Residents near bar in northeast Columbia say music is too loud

Wednesday, about 10 911 calls were made reporting a bar in northeast Columbia.

Whisky Wild Saloon closed its doors months ago after then-owner Ben Bradley was accused of not paying some of his employees and distributors.

Earlier this week, Abc 17 News reported the new owner plans to re-open the bar to the public later this month.

Thursday, Abc 17 News talked to six residents living in the area who all said they heard loud thumping or bass coming from the direction of Whisky Wild Wednesday night through well after midnight. One resident said she called police three different times to report a noise complaint and was told by a Columbia police officer the noise was coming from the Whisky Wild Saloon.

Another resident, James Dunn, said he has heard loud music coming from the same direction before, but never so loud.

“It was annoying as loud as it was,” Dunn said. “It seemed like much louder last night than the previous ones.”

Chad Martin, the new owner of Whisky Wild Saloon, said the bar will host its official grand re-opening later this month. But last night it was rented out for a private event.

Another neighbor, who did not want to be named, said he thinks the noise is getting out of hand.

“Kids gotta go to bed,” he said. “My wife gets up at four in the morning. I get up five in the morning. And that’s all you hear is that thumping all night.”

Martin said he takes these complaints seriously and is looking to make changes moving forward.

“If there’s some problems out there in the residential areas around the area, we want them to call us and tell us so we can make the correct adjustments so we’re not disturbing them,” Martin said.”We actually had sound monitors outside last night with some of our security staff. I implemented that so we can make sure we’re not going over the limit.”

According to a city ordinance, anything outside of the downtown area is not allowed to play music that, “disturbs the peace, quiet or comfort of the neighboring inhabitants.”

Police dispatch records show police were at the bar for at least 12 different checks Wednesday night. A third of the calls were for peace disturbances, which CPD said can also be noise complaints.

“I want to make it a goal where there’s zero calls, you know,” Martin said. “And that’s what our goal is to do and from this point forward. We’ll keep making the proper adjustments to make sure that we’re not doing anything wrong.”

Police arrest records also show two minors were arrested for buying or having alcohol at the bar Wednesday night. Martin said the bar is working on stricter ID policy. Throughout the night, he said security guards escorted more than 50 minors out of the bar that did not have proper identification.