It was disturbing to see an article in the Morning Call, essentially hoping that all turns out well for the Maingate Nightclub, with its upcoming suspension hearings with the LCB. Likewise, it was disturbing when city council voted for the special noise exemption ordinance to help the nightclub circumvent their continuing LCB violations.
City council never surveyed the surrounding residents for their opinion about the scheme to help out a private bar owner. We know that they actually blamed the residents of the elderly high-rise for squealing about the club's noise to the liquor control board. As someone who has been scrutinizing bad city council actions for decades, the Maingate vote may take the cake for favoritism.
I noticed that when the current operator of the Ritz spoke of her closing, she mentioned the Maingate. Discussing slow business before the Covid-19 shutdown, she believes last summer’s shooting that injured the Maingate Nightclub owner and a security guard outside the nearby business was partly to blame.“I think it scared people,”
City councilman Daryl Hendricks referred to the Maingate area as an entertainment district. Perhaps if he lived there, and was concerned about his family's quality of life, and his property value, he would realize that it is first and foremost a neighborhood.
photo of residential street being sacrificed by city council
I live in the neighborhood and it is fine. The Maingate and Allentown Fairgrounds are great neighbors. The incident at the Maingate was not a regular occurrence. The noise has never been an issue. As a regular customer of Ritz, I have seen the quality of the food and ice cream deteriorate over the years. That has more to do with the declining business then one incident at the Maingate. Hopefully if new owners take over they will correct that. We have a great neighborhood here.
ReplyDeleteAgree. The Maingate has been in operation for years without issues. What's the driving force behind the recent noise complaints? It's ridiculous. The Ritz will be back under new management and, hopefully, the food and service will be greatly improved.
DeleteI fail to see all the hoopla over the Main Gate.The local Democratic Party had their meetings and election night party's at the Gate with no problems for years.
ReplyDeleteMike; Those houses in the picture above are +/- 1,000' away (almost 1/5 of a mile) from the Main Gate, which was there when many of them bought their homes. Should the Fair be cancelled? I bought a home by Muhlenberg College so I do not complain about the noise from college related activities. Shouldn't PA's 3rd largest City have an Entertainment Zone for uses like the Great Allentown Fair, Fairgrounds, Theater District/street festivals and Main Gate? 19th & Allen seems like a reasonable location for such a zone. Just my personal view.
ReplyDeleteThe fact is that the Main Gate has chosen not to correct the problems, and instead has leaned on City Hall to change the rules for them.
ReplyDeleteThat's wrong, and you'd think that those in City Hall would have learned a lesson over the past few years, but I guess not. I find it interesting that City Hall will talk tough about enforcing the rules on some minority-owned nightspots, but will roll over for an owner when it's one of their favorites. That sends a terrible message to anyone doing business in the city.
I don't think it's too cumbersome to expect the Main Gate to live by the rules that everyone else does, nor do I think it takes a lot of effort to fix their noise problem. While I agree that the Main Gate's been there for a while, I don't think they deserve to ignore the rules - or have special rules made for them. To me, even though the Main Gate is a business, it comes down to just being a good neighbor.
On a more personal note, I used to walk with my family to many of the Fairgrounds area attractions (Ritz, Civic Theater, Ringers, Udder Bar, Farmer's Market, etc.), no matter what time of day. But since the shooting I won't walk near there if it's close to dark. That's not as much of a problem in the summer, but it's definitely cut down our visits when the daylight hours are shorter.
Now maybe those businesses have enough customers that they won't notice we're not there as much, but I don't think we're the only ones who have chosen to go elsewhere. I guess time will tell.
To me, the Main Gate and the City are sending a very clear signal about what they're willing to tolerate in that area, and we really don't want to be a part of that.
Tsear, the block shown is St. George St., between 18th and 19th, Liberty and Allen. All residents of the neighborhood accept and support all the venues in the area. The issue is city council passing a custom ordinance, to accommodate one business, the Maingate. It was intended to take authority away from the LCB regarding complaints, and protect the Maingate lessee. As you well know, the city passed the Muhlenberg overlay district to control student rentals around you. Imagine how you would feel if instead they said Muhlenberg students and housing doesn't have to conform to any existing zoning. Thats what council did with the Maingate and its neighborhood, they relaxed the rules.
ReplyDeleteMike: I'm know exactly what block that is. So those residents were barred from City Council meetings? Regarding the SRO, I would absolutely love getting rid of it!!!! I'd estimate that in the mid-West End as many as half of all home sales are suburban landlords using single family dwellings as rentals Single family dwelling rentals are increasingly becoming a greater portion of the housing stock in the mid-West End and are forever lowering the quality of life in this neighborhood. I never supported the SRO, those that did were being shortsighted. Muhlenberg students are much more desirable neighbors than the general pool of renters in Allentown that rent single family dwellings. The students are good kids from good families that do not want to break into your house or your car. I can't wait for them to get back since I feel safer in my neighborhood when the students are around.
DeleteThe other thing that everyone always seems to forget when you play favorites is that one day the Main Gate will sell (maybe sooner than we think). Then you've created a special zone for an owner who is no longer there, and the next owner (or the many after that) could be even more irresponsible.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the issue is that the rules right now are too strict or unfair, it's that the Main Gate owner just doesn't want to follow them.
Making an accommodation for a lower standard is not a step forward in my opinion, but is unfortunately the standard in Allentown.
What if a new owner is more responsible and brings in a better use, say a craft beer garden? It's possible. At the end of the day, I think its a reasonable location for an Entertainment District.
DeleteTsear, I was at the city council meeting, and you were not. The Maingate had it packed (about 150 people) supporting the music featured at the Maingate (hip hop and Latina) and complaining that anybody against the effort to support the nightclub was racist. Candida even mentioned how her bar was years ago also victimized by prejudice. It was very intimidating situation in which to speak against the ordinance. The Theater District has worked well for the unique 19th Street neighborhood....they don't want the entertainment district, but were not asked.
ReplyDeleteMike: Of course I wasn't there, I'm unaffected, I don't even live in that neighborhood, why would I be there? Nearly 75% of the homes on that block in your photo are rentals or relatively new owners (since 2013). These residents would have been aware of any existing noise generating businesses nearby and many probably enjoy the convenience of such uses being so close. I simply can't believe that any group of impacted residents would be ignored by City Council or their concerns dismissed. If "the Theater District" did not support this, as you suggest, they should have been there to oppose. They don't need a special invitation and it wasn't a ZHB meeting with notification requirements.
DeleteThey did not inform or survey the neighborhood, but they did pack the meeting. Those in the neighborhood who attended learned of the rammed through ordinance from this blog.
ReplyDeleteYou cannot believe that impacted residents would be ignored by city council??? Trent you know better, I don't know who you're carrying water for, but your future replies will be deleted.
I said it before... All Maingate had to do is turn down the subwoofers. The sound from them can travel for blocks as anyone knows when cars pass by with over-amped up subwoofers. You can hear them coming from over a block away and they only have a fraction of the power driving them.
ReplyDeleteFor example HERE'S THE LINK TO A YOUTUBE video which clearly demonstrates how loud these head banging speakers are.HERE'S ANOTHER with the bass so load the camera recording it was overloaded.
Turn the the damn things down and the problem would be solved!