Board debates noise rules as it renews outdoor-entertainment licenses; Lunch Bucket kept to one acoustic night per week

The New Shoreham Board of License Commissioners spent substantial time on renewals of outdoor entertainment licenses and broader questions about noise, speaker placement and whether the town’s current application language differentiates amplified music from acoustic performances.

Councilors and staff said the outdoor-entertainment application dates to 2004 and recommended updating it to ask more specific questions about type and amplification. Several councilors asked staff to research whether music at locations that fall beyond 25 feet of a primary structure (for example, wedding tents or off-site event areas) should require a separate special-event license.

Panelists from multiple establishments described site-specific mitigation steps—speaker placement adjustments, awnings to dampen sound, and requests that vegetation and property changes be considered when assessing acoustics. The board reiterated that music and amplified sound can be affected by materials and topography and urged applicants to plan for mitigation.

For one applicant the board recorded specific conditions: John Levesque, doing business as The Lunch Bucket, will have outdoor entertainment ‘‘strictly limited to one night per week, hours of 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., acoustic only; dates must be agreed upon by Island Bound and Jesse Edwards Studio, and an entertainment plan must be submitted to the clerk’s office.’’ The board then approved a group motion renewing outdoor-entertainment licenses for a long list of businesses, while pulling a few items for separate action.