Neighbors Want "Very Rowdy Bar" To Give Up 4 A.M. Liquor License
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Some residents in Roscoe Village want a Western Avenue bar to give up its late night liquor license, claiming the bar is a nuisance of noise and crime.
Sarie Keller's home is adjacent to the Bluelight, at 3251 N. Western Ave. She said, over the last several years, problems have escalated.
"Management changed around mid-2008 and from that point, the clientele of the bar changed. It became a very loud, very rowdy bar. People started parking all up and down Melrose in the neighborhood, illegally; on the sidewalks, on the parkways. Our house has been hit three times," she said.
Keller said they've spent years talking with the city of Chicago, Ald. Scott Waguespack's office, and the bar's owners.
"We engaged for over a year of community meetings with the bar owners, telling them what the problems were, what they needed to do. They continue to say it's not our problem, it's not our customers," she said.
The city has deemed the bar problematic, and has entered into a plan of operation with the bar, dictating what they have to do, but Keller said the bar hasn't complied with any of the city's demands.
"In the first day that it was effective, someone parked in the alley, directly under my window, with their windows open, music blasting, and sat there for 10 minutes having a conversation on their phone" she said.
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Bluelight's owner said they are doing their best to be good neighbors, and plan on hiring security as part of their agreement with the city, but Keller said that's yet to be seen.
"This bar is supposed to have security. Where is the security? They're never out. They're not on the street," she said. "As a result, we installed home surveillance video, and I've watched hours and hours, and there is absolutely no security."
According to an email sent out from Waguespack's office, a plan of operation is linked to the license, and could -- though not definitely -- be cause for revocation of the license.
Neighbors are calling on the bar to increase security and give up their 4 a.m. license, and instead use only the standard 2 a.m. license.
"A 4 a.m. license is an extreme privilege, and they've shown over the past seven years, they can't handle that," Keller said. "There are loads of children in this neighborhood and very frequently on Saturday and Sunday mornings, we can't have them riding their bikes up and down the street because there are shattered glass bottles everywhere. This bar is entirely out of character with the community."
Waguespack's office said there will be a community policing meeting in the neighborhood on Wednesday, and The Bluelight will likely be up for discussion.
"My children are scared. Legitimately, my children are woken by noise and they're scared, and that shouldn't be. That shouldn't be in any neighborhood of the city, but it's so out of character for Rosecoe Village that it's really becoming a desperate problem," said Keller.
