"If he had wanted to set up a nice quiet
restaurant," Chapman says of owner Thomas
LeFevre — whose family story is on the
restaurant's website — "nobody would have
said anything, but he came out blasting on
Day 1."
Chapman adds, "There's just no way to impart
the absolute disaster here."
THE BANDS PLAY ON
Chapman has become well versed in the pro-
cedure for taking noise meter readings, and
it is she who ends up calling the Sarasota
County Sheriff's Office time and again to
report violations of the county's revised Air
and Sound Pollution Ordinance, which the
County Commission approved on a split vote
on March 19.
Referring to the deputies who have responded
to those calls, Chapman adds, "Really, they've
been very supportive, very supportive. Without
them, we would be completely insane."
It seems to Chapman and neighbors that the
staff and the bands that play at the restaurant
have made a conscious effort to put figurative
roadblocks in the paths of those deputies.
Chapman describes the difficulty of getting
ambient noise readings, which are necessi-
tated by county code. A deputy has to record
levels of sound with which to compare the
decibel readings of the music.
On some nights, she points out, the person
handling karaoke at Bob's Boathouse blasts
bursts of music for 10 to 15 minutes at inter-
vals. There is no way a deputy could get to
her house in time to record what seems to
be an intensely high level of sound, Chapman
points out.
She keeps going back to a comment
Commission Vice Chairwoman Christine
An aerial view shows the proximity of Bob's Boathouse (marked by the flag) to residences on Montclair
Drive and other streets. Image from Google Maps
Sarasota News Leader August 8 & 15, 2014 Page 49
