Bristol approves Portside Tavern outdoor liquor expansion and entertainment license with time limits and reviews after neighbor complaints

The Bristol Town Council on June 18 approved two separate changes to Portside Tavern’s licenses — expanding its BV (intoxicating beverage) license to include a portion of the outdoor patio and granting an expanded dancing-and-entertainment license — but imposed conditions intended to limit noise and require follow-up review.

The Council approved bringing the south/southwest “COVID-era” patio into the licensed area on the condition that the business file a new dimensional sketch showing the exact licensed strip and that the council review the arrangement in three months. The council also approved adding the tavern’s rear “engine room” and a defined outdoor area for entertainment, with tighter limits on outdoor hours, direction to minimize amplification and two follow-up reviews.

Councilors said the approval aims to bring long-running but informal outdoor service into compliance while protecting nearby residents.

Why it matters: Neighbors told the council that music and late-night activity at Portside have been disruptive and, in their view, outstripped the scope of the restaurant-focused BV license. Council members said moving the operation into a narrowly defined, permitted footprint and applying time and monitoring conditions gives the town enforcement leverage while allowing the business to continue limited outdoor service.

What council approved and why

The liquor-license change formally covers the street-side patio that the tavern used under COVID executive orders and which the town says requires a permanent licensing action now that the executive orders have ended. The council’s motion required the applicant to submit a new sketch showing the exact licensed area (the council asked town staff to determine the final dimensions) and set a three-month review to confirm compliance.

The entertainment license vote authorized live music in two specific areas: the tavern’s interior function room (the “engine room”) and a narrow outdoor patio adjacent to Thames Street. The council limited outdoor amplified music and set the following conditions tied to the vote: outdoor music to end earlier than the maximum allowed by the town for late-night venues (the council set a 9:00 p.m. cutoff for certain special dates called out in the application), restriction to “minimal amplified music” in the outdoor area, and two follow-up council reviews (one at three months and another later) to evaluate compliance and neighborhood impacts.

Resident concerns and owner responses

Local resident Cara Cromwell told the council she strongly opposed expanding Portside’s licenses, saying the tavern had operated an unlicensed nightclub in its engine room since October 2024 and that loud late-night music had rattled windows and kept neighbors awake. “This establishment routinely violates the licenses they have,” Cromwell said, adding she had collected a petition signed by about 51 neighbors opposing expansion.

Owner Richard Curenty said the tavern had used outdoor seating under COVID-era flexibility and that he believed the operation had been compliant; he also said he had canceled DJs after receiving neighborhood complaints. “I canceled the DJ immediately after,” Curenty told the council. He said the tavern’s recent renovations addressed drainage and that the gravel area behind the building was intended for parking, not service.

Town staff and enforcement tools

Town staff and public-safety officials told the council they had investigated complaints and that the police department can deploy a noise meter to measure decibel levels at a complainant’s property. The police chief explained the town’s practice: officers record ambient sound levels and then a second measurement while music is playing; enforcement requires objective decibel readings. The solicitor reminded the council it can license only specifically mapped areas and that if patrons consume alcohol outside a licensed footprint the town may call a show-cause hearing.

Council and next steps

Councilors said they preferred a narrowly drawn licensed patio and explicit enforcement markers rather than a broad license that could enable nightclub-style use. The council approved both license changes with the conditions summarized above; the liquor expansion requires the applicant to file a dimensional sketch for the clerk’s office and will be reviewed in three months. The entertainment approval included the outreach and monitoring conditions and the two review checkpoints.

The council also directed staff to work with the tavern to clarify whether any back-of-house patio or the so-called “beer garden” is permitted; town inspectors said the beer garden area had physical improvements that were not on file and would need separate permitting and HDC review.

Ending

Portside’s owner and neighbors left the meeting with different expectations: the owner said he wanted to keep the business viable and had already adjusted operations after complaints; neighbors said they will watch enforcement closely. The council’s conditional approvals aim to make the tavern’s outdoor and entertainment activity explicit and enforceable under the town’s licensing and noise rules.