BATH, Maine — Greg Tisdale, the owner of the Black Barnacle Pub on Front Street in Bath, said Friday that he has contacted an attorney about filing a civil suit against the city of Bath after the City Council on Wednesday voted against renewing his liquor and entertainment licenses.
Tisdale said neighboring business owners and other representatives of downtown businesses told the council that his patrons were responsible for noise, swearing and other unpleasant behavior, but the bar owner argued that his establishment has had no more police calls than another bar just down the street.
“There were so many lies fabricated [at the council meeting], you just can’t believe it,” Tisdale said. “They had no documentation, no proof and no evidence that [the trouble] was caused by my patrons — not patrons of [J.R.] Maxwell’s, not the Riverside [Sports Pub] … they just automatically blamed it on me.”
But Skip Taylor, whose business, Winter’s Gone Alpaca Fashions, abuts the Black Barnacle, said Friday that when he moved in nearly two years ago, the Black Barnacle had just opened.
“I had some real reservations about being next to a bar but [the landlord] assured me it wasn’t going to be your typical bar. It was going to primarily be a little pub to have sandwiches and trendy micro-brew beers. Well … after moving in, it turns out it was a full-fledged bar with not much food,” Taylor said.
Taylor said he has had a number of problems with people who he identified as patrons of the Black Barnacle. Among the problems have been loud swearing, cigarette butts left in window boxes and vomit on the front steps of his business.
He said he does report such incidents to the police, “but by the time the police get there, the incident is over.”
The Black Barnacle and J.R. Maxwell’s show approximately the same number of calls for service from the Bath Police Department — seven — during the last 12 months, Bath Police Lt. Stan Cielinski said Friday.
Three of the seven calls to the Black Barnacle were self-reported, Cielinski said.
Taylor said he wrote a letter to the City Council detailing his ongoing problems with the Black Barnacle and informing councilors that “if we couldn’t get it resolved, we would certainly not renew our lease and we would be gone.”
Taylor said he doesn’t want to see another business closed, noting, “That goes against my grain as an entrepreneur, but this is a bigger issue. It’s starting to have an effect on Main Street Bath … which prides itself on being one of America’s top Main Streets, and a cool little city … and it’s actually getting to be like a Saturday night in the Old Port in Portland.”
Tisdale said he monitors video cameras installed in the bar, and that his manager and bartender are proactive and capable of handling any trouble. He said he gave Taylor his cellphone number and told him to call if the bar patrons cause any trouble.
Tisdale said the council “just ignored me. They didn’t want to hear anything I had to say. I’m really getting raked over the coals. They just don’t want a pub on Front Street.”
Tisdale’s licenses are due to expire on June 27.
City Council chairman David Sinclair could not be reached for comment by press time.
Maine’s open for business!
….
Bring back prohibition. It worked so well the first time.
Yup. And it works so well for marijuana.
I don’t understand folks who would have an article written about them ‘thinking’ about suing some one. Do it, or don’t.
I don’t think you understand how articles work.
A place being denied a liquor license renewal is a big deal, because it typically means that business is dead. That’s the story, that the City of Bath has decided to deep-six this man’s business, the source of livelihood for himself and his employees, despite having several other bars which are at a minimum as disruptive as this pub.
I grew up in Bath. Half of their police calls are self reported? You can ignore those ones then, problem establishments aren’t the ones asking the police for help.
As Martha Stewart says,”It’s a good thing”, too much drinking in the little city time for a good Health club!
What kind of health club is good for socializing in a small city in the middle of lobstering communities?
Bath Maine is very backwards, seriously, the Black Barnacle is nothing but a hole in the wall. As far as the food goes I don’t think it exists. A very low percentage of people lobster, they mainly work at the yard sleeping in barges and on breaks they canvas tall boys bought at the market in little brown paper parcels.
dnftt
I personally am offended by the yuppie people who frequent places like alpaca fashion stores. I’d rather have a real, down-to-earth downtown, where you can buy a power drill and a beer, than one that’s been taken over by art galleries and elites.
Maxwell’s/Riverside have been around long enough to not be denied a liquor license and Byrne’s throws money at the city every St. Patrick’s day so they’re not going anywhere. Black Barnacle will be the scapegoat for alcohol related disruption as I’m guessing they haven’t paid their dues to the city council and that’s the way it works in Bath. Now can we please trial a hash bar and watch the disruption plummet? :)
Front St has never been a good location for a real bar in Bath.
Bath does not need another bar, as for the food its more like a snack bar serving popcorn and sno-cones.
I’ve only ever heard of this place as a food-heavy kind of pub.
Regardless of your feelings towards alcohol, what you actually have that reaction to is excessive drinking. Alcohol isn’t a terrible thing for the body to encounter, in the right quantities.
You must have the wrong eating establishment. As far as alcohol goes it is poison to the mind body and soul in any quantity. Alcohol is poison and does the body no good at all.You can’t develop a six pack at the pub bud!
You obviously have never eaten there.
been there and eaten, it’s a joke….
Like the Old Port on a Saturday?
Does he mean vibrant, fun, and commercially successful?
I’m a frequent patron of the Black barnacle and I have yet to see the problems Mr. Taylor is complaining about. Vomit? really? Does he have pics or is this just another of his wild and baseless allegations? And Taylor’s lie about “not much food”? He ought to have a look at the menu and see all of the selections there.
I’d rather have a bar that provides a great atmosphere with good food and good prices, and which actually employs people, than another trendy hipster store that sells luxury goods to the tourists.
Keep the Black Barnacle. Get rid of the hipsters.
Combine the businesses…obviously youd need to be drunk to buy alpaca fashions..it would be a win/win for both parties involved.