Posted on: Friday, January 31, 2003

Live music OK at Hawai'i Kai pub

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

The Honolulu Liquor Commission yesterday approved a Hawai'i Kai restaurant's request for a temporary permit to allow live music to be played on its lanai, some 300 feet across the marina from residents who already complained about noise coming from The Shack.

The noise is nothing new to waterfront residents at Koko Isle, a townhome complex across Hawai'i Kai Marina from the popular hamburger restaurant and sports bar.

Several residents attended the commission hearing yesterday urging commissioners to deny the request because, while new glass doors at The Shack help keep the noise down, the restaurant's operators often do not close them, they said. Noise is particularly loud and boisterous during sporting events, they said.

"The Superbowl went fine," said Al Latimer, a resident who lives across the marina. "The problem was after the game that it was noisy. That was pretty bad with people pulling up to the bar in boats, hooting and hollering."

"It's very loud," Tom Rush, a resident of Kalele Kai, a high-rise condominium next to the shopping center, told the commission yesterday. "The loudness has increased because it is open in the front as well and the water acts as an amplifier. We're worried about this."

This is the same bar/restaurant that residents had complained about to the Honolulu Liquor Commission over a year ago for its ambient noise, such as laughter and shouting.

The commission then ordered the restaurant's management to work out the solution with residents.

Since then, the restaurant has spent about $250,000 to install glass doors that can be closed when music is being played, said Andy Lindburg, the restaurant's director of operations.

John Spierling, a Honolulu Liquor Commission commissioner, told residents that the temporary license means The Shack must come back to the commission for approval before it could receive a permanent license and he knew residents would speak up if there were problems.

"This is a 90-day trial basis," Spierling said. "They're not here to try to push anything by you. (The Shack) is respecting the neighborhood, I have to tell you that."

Lindburg said he plans to have live local music on Saturdays after 9 p.m. until 12:30 a.m.

The doors will be closed on the lanai and the speakers will face away from the marina, he said.

The Shack also plans to expand its lanai to include space previously used by Pizza Hut, Lindburg said.