Downtown Paso bar allowed to rock all week after limits on weeknight entertainment lifted

By Leah Etling
letling@thetribunenews.com

Customers at a downtown Paso Robles bar can party all week long after limits on weeknight entertainment were removed by the City Council.

Compass Health, the parent company of Paso Robles’ Downtown Brew, had asked the city to lift a rule forbidding weeknight musical entertainment that was imposed by the city Planning Commission as part of conditions to settle a dispute between the bar and a nearby boutique hotel.

Bar owners and members of the public told the council Tuesday night that they feared the city was setting the wrong precedent by limiting amplified music — including disc jockey tunes for dancing, live performers and more — to weekend evenings.

The council, saying it supports the idea of the downtown as an entertainment district, voted unanimously to allow music every night of the week, with the caveat that it must be shut down by 1 a. m.

“We’re happy, we think the City Council understood our issue. We believe the decision they made really reflects what the citizens of Paso Robles want,” Tim Hodge of Compass Health said.

Hodge said that the company wanted all downtown club owners to have the same opportunities to have live music.

A handful of businesses in downtown Paso Robles offer some form of live music regularly. And most downtown businesses do not have restrictions on when they can feature musical entertainment.

City Community Development Director Ron Whisenand said that the discussion and negotiations that took place around the Downtown Brew concerns will lead to future noticing efforts as new businesses or other developments move into the downtown area.

“These conditions will be used as a model for other downtown entertainment establishments that are pursuing their own use permits,”Whisenand said.

The review of Downtown Brew’s operating conditions stemmed from complaints to the city by Hotel Cheval staff and customers.

However, the hotel said that changes made by the bar, including soundproofing and adding windows to a popular upstairs balcony, have cut down on noise.