February 15, 2011 . 1
Excerpt from February 15, 2011 City Commission Meeting.
Requested by Mayor Rodriguez via Carisse LeJeune
Mr. Therien: Luke Therien with Banana Boat, 739 E. Ocean Avenue. We are a family
run business since 1978. We've worked with the City, worked with the Police
Department since that time to work within the guidelines of the law. Two Georges has
been a restaurant next to us since, I think, the 50s. We've helped together to work to
build the business of the downtown and the tourist area of the downtown along with the
fishing village that's there. It's probably the most, the area that people are most attracted
to, to Boynton Beach is the area of the restaurants there and the Marina Village area.
Over the last 15 years I've heard from the City about the Vision 20/20 and working to
build a downtown that is attractive to tourists, attractive to people all over the world to
come to this area, for either it's the fishing village idea or it's the restaurants and tourist
areas in the downtown. I favor the Code rules that are being proposed tonight. I think
they're strict, but I think that they're fair. Banana Boat has a lot of people, like Two
Georges that come to our restaurants. We are known around the country as a restaurant
to go to in this area. Everybody knows about Banana Boat, everybody knows about Two
George's. Either it is coming from Boston, coming from New York, people have heard
of this area. We have anywhere from 300 people to 1,000 people coming to our
restaurant during the season. It is going to be a busy area and you are going to have
noise. But, we are in a mixed use district. We think it should be given a little bit of
fairness that we are in a business district. We are in an area of tourism. We were built
and Two George's was built before most of these condominiums were here.
As far as the live music, our live music schedule is and has been, probably for the last
five or six years, very much the same. Friday night we have a single person playing the
saxophone from 7 to 11. Saturday night we have a single musician playing to 11 and
then on Sunday we have afternoon and Sunday night band that plays till 10. We have a
management team that tries to be very strict, especially on Sundays to make sure that they
are shut down at 10 o'clock. Over many, many years of Code Enforcement I have gotten
to know Scott, gotten to know most of the Code Enforcement team. They have been out
on many complaints to Banana Boat. Most of those complaints were not valid. Most of
complaints in the last five or six years were one person. And that one person makes a
number of complaints about a number of things in this City. When Code Enforcement
does come out and react to a complaint, most of the time the decibel readings are within
the law. I think there has been maybe a few times a few years ago where we were
beyond the reading. We made adjustments to the band, we made adjustments to the
speakers and we were able to correct it. As the Code Enforcement Chief said a few
minutes ago, when he's on the bridge, or when he's by Coastal Towers, or when he's
been to Marina Village and had his decibel reader, he noticed we were within the law. So
I think the issue becomes is the complaint too harsh, is the complaint real. And, I think
this is an issue that should be addressed tonight by the Chief and to Scott Blasie.
Mayor Rodriguez: Luke, you, know, we've heard tonight a lot about extra curricular
activity not really related to the music, but things happening in the parking lot after hours
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where there seems like there is no one there to manage a cordial exit of the premises.
How can you address that?
Mr. Therien: We can work to address that. This is the first that I've heard where, you
know, you are going to get cars leaving the parking lot at one o'clock, two o'clock in the
morning, I understand, there's cars leaving the parking lot that can be noisy. A
motorcycle leaving the parking lot, that can be noisy. A motorcycle going over the
Ocean Avenue bridge is also noisy. Do they really know when they're in bed if the
motorcycle is going over the bridge or leaving the restaurant or going through some other
parking lot? I'm not really sure how they can evaluate —
Mayor Rodriguez: I think what we heard that they were visualized, they saw it. I mean
they looked out and saw the activity taking place. So, do you have a gate in your parking
lot?
Mr. Therien: Do we have a gate, no. We'll certainly — I'll make sure that we address the
issue of trying to be quiet as they're leaving at the end of the night; that's something that
most of our customers are between 45 and 75 -80. At night it gets a little bit younger. So,
we want to be nice to our neighbors. We want to take care of them. But there is a point,
there is a limit there, as busy as our restaurants are, there's a point to how much we can
work with everybody when we are within the law.
Commissioner Orlove: Mr. Therien, can you tell me when you have the music that you
described, are the windows open onto the patio or is it inside the restaurant.
Mr. Therien: The three nights that we play music are Friday, Saturday and Sunday and
they are all outside.
