[mcdude]

Tower Hill Tavern - WEBPAGE
BLUEPRINT of expansion proposal
Tower Hill Tavern SOUND REPORT

From the Laconia Sun

Sleep v. entertainment at Weirs at issue again tonight
Written by Michael Kitch
LACONIA — The Planning Board will return to the proposal by Anthony Santagate to convert the top floor of the Tower Hill Tavern at Weirs Beach to a live music venue when it meets tonight at the Weirs Community Center at 6:30 p.m.
The proposal has aroused controversy about the level of noise and the adequacy of parking. Tonight the board will consider Santagate's request to find the public parking spaces at the boat docks sufficient to accommodate the proposed use of the building. Opponents of the project have suggested Santagate should be required to provide sufficient parking by leasing spaces from nearby property owners as other businesses do.
Meanwhile, faced with conflicting reports from two sound engineers, the board continues to wrestle with the issue of noise raised by neighboring businesses, especially those offering overnight accommodation, and residents. Their concerns prompted the board to require Santagate to fund a round of testing to determine if the noise leaving the building would be within acceptable limits.
In September Eric Reuter of Reuter Associates of Portsmouth told the board that he calculated the sound of a live band would reach 90 decibels within the building and add between 45 and 50 decibels to the ambient sound level outside it, which he described as "reasonable for this area and this use." However, the board questioned his methodology and ordered a further round of testing, which Santagate said confirmed Reuter's original findings.
Meanwhile, Frank Kuhn of Air & Noise Compliance of Plaistow, who was hired by Robert and Mike Ames, owners of the Half Moon Motel and Cottages, to review Reuter's reports and conduct tests himself cast doubt on Reuter's findings. He presumed that the ambient sound level outside the building in the evening would be between 40 and 45 decibels and expected a live band would raise it to 110 decibels. He stressed that neighbors are especially sensitive to sound after dark, when the ambient sound level is lowest.
The board agreed to refer the reports to a consultant, who would be asked to set some standard for audible noise with reference to specific places and times and measured by particular instruments. Apart from addressing the specific noise issues surrounding the Tower Hill Tavern, the Planning Board anticipates rewriting the city noise ordinance in hopes of developing standards that can be applied to similar proposals in the future.