The Danville Planning Commission is set Tuesday to consider an appeal to an earlier decision that denied permitting for planned events at the Auburn Lounge in downtown over alleged noise violations.

Auburn Lounge owners Marc and Michelle Collopy filed an appeal on Aug. 18 against an original decision on Aug. 11 to deny land-use permit applications they had submitted for outdoor special events on Aug. 20 and Sept. 10, which the commission is poised to discuss and is urged to deny, with town staff pointing to previous violations of town ordinances at outdoor events hosted at the popular speakeasy in downtown Danville.

"Given the history of non-compliance and complaints regarding the volume of the music, the town denied both requests," chief of planning David Crompton wrote in the staff report prepared for the upcoming meeting.

The most recent violation, according to town officials, was on Aug. 20 when the planned event at the Auburn Lounge allegedly went on in the wake of the Aug. 11 denial of the associated land use permit application, during which live, amplified music was played, according to Crompton's report. The owners also planned an event last weekend to parallel the Hot Summer Sundays Car Show.

While that event in August did not garner any complaints, it was the latest in a series of violations of the Downtown Business District Ordinance, which allows outdoor music only at a volume that is not audible 100 feet or more away from the venue, according to Crompton.

Town staff also point to a previous show at the lounge on June 4, during which a live band played amplified music despite it being forbidden according to the permit that was approved for that event.

"Again, the town received complaints regarding the volume of the music," Crompton wrote.

Prior to the alleged violations this year, Crompton's report includes several other alleged violations during which amplified music was played at the venue that yielded complaints from neighboring businesses to town officials. The first of these was on Sept. 1, 2021, followed by additional incidents last year on Aug. 21, 2022 and Sept. 25, 2022, all of which resulted in citations.

"The land use would adversely affect the orderly development of property within the Town, in that the volume of sound generated by amplified outdoor music at this location has a direct negative impact on surrounding businesses," Crompton wrote in the denial letter for the most recent permit applications on Aug. 11. "Auburn is located directly adjacent to a dense population of other businesses, one of which includes outdoor restaurant seating for customers which are directly and adversely affected by the sound volume."

Auburn Lounge's owners, however, contend in their appeal of the Aug. 11 decision that the issue stems directly from acrimony between them and the neighboring business with outdoor seating.

"We have continuously complied with every ordinance that every other business has," the Collopys wrote in their appeal letter on Aug. 18. "We are told the 'no amplified music' clause in the town of Danville ordinance is enforced only when a complaint is called in. Revel Kitchen is our one and only neighbor who complains, and this is a fact and public knowledge."

They pointed to an attempt to meet with the owners of Revel and work out issues between the two businesses at the suggestion of town officials in 2021, which they say went downhill quickly over the course of just a few minutes.

"Our agenda was to discuss working together, hear concerns, and cross market," the Collopys wrote. "Their agenda was to fight. Michelle was verbally attacked by both adults, a patio chair was kicked over by Curtis (deCarion), and the meeting was over in under 10 minutes after we felt it turned violent and unsafe."

The Collopys alleged discrimination in the town's recent denial of the permits for events this year, saying that they've been at events in other downtown venues with "louder music and more 'party like' atmospheres."

"We are asking that the town help us move forward with our remaining three events, and stop this unwarranted harassment of our business and our income," the Collopys wrote. "We are tired of trying to fight a battle that we all know is right and stand up to the bully in our community."

Town staff are recommending that commissioners vote to approve a resolution that would deny the appeal -- pointing to several policies, ordinances, and goals for the town that would allegedly be violated should the appeal be approved -- which is the main action item on the agenda for the upcoming meeting.

The Danville Planning Commission is set to meet at 5 p.m. on Tuesday (Sept. 12). The agenda is available here.