Langley city leaders were wondering this week how to permanently resolve long-standing conflicts between residents and a neighboring tavern.

Mo’s Pub & Eatery received its first official infraction of Langley’s noise ordinance earlier this month. Around 11 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8, Langley Police Chief Dave Marks issued Maureen Cooke, owner of the Second Street pub, a $150 fine for violation of the city’s public disturbance noise ordinance. Issued through the Island County court system and mailed, Cooke said she had yet to receive the citation and considered it another form of being pestered by the city. Any further infractions will cost $350.

“I said, ‘OK, that’s fine,’” she said Thursday afternoon, referencing the conversation with the police chief.

“It’s more and more and more and more harassment to my business,” she added.

After being called out at least 100 times over the past few years, the Aug. 8 noise issue was enough for police to warrant an actual ticket.

“In the times we’ve gone over there before, it didn’t rise to the level that people were trying to say it did,” Marks said Thursday afternoon.

“We have to witness it,” he added.

In Marks’ report, provided to The Record, he wrote that the noise was “clearly audible at a distance of more than 150 feet from the pub… .”

Marks, in the report, described a large crowd as being a wedding party that had been bused to the pub, which is immediately neighboring residential properties. He credited the pub staff for helping corral people back inside to keep outside noise down, but the damage was already done and he had witnessed the code violation in person, leading to the $150 citation.

“When we got there, it was pretty egregious what was going on,” he told the city council at its Aug. 17 meeting.

Nearby owners and others have complained for years about excessive noise, mostly coming from outside the pub when people filter out onto the patio or into the alley to smoke.

“We’re going to have to do something different, one way or another,” Marks said.

“If you live next door to it, it’s going to continue to be a serious issue if that keeps up,” he added.

Almost since the former restaurant transformed into the pub, neighbors have complained about the noise and crowds disrupting their quality of life.

The city has tried to find ways to mitigate and limit noise concerns for three years.

At one point, the issue swirled around live, amplified music. That led the city’s planning department to come up with restrictions to the number of live, amplified music performances a lounge could have when neighboring a single family residence. Up to six permits can be issued by the city council now.

But that didn’t stop the nuisance calls from residents. More than muffled music through the walls, several residents told City Hall that crowds outside were the true source of the problem.

“For us, it’s never been about the music,” said Victoria Locke, who lives next door on Second Street. “It’s about bad behavior, screaming. It’s destroying our quality of life.”

Langley has been working on tweaking its noise ordinance rules to find a new way of responding to residents’ concerns.

Cooke, for her part, said she was so frustrated with the city’s treatment of her successful business that she continues to seek a new buyer for the pub and property.

“I can’t wait to get out of Langley,” she said.

In the meantime, Cooke said she would finish out this summer wedding season by staying open late on weekends to serve them, then resume closing the doors by 11 p.m.

“I’ll probably have to forsake the wedding business,” she said, later adding, “Langley will miss out on all the wedding business.”