The Langley City Council will meet in a special meeting tonight to discuss a request for an amplified music event this weekend at The Machine Shop.
Our vote is to let the music play.
Bars and nightclubs with live entertainment can be a poor fit in residential areas — booze and partying don’t mix with getting enough sleep for work tomorrow — but Tim Leonard’s business is neither. He doesn’t have a liquor license, the tunes have to stop at 10 p.m. and, by city code, he can only have a dozen such events a year. Whidbey’s birds and squirrels make more noise than that.
Lighten up Langley. One event a month is hardly reason for fuss, particularly with highly regulated and subjectively approved permits such as those under discussion.
Loud music is currently allowed in commercial areas, such as the Dog House on First Street — by far the most appropriate areas — but also in “neighborhood business zones,” such as the area where the machine shop calls home on Second Street and De Bruyn Avenue.
Such arrangements have been the source of much friction in the past, namely Mo’s Pub and Brewery. It proved an ongoing headache for residents, a source of frustration for the business owners and a nightmare for the city council.
Oak Harbor suffered similar pains with nightclubs on Bayshore Drive and their proximity to residential condos.
Part of the problem is that mixed uses are an attempt to combine oil and water. One group complains Langley has turned into a town of old ladies, and another just as rightly say they have a right to peace and quiet at home. Solving this pickle has been a struggle for many a city council.
In this case, we feel Langley is tackling the problem appropriately. The number of musical events is highly restricted, the business owner is subject to a host of special conditions, and to top it all off the council has the subjective power to approve or deny an application based on its whims.
We actually don’t like permits that are subjectively approved, but in this case it seems appropriate. This is a common sense solution that aims to address both groups, those who want a little fun and those who want a little sleep.
