Posted on: Friday, June 22, 2001

Diner/bar, Hawai'i Kai neighbors advised to talk it over

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Bureau

HAWAI'I KAI — Marina-front residents have been complaining for more than two years that there is too much noise from The Shack restaurant at the Hawai'i Kai Shopping Center.

Those residents, some who live only 300 feet away, say the marina carries the sound of laughter, shouting and hooting right into their living rooms.

But it wasn't until last night's Honolulu Liquor Commission hearing that residents got to meet the restaurant managers face to face to come up with solutions.

The commission voted that The Shack, a popular hamburger restaurant and sports bar, would get to keep its liquor license, which allows it to sell alcohol to customers on the lanai, but has 90 days to iron out a solution with the residents.

"You have to learn to work together," said John Spierling, Liquor Commission chairman. "The noise does travel and there's nothing more disturbing then being woken up by someone else's noise."

Along the waterfront of the shopping center are five restaurants that take advantage of open-air lanais.

"It's a sports bar and it comes right into your living room," said Judith MacKenzie, a Koko Isle resident, who lives across the water from the restaurant. "Occasionally bad language comes across."

Said Al Latimer, another Koko Isle resident: "The noise carries. If we can eliminate the liquor at least, on the lanai, then that would reduce the hooting at night."

The Shack has been at the same location for seven years, said Andy Lindberg, general manager of the Hawai'i Kai establishment and another in Mililani. "We'd love to take the leading role and coordinate between the restaurants and the marina patrol and the security at the center. We want to be good neighbors."

Lindberg said the restaurant recently installed electronic sensors to tell them when someone opens the lanai doors after 9 p.m. on weekdays and 10 p.m. on weekends. The managers will be more aware of the noise level, he said, and will give the residents advance notice of special events. When noise became an issue at the Kailua restaurant on Keolu Drive, a retaining wall was built to block sound, he said.

"We want to be there for the long term," said Gary Clair, a general partner who lives in Los Angeles. "We're renegotiating a lease here. The last thing we want to do is to have problems."