Abby Nadeau
Staff Writer

According to Forest Laker owner Pete Paidar “It’s not how many events you have, it is how you run the event.”

Paidar was the lone downtown business owner who attended a recent city workshop to discuss the issues of outdoor entertainment.

Currently the city ordinance only allows business owners three permits a year for outdoor entertainment.

But downtown business owners who want to take advantage of the remodeled city park would like to have more opportunities to host events.

Now the city has to decide what is good for business and what is good for neighboring home owners.

City concerns

The city’s current outdoor entertainment ordinances, which limits the number of permits and noise decibels entertainment can be heard at, has been in place since November of 2003.

Council member Bo Bogotty said that “99 percent of the reason” why the ordinance was enacted was because of the bands being played at Willow Point.

Willow Point was a commercial establishment on first lake that repeatedly had complaints from neighbors because of the level of noise that was coming from the business. Much of the noise was coming from the outdoor entertainment the business offered.

Willow Point has since been purchased by new owners and it is expected to reopen this fall as The Lakehouse.

City Attorney Dave Hebert brought out a large file showing the council the amount of complaints the city received because of Willow Point and what the city did to rectify the situation.

“We went through a pretty lengthy process,” Hebert said.

Ultimately, in 2003 the city decided to create an ordinance that not only limited the number of events an establishment could have, but also how loud those events could be.

Now, although business owners want more opportunities, some members of the council are still hesitant to grant more permits.

Council member Judy Bull said she enjoys music but, “if I lived upstairs in the condos would I love it? How do we protect both the home and business owners?”

Bogotty replied saying “you’re buying a place in the commercial development, you know you may be faced with some music.”

He summed up saying “buyer beware.”

Council member Greg Ochs said he felt that only offering three permits a year was “too restrictive.”

“We have a great opportunity to show the Twin Cities and the northeast what we’ve got,” Ochs said. “I love sitting outside by the ice cream shop and listening to the music. To me, that is what Minnesota in the summer time is all about.”

However Paidar offered another perspective saying that he has had great success speaking with his neighbors about any events he has coming up.

“I told them what was coming,” Paidar said.

The council then discussed having a public meeting where residents from around Forest Lake would be able to voice their approval or concern for a change in the ordinance to allow more outdoor entertainment permits.

City Administrator Chip Robinson chimed in saying, “we need to be careful what we create. You have to balance what is good for the public and what is good for the business.”

In the end the council decided to hear what the public had to say about the ordinance and the possible changes.

A public meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Monday, July 23, prior to the city council meeting at 7 p.m.

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