After hearing, Blue Hill sets limits on outdoor music at Blaze restaurant

Blue Hill resident Rich Boulet said he supports live music but asked that there be limitations. Photo by Tricia Thomas.

By Tricia Thomas

BLUE HILL—Following lengthy public hearings on both matters, the Blue Hill select board voted on October 14 to renew the Blaze restaurant’s annual liquor license and place limits on its live outdoor music to assuage neighbors’ concerns about the volume of the performances.

Blaze, located at 66 Main Street, has been offering live music on a new outdoor stage since late June. Shortly after the performances began, neighbors complained to the town that the music was too loud, and asked the board to intervene.

After determining that Blaze had not applied for a special amusement permit to offer the concerts, as required by town ordinance, the board directed its code enforcement officer to send a letter of violation. Blaze owner Matt Haskell told the board earlier this month that, although the letter was sent to the wrong address, he had been made aware of the violation, and had taken steps to rectify it.

“We thought [the special amusement permit] was already applied for and thought we had the license,” Haskell said during a recent telephone interview. “It’s now applied for.”

Blaze owner Matt Haskell said he was seeking “common ground” on the music issue at his restaurant in downtown Blue Hill. Photo by Tricia Thomas.

More than 30 residents attended the hearings, which were moved to the town hall’s second-floor auditorium to accommodate the crowd. Residents spoke both for and against the music.

Lori Robbins, who owned Barncastle, a hotel and restaurant on South Street, from 2007 through 2023, spoke in support of the music.

“It’s so important to me that we have live music and that small businesses are supported here,” she said.

“Having lived next door to Blaze last summer—we lived in the apartment above the toy store—we loved going out onto our back porch and listening to the music. It was a real treat,” Robbins said.

Marechal Brown, a Pleasant Street resident, told the board that Blaze’s outdoor concerts have been “disturbing.”

“It’s been a nightmare for me to have the live music every night. I get up at four-thirty or five o’clock every morning, and I moved to Blue Hill partly because it was a quiet community,” Brown said. “The music is so loud that I can have all of my windows closed and my door closed and still hear the music in every room of my house. I find it very disturbing.”

Main Street resident Richard Seeger, of Compass Real Estate, praised Haskell’s renovation of the Blaze property, but said he objected to the music.

“It’s the same situation for me. It’s 400 feet (between his property and Blaze). In the summertime, I can’t leave a window open,” Seeger said. “I’m 85 years old. I go to bed a little earlier than the rest of you, probably, and it’s been very hard to get a good night’s sleep.”

Pleasant Street resident Jack Titcomb said he is not bothered by the music, and feels it’s a benefit to the town.

“I live directly behind the Terrace Apartments, and I can’t hear the music at all,” he said. 

High Street resident Rich Boulet, who first complained to the board about the live music in early July, asked if limits could be placed on the performances. 

“I do support live music. I like to see it, and I like to see it outside. I just think there should be some limitation on the frequency and the hours,” Boulet said. “I would support Blaze having live music twice a week until 9 p.m.”

Haskell, who also owns restaurants in Bar Harbor, Orono and Bangor, said he did not think that a concert ending at 9:30 or 10 p.m. was problematic, but said he was willing to compromise.

“I’m not here to argue or anything like that. I’m here just to find common ground and hope that we can continue to provide live music,” Haskell said. “In the end, if we can’t find common ground, then we won’t do live music. We’ll just continue what we’ve been doing for years, which is food and beverage.”

After more than an hour of discussion on both the amusement permit and subsequent liquor license renewal, including whether decibel levels during the concerts should be measured, the board unanimously approved issuing Haskell a special amusement permit with specific restrictions. Amplified outdoor music now is limited to two nights per week, and must end by 9:30 p.m., the board said. In a separate vote, the board voted to extend Blaze’s liquor license through next October.

Haskell said after the meeting that he was satisfied with the conditional permit approval.

“I’m fine with it,” he said.

Boulet, who stopped to talk briefly with Haskell after the meeting, said he also was “satisfied” with the board’s decision.

“I just wish it didn’t take from July to October to get this resolved,” he said.