Vienna Hookah Bar in Hot Water Over Noise Complaints

After a series of noise complaints, Bey Lounge’s live-entertainment permits could once again be on the chopping block.

Bey Lounge, a bar and restaurant at 303 Mill Street with Lebanese cuisine, hookahs, and live music, currently has four pending noise violation charges for incidents across the last several months. Town Attorney Steve Briglia said the most recent violation was this past Saturday (Jan. 5) night.

Briglia said the first case is scheduled to go to court this Monday (Jan. 14), with more court appearances planned for early February.

If the lounge is found guilty of the noise violations, Briglia said his office is planning to present a motion to revoke the site’s conditional use permit to the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA).

“It’s clearly audible,” said Briglia. “Officers are able to hear it on [nearby] streets and across residential lines.”

This isn’t the first time the lounge has gotten into trouble over noise levels. In 2017, the BZA voted unanimously to renew Bey Lounge’s conditional-use permit for live entertainment but required that between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, the noise cannot exceed 51 decibels at the property line.

“We did that once before and there had been some better behavior by Bey Lounge,” said Briglia. “But I think things have changed.”

Discussion at the Vienna Town Council meeting on Monday (Jan. 7) showed that many in the city’s leadership are fed up with the noise violations.

“I fully support revoking the permit,” said Councilmember Pasha Majdi. “It’s not strike three, it’s strike fifteen.”

Photo via Google Maps