Residents’ complaint over O Bar liquor license disintegrates

Mitchell Welds, Chairman of
Liquor Licensing Board


(L-R) Don Seymour, owner O Bar; Joel Francis and
Lloyd Samson, owners Club Octopus.


Chairman of Liquor Licensing Board, Mitchell Welds
(4th left), directs the proceedings.

Monday,  September 12, 2005

The objection to O Bar’s Music and Dancing license collapsed last week while the fight for Club Octopus’ goes on, at the Liquor Licensing Board meeting that commenced on 8 September. 

Over the last few weeks, controversy erupted between residents and nightclub owners over noise levels, which residents said had disturbed their sleep. There were also concerns about the alleged level of violence and debris from the clientele at Club Octopus. 

With hearings on licenses on the Matrix and the Next Level, most of the country’s leading nightclubs’ licenses seemed to be at risk.

For several weeks, the Deputy Chairman of the Grandview Condominiums, David Melvin, collected dozens of petitions from condo residents to protest the noise level at O Bar. According to Mr Melvin, complaints to the police resulted in inconsistent response as noise levels continued to fluctuate until the early hours of the morning.

He had also previously stated that residents from George Town Villas and Grape Tree Condos were also complaining about the ongoing noise problem. 

The owner of O Bar, Don Seymour, responded by requesting permission to have an independent sound engineer test the noise level in Mr Melvin’s condo, which was declined. Mr Melvin stated the situation had gone on for too long and that it was time to have the case heard by the Liquor Licensing Board. 

Because Mr Melvin was unable to attend the meeting as a family member was undergoing major surgery in the UK, Lovesa Welds-Hedberg, represented the Grandview Condominiums as a Director of the Board.

However, Ms Welds-Hedberg stated at the meeting that she supported all young Caymanian entrepreneurs and therefore could not raise an objection to the license. 

“I am in support of all young Caymanian entrepreneurs and I do not wish to raise an objection against the license,” said Ms Welds-Hedberg. “But I do want to raise objections to the noise level.”

Tim Hepburn as the Property Manager for the Grape Tree and George Town Villas raised the objection against the license.

However, it was determined that as an official complaint was not submitted to the Liquor Licensing Board before seven days prior to the meeting, his objection could not be heard. 

According to the Chairman of the Liquor Licensing Board, Mitchell Welds, objections could not be heard against O Bar as the objectors were not present or had not followed the proper procedures. 

Mr Seymour stated that although his license was maintained, he was disappointed at the outcome because it took away the opportunity to prove his case. 

“Both Mr Melvin and I were advised what the proper procedures were for the hearing so there is no excuse that it could not have been heard,” said Mr Seymour. “I believe Mr Melvin has made it clear that he wants to completely shut down O Bar and is not interested in participating in a solution. 

“I am disappointed at the results because I went to great lengths to prove my case and Mr Melvin has failed to make the proper arrangements. I am afraid he will continue his public campaign to damage our reputation.”

From the UK, Mr Melvin said that he was appalled at the outcome and will be resigning from the Board of Directors and selling his property.

“That a fellow Caymanian director with some seventy-five signatures of complaint in hand, made the unilateral decision to override her responsibilities to them and as a director to Grandview in being unwilling to object to a license of a Caymanian entrepreneur, and thereby leave us at the mercy of noise misery, is in short, just incredulous,” said Mr Melvin.

“I also accept my failure of judgment in believing a Caymanian director, not even living on the premises, would represent the affected interests of the owners of Grandview, rather than, in her words, a Caymanian entrepreneur. If ever there was a clearer signal of prejudice, here it is.”

The objections against Club Octopus’ were heard with nightclub owner Lloyd Samson defending its license against allegations of excessive noise, debris, rising violence and partying patrons spilling over into neighbouring parking lots of adjacent condominiums. 

Patricia Dixon, representing Island Club, said there were a number of issues including noise level until three in the morning.

“I have made several complaints to the police but I don’t know if they respond because they never call me back,” said Ms Dixon.

“This is a vacation property, with many people spending $500 to $600 a night, but they can’t go to sleep until the noise dies down until 3 or 4 am in the morning.

“I believe kids need somewhere to go, but they have to be able to control it. 

“I have had people tell me they see kids hanging around in the parking lot smoking who knows what and carrying on. It’s not right.”

She added that we are all ambassadors for the Tourism Department and that she is trying to get tourists coming back to the Island, but Club Octopus needs better security for controlling the crowds.

Mr Samson said that he is aware of the issues and has taken measures to alleviate them, but not all the problems were down to the Club Octopus licensees. 

“I urge tolerance,” said Mr Samson. “This is a give and take situation and they need to realise that they are not the only occupants on West Bay Road that are entitled to have a business.”

He added that much of the noise pollution can be attributed to the traffic on West Bay Road.

“We will do whatever it takes to ensure that disturbances do not effect our neighbours,” said Mr Samson.

He added that Deckers and Bamboo are also in the vicinity and perhaps, not all the problems are from patrons of Club Octopus. 

Mr Samson said he is working on security issues by requesting better lighting of the premises and he has requested the police come around the club during the peak hours of the evening to control the crowd outside. Club Octopus opened for business in December 2004. 

The complaint against the Next Level was not heard, as the objectors did not attend the meeting. 

The probation period of the Matrix Nightclub was reviewed with reports from the police and the liquor inspector.

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