WATCH ABOVE: The Left Field Brewery in Leslieville has come under fire by neighbours for excessive noise. The issue has made its way into the City Council agenda. Mark Carcasole reports.
TORONTO — An hour into its noon opening time things are fairly quiet, relatively speaking, at the Left Field Brewery on Leslieville’s Wagstaff Drive — which is basically a laneway.
Staff are busy brewing their various craft beers, stocking the shelves in the shop, and pouring pints for customers stopping in their tap room to sample the goods.
As small of an operation as it is, some neighbours on Ivy Avenue — whose houses back on to the Wagstaff Drive — are taking issue with the craft brewery and saying its noise levels are too high.
Amelie Waddell’s backyard falls almost directly in front of the brewery’s main entrance. She says at its busiest — usually Friday and Saturday afternoons and evenings — the sound of customers talking and laughing can inhibit her and her partner’s quiet enjoyment of their backyard.
She’s not trying to shut the place down, just looking for a compromise.
“There will be a certain level of noise and we are completely fine with that. What we’re having issues with is when the noise becomes too loud, then how can we work together to find ways to reduce the noise?”
Waddell says she has asked management to keep the garage door that leads into the brewery closed during busy hours to keep the sound in; but Left Field officials say that would trap too much heat from the brewing operation inside.
Not wanting to debate this publicly, owners Mark and Mandie Murphy directed Global News to a recent blog post on the brewery’s website for comment.
The post insists they visited every home on Ivy Avenue before opening and even designed and printed “‘No Parking’ signs for every home backing onto Wagstaff Drive.”
Despite being allowed to keep it open until 11:00 p.m., they stop serving in the tap room at 9:00 p.m. and have signs warning clients to keep it down and keep the area clean.
They say they don’t know what else they can do.
When complaints arose, the Murphys bought a noise meter and found that at its busiest peaks, “The decibels registered lower than light mid-day traffic on Greenwood Avenue.”
So far the brewery, concerned locals and Councillor Paula Fletcher have had just one meeting on the issue. The Murphys say that when they called for follow-up meetings to discuss their sound data they were given no reply.
Waddell says she feels those discussions have reached a stalemate because “our issue is the noise and their issue is, ‘Well we feel that we’re being reasonable.'”
With the local Community Council not sitting again until September, Fletcher put the issue onto the full City Council’s agenda for this week. Her motion called on city staff to help mediate the situation before Left Field’s license is up for renewal in February.
On Wednesday evening, City Council voted to withdraw the motion.
Fletcher, seconded by Councillor Shelley Carroll, recommended council use staff from Legal Services, Economic Development and Culture and Municipal Licensing and Standards to work with the brewery, the local councillor and concerned neighbours to come to a solution before their licence is due for renewal in Feb. 2016.
“There are many new and exciting craft breweries opening across the City, including Left Field Brewery,” Fletcher’s summary on the motion read.
“This popular new brewery is a welcome addition to the east-end neighbourhood and has become a neighbourhood hot spot, as well as an east-end destination.”
Fletcher wrote that she was happy to support the business in Dec. 2014 when they were offering free samples to visitors who tour the brewery when it first open, for example, but added that noise had become an increased issue.
“It has become such a popular spot that increased noise has impacted the residential neighbours to the south,” it read.
“At a meeting with the neighbours and brewery owners to discuss these issues, it was suggested that the large garage door at the brewery be closed when patrons are in the facility in order to contain the noise. Unfortunately, this has not happened.”
Fletcher wrote that with cooperation between all involved, “a positive outcome can surely be reached before the February 2016 renewal deadline.”
It’s a positive outcome for the situation for now, as some Ivy Avenue residents say that support for the brewery is strong.
A link to the owners’ blog post on its Facebook page has hundreds of supportive comments posted under it, while neighbours like Michael Rusnak and Kevin Pook tell Global News it’s a great addition to the neighbourhood.
“Our cars have been broken into a few times, so having traffic in that alley, very positive traffic, has been nothing but good,” says Pook.
Rusnak adds “A Saturday afternoon noise complaint is ridiculous.”
While some may worry about the bad publicity the story can bring the community, the brewery does admit the added attention has brought by at least a few more customers to come check out their beers this week and they seem to be happy with the outcome.
“We’re happy to work together with neighbours to find solutions,” a post on their Facebook page read.
“Big thanks to all those who visited and who voiced their support.”
With files from Adam Miller
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