THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 5, 1994 TAG: 9408030107
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
A few residents living near the Ebony Showcase, a nightclub between Airline Boulevard and the Collinswood neighborhood, made it clear last weekend that they want the place shut down and they are not willing to compromise.
City Manager V. Wayne Orton brought in mediators for Saturday's three-hour meeting between residents and a co-owner of the Westgate Plaza nightclub in hopes of reaching an accord between the two groups. Instead the meeting ended up with some residents screaming at the co-owner and telling the city that they want the nightclub closed.
Despite the few residents who weren't willing to work with the club, Orton believes the meeting was productive.
``I was pleased both sides had a presence,'' Orton said Monday. ``I think the facilitators helped keep focus in setting goals and getting some specified actions. The overall group remained focused.''
Orton was not surprised that a few people were unwilling to work with the owner because of the ``intense emotions'' surrounding the topic, he said.
When Councilman Cameron C. Pitts suggested Saturday that a few of the homeowners invite club co-owner David Casteel into their homes to measure sound levels while the club was open, one homeowner objected.
``I'd sooner reach over and slap the s--- out of him,'' said Kerry M. Schleeper, of Mohican Drive. ``I don't want him in my house.''
A woman who lives in the neighborhood said police told the neighbors to stay away from the club because ``tempers were going to rise and something terrible would happen.''
``That's on the horizon,'' she said.
Some residents seemed willing to work out a compromise, but three residents blocked any potential progress during the meeting.
Residents living along Mohican Drive directly behind the club, a former bowling alley, say they are angry about more than just noise. Some residents said people from the club have been urinating in their back yards. They also said the club has brought crime into their neighborhood.
David Casteel, a co-owner of Ebony Showcase, said he is in the process of erecting an 8-foot, nearly 500-foot-long privacy fence between the club and the neighborhood as well as from some nearby apartments. While one section of the fence is complete, Casteel couldn't promise when the rest of the fence would be erected. The rainy weather has delayed the work, he said.
Sixty percent of the work to insulate the club's ceiling is done, Casteel said. Once the insulation is completed, 60 to 80 percent of noise coming from the club will be eliminated, sound engineers have estimated.
In the meantime, the neighbors said they want the club closed unless the owner can turn down the volume. But Casteel says he is in a Catch-22: He can't complete the work until he earns enough money from the business; if he turns off the music he will lose his customers.
``If that man can't fix the sound so we can't hear it, then he can carry his a-- on down the road,'' Schleeper said.
City officials and Casteel did promise to measure sound levels in the neighborhood within 10 days between midnight and 2 a.m. The city and Casteel plan to measure the full range of sound levels.
Orton said the city will follow up on promises made to the residents. He added that if Casteel was sincere in his promises to the residents it would instill in them more confidence that the club was trying to be a good neighbor. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JOSEPH JOHN KOTLOWSKI
David Casteel, a co-owner of Ebony Showcase, said he is in the
process of erecting an 8-foot, nearly 500-foot-long privacy fence.
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