literally sit on my porch and sing along to the music. It is that loud. To the extent that we have installed window AC units to break up the noise. That does not include the “amplified live music” that this variance is talking about. That is much worse.
I was here before the Harp opened and I’ll be here after they’ve closed. That does not give them the right to not follow the city code and ordinances, which for a long time many of their neighbors have not pressed them to do. The first fine being $2,000 and going up from there. We are just asking them to be good neighbors in return.