Commissioner Orlove. They are all outside. And have there been times where calls have
come in saying that it is too loud past, let's say 11 o'clock on a weekend. How is that
addressed?
Mr. Therien: We don't have live music during the week nights.
Commissioner Orlove: No, no. I said on the weekend, if it's after — the Ordinance now
is, correct me if I'm wrong, to 11 o'clock. So on weekends at 11 o'clock, after 11
o'clock, are there calls that come in and if so, complaints from the neighborhood and if
so, how is that dealt with within the restaurant and the entertainment?
Mr. Therien: About shutting down at the time that the musician is playing, on Friday and
Saturday it is 11 o'clock. If they play five or ten minutes afterwards, I don't know that
we get complaints about that. It's possible.
Commissioner Orlove: It seems like from what some of the residents have said that, not
to cast you in a bad light, but it seems like you're not — the Banana Boat is not being in
compliance where Two George's it seems like is. I'm trying to figure out what is the
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difference between the two businesses in term of how they operate with noise that
citizens are hearing more you than them and it sounds like from what I'm hearing on the
Board, is, you know, there are issues with maybe where you're situated — you're on the
water, you're closer to Coastal Towers.
Mr. Therien: That's a good question. There's two reasons. One, Banana Boat plays till
11 o'clock on Friday and Saturday. Two George's finishes earlier. On Sunday
afternoon, on Sunday night we finish at 10 and Two George's finishes earlier. It doesn't
mean we are not in compliance. And I think that's where the Chief can talk about and
Mr. Blasie can talk about is, they hear noise, but is it illegal noise. It's restaurant noise.
Commissioner Orlove: And I understand what you're saying regarding cars going out of
your parking lot. You can't necessarily control that situation. That's kind of a little bit
beyond your control. But, perhaps there is a way, and I don't want to be restrictive of
businesses in the community, but, is there a way to be more — I guess working with the
community to make sure that people leave and they are not loitering in the parking lot.
That they're not grinding their tires out of the —
Mr. Therien: There's things that we can do better and I'm going to make a point of
making them better. Especially late at night at one o'clock, one -thirty in the morning to
make it a little bit quieter.
Mayor Rodriguez: What time does — let me ask this. What time does your restaurant
close?
Mr. Therien: Close at two o'clock.
Mayor Rodriguez: Two in the morning.
Mr. Therien: That's right. That's the latest that we would close.
Mayor Rodriguez: So you would still have some parking lot — you're having that parking
lot activity type stuff when the restaurant is still open.
Mr. Therien: Which is parking lot activity that you see in Delray, in Lake Worth, in West
Palm Beach, in Orlando, in every other City. And, I think, because there is only two
restaurants and we're surrounded by tall buildings, tall residential buildings around it and
we're only two restaurants, if there were ten restaurants there you probably wouldn't hear
quite as many because it would be more of a tourist attraction area. But, because there's
two restaurants there surrounded by residential people, it becomes a little bit more of a —
we're the little guys fighting everybody else. But, we are in a mixed -use area. We are in
a tourist area. We've been there a very long time. We work within the law — correct me
if I'm wrong. We are working within the decibels. When you hear complaints the
automatic assumption when the police gets a complaint, the automatic assumption by the
Board or by the people in the audience is we must have done something wrong. But, is
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that really the truth? I mean what is the real truth here? If you hear a car leaving the
parking lot are we really breaking the law here?
Commissioner Orlove: Can I just ask a quick question? So what is your take on the
ordinance? Did you want to see it extended to 11 o'clock on a Thursday and then
midnight Friday and Saturday or how did you see you wanted — do you have any
comment on that?
Mr. Therien: Well, as Steve said, we are both very busy restaurants with a lot of
customers right now. Whether we like it or not, I think the — some of the residents, and I
think it is a very small percentage of the residents around us, a very small percentage
would like us, would like nothing better than to not have any restaurants in that area and
to make it a very quiet community.
Commissioner Orlove: But, I'm asking you what you would like to see?
Mr. Therien: What we'd like to see is what's been proposed tonight. I think it is fair. I
think it's strict. I think closing down the noise levels at 11 o'clock during the week is
strict. Midnight on the weekends is strict, but we think it is fair. We are ready to
embrace it.
Commissioner Orlove: Thank you.
Mayor Rodriguez: Thank you.
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Ju��t 1 . Pyle, CMC
D .0 y City Clerk
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