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For some, O’Malley’s Sports Pub off Old Middlefield Road is one of Mountain View’s few remaining melting pots, a true public house. But to others, the pub is more like a public nuisance.
Facing a growing number of complaints about noise and garbage, city officials threw the book at the neighborhood drinking hole. At an Oct. 20 Administrative Zoning hearing, city staff ordered the pub to rein in its weekly events and tear out a backyard patio deemed inappropriate for the business.
“This came from multiple directions and multiple complaining parties,” said Stephanie Williams, the assistant city planner who reviewed the case. “The city reached out to them numerous times and explained what was wrong. But they still did stuff without permits.”
A bar receiving complaints for rowdy patrons and late-night noise is fairly common, but Williams said it was rare for these quibbles to lead to a full public hearing. In the case of O’Malley’s, various city departments, including police, fire and code enforcement, each had a list of violations that the bar reportedly wasn’t addressing.
The pub’s conditional-use permit allows late-night entertainment only on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. But the bar was routinely promoting live events on other nights of the week, according to police officials. And the business wasn’t taking simple steps to control the noise, like keeping the back door closed, Williams said.
O’Malley’s had reportedly built an illegal cover over the backyard patio without any permits, Williams said. That patio was built for a restaurant that previously occupied the space, but city staff determined it was generating too much noise and it needed to be removed.
The owner of O’Malley’s did not immediately respond to requests for comment by the Voice. However, some of the bar’s loyal patrons were eager to defend their hangout against what they saw as a “witch hunt.”
One regular, Jim O’Hara, said it made no sense why the city would heavily restrict one of its few casual bars. He described the complaints against the bar as stemming mainly from one individual, not the chorus of complaints cited in staff reports.
“I don’t see why the city has such a bee in their bonnet about this it’s good, clean fun,” O’Hara said. “It’s just a quiet, neighborhood bar.”
To hear city staff describe it, O’Malley’s is now effectively on probation, meaning the business owners must demonstrate that they are diligently working to come into compliance with city rules. In six months, city staff will revisit the issues at O’Malley’s to determine if it should keep its permits.
Many MANY people have been doing illegal construction on their homes. Not once has the city stepped in, even after the Fire Dept stepped in too. The city should really regulate this as it’s out of control.
Why can’t the city take this kind of action against all of the RVs parking illegally. It’s also a health issue with some dumping their sewage waste tanks in the gutters and storm drains.
Stephanie Williams wears combat boots.
There’s more freeway noise in mountain view than y’all could shake a stick at… not to mention the shoreline amphitheater noise… and traffic.
This place has been in the industrial section for decades. The previous owner had done sound studies for permitting the back to appease the city aristocracy. This is what happens when you build 4 story high density everywhere. Sound travels up and bounces off walls. High density is bad for all and too many mice in in the cage and they always fight.
Combat Boots ? With all the work she does maybe steel toes! ;). Or maybe with all the Crap she wades through, rain boots would be appropriate.
At least she has a cute scarf and earrings to match those boots!