A fight between neighbors and a restaurant owner is heating up in Hays County. Three years ago Nutty Brown Café owner Mike Farr built a larger outdoor stage to attract bigger acts. Now it's pitting some neighbors against him.They argue some concerts at the popular live music venue are too loud.
"You can hear it in the house closed up A/C running," said Kevin Owen who lives a little more than a mile away in the Heritage Oaks neighborhood. "Certain bands you can hear the words."
Owen, along with other residents, have taken their complaints to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
“We’re looking for some avenue where we can have a third party involved,” said Owen. We don’t want it shut down. We just want to be able to listen to our music when we’re outside our homes.”
Farr says he wants to be a good neighbor and requires shows to be below the legal limit of 85 decibels.
“We actually do 80 decibels here,” said Farr."The idea of having my right and my livelihood taken away from me because a vast minority of folks thinks 20-30 nights a year is too noisy just seems insane to me.”
Farr says he is realizing that being a good neighbor means you can't please everyone.
“I think what we’re doing and how we’re doing it is the best possible scenario to continue to have my business and be a good neighbor,” he said.
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is investigating the noise complaint.
