By Renee Worthing

Staff Writer

Quieter nights are in the forecast for the York Street (Route 1) and Friend Street neighborhood of Kennebunk.

Kennebunk Selectmen suspended Stefano’s Bistro’s special amusement permit April 22 after officials said owner Chris Kinnard failed to remedy the noise level emanating from his restaurant and bar. Kinnard can reapply for the special amusement permit after a consultation with a sound engineer and has a plan in place to reduce the sound from bands performing, selectmen said.

Kinnard’s special amusement permit was up for renewal in January, but multiple noise complaints from residential neighbors forced selectmen to take a closer look at renewing the permit. Instead of renewing the permit then, selectmen issued a temporary four-month permit with the condition that Kinnard reduce the sound from the bands that play at the restaurant.

Kinnard said he bought a sound meter for the business, which has never registered more than 60 decibels – what he understood to be the maximum per the town ordinance.

However, Kennebunk Police Lt. Nicholas Higgins said the town’s noise ordinance is written for three separate zones – residential, commercial and industrial. The restaurant, located in a mixed-use part of town near the downtown, does not fall into any of the zone classifications although it abuts a residential zone. Higgins said the maximum decibel level allowed in a residential zone is 45 decibels between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

“I’m not going out of my way to be a nuisance,” Kinnard said. “Maybe the limits (set by the town) are wrong.”

In an effort to appease neighbors, he said two bands would not be invited back to Stefano’s because they were too loud.

One neighbor, Victor Cavanaugh, said the noise level from the bands playing at Stefano’s between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. is disruptive to the entire neighborhood.

“We are 120 feet from their back door,” Victor Cavanaugh said. “In the four months since (the January meeting), nothing has gotten better.”

He said while he’s not trying to put anyone out of business, he is trying to “protect” his home and the quality of time spent in it.

Cavanaugh said it is not fair that sometimes when he looks out his window, he sees Stefano’s patrons urinating in the rear parking lot and people in cars “doing I don’t know what.”

Higgins said police responded to 30 loud music complaints in 2008. Of the 30 complaints, he said officers deemed 10 of the complaints as “reasonable.”

“‘Loud’ is subjective,” Higgins said. “What may be an annoyance to one person may not be to another.”

Higgins said loud music falls under the disorderly conduct laws established by the state. He said the disorderly conduct statute requires law enforcement officials to warn the violator before taking action and every night a complaint was issued constituted a new complaint.

“We would have to warn on Friday night and then warn again on Saturday night and warn again on Sunday night,” Higgins said.

Selectman Robert Higgins asked Kinnard why he had not installed “sound deadening” material to solve the problem, but Kinnard said he didn’t see a reason to take such a step, which he described as very expensive, if sound was not a problem according to his sound meter.

Selectmen considered attaching conditions to the special permit such as limiting the hours a band could play, but in the end opted to suspend the special permit until Kinnard met with a sound engineer and devised a plan.

Kinnard said he felt “robbed” and said the selectmen’s decision forced him to cancel the performance of 14 bands.

“People come to see live music,” he said. “I will experience a huge revenue loss not having live entertainment.”

Cavanaugh said he was pleased with the decision.

“I think it (permit suspension) was a step in the right direction,” Cavanaugh said. “The residents of this neighborhood are fed with up all that’s happening. The whole thing is disturbing, from music to all that comes with a full service bar.”