Residents of an Atlantic City condominium say their complaints about late night noise from a beach bar are ignored.
Several Ocean Club residents came to the CitiStat meeting Wednesday to voice their ongoing concerns about the Chelsea Beach Bar music they say blares at ordinance-breaking decibels well into the early morning.
CitiStat meetings are held every two weeks to allow residents to voice concerns and pose questions to department leaders in the city. They are then promised a response to those issues by the next meeting.
"The music continues now sometimes until 4 o'clock in the morning," Ocean Club resident Harriet Diamond told the dais. "The Beach Bar really has been causing us a lot of problems and they don't go away.
"This is not the neighborhood we all moved into," she added.
"I think it's unfortunate that Chelsea Beach Bar takes the blame for a lot of these things," said Jeffree Fauntleroy, who works at the bar and is a former councilman.
He agreed that there are noise issues, but noted that the Tropicana is also in that area and that the Beach Bar suffers some of the issues raised by the owner of the former Chelsea Pub, who said allowing open containers in the city contributed to issues that caused him to not be able to get insurance and change to the Chelsea Inn.
The decibel level is not supposed to go above 50 after 10 p.m., Councilman Muhammad Zia told BreakingAC, adding that he has found it to be 65 to 75 decibels when he walks to that part of the Boardwalk.
Beach Bar owner Steven Tabeek addressed the group, saying that the club has not gone over the decibel limits, which he said is backed by the business never being fined.
Those fines run $3,000 per incident, he said.
Tabeek also said that those who live in the Ocean Club knew they were buying property on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City in the entertainment district.
"I think at the end of the day, the underlying issue is truly racism," he said.
Business Administrator Anthony Swan interrupted Tabeek at that point, asking what he would like the city to do.
"It sounds like you want us to do a fair assessment," Swan said.
"Exactly," Tabeek replied.
The noise issue falls under Health and Human Services. Swan said he asked about reports to that department after the last meeting, and there had been none.
But several residents said they have regularly called police about the issue.
Tabeek said it causes problems for his business when the decibel check is done.
After a measurement is taken with the music on, the music must be shut off for about 20 minutes as a check is done of other noise in the area.
At that point, people leave "because they think the party is over," he said.
After the meeting, co-owner Domenico Gaggiano said that he lives in the Ocean Club, and that the noise is not from his businesses, which includes Celebrity Corner.
Instead, he blames those parked with their music blaring out of their cars.
Resident Tom Lamaine pointed out a new law that allows for cars to be stopped for noise issues. He asked if the city would be enforcing that.
Zia said Gaggiano has not been respectful to the Ocean Club residents, who pay a large amount of taxes to the city.
"I don’t like to go against the business," Zia said. "But the way Domenico behaves with the Ocean Club people, the way he talks is not nice. It's very disrespectful."
Zia said he plans to be on the Boardwalk by the bar for Labor Day to make sure there are no issues.
"My crystal clear message is, they have to work with the Ocean Club residents," he said.
He offered possible fixes that include moving the speakers and having them point toward the ocean.
The city solicitor was also tasked with looking into the agreement the Beach Bar has with the state, and not the city.
The Department of Community Affairs oversees the city.
Spokeswoman Lisa Ryan told BreakingAC she would look into the issue.
