The City of Toronto says it is investigating the licences and noise bylaw compliance of two “eating establishments”, after residents filed complaints alleging they are operating as nightclubs.
Residents at 801 King Street West, near Niagara Street, say they’re being kept awake at night by loud noises from Hyde Social, which opened up last month at the base of the condominium building, and Pizza Wine Disco, which began operations a few months ago across the street.
“We do hear some vibration, like thump thump, your typical bass coming from a nightclub,” said Susan, who lives on the eighth floor. She only wanted to be identified by her first name.
“Somebody was hearing they could actually hear the DJ announcing every single song. There’s people who are shift workers, they need to sleep, they’re coming in at odd hours. It’s just not good.”
Susan uses a humidifier at night, for the white noise. Marc Broccoli, who lives on the 11th floor, installed a second air conditioner in his unit for the same reason.
“Even when the weather’s nice and you’d like to sleep with your windows open, you can’t,” Broccoli said.
Dave MacVicar, who has lived on the second floor for 17 years, now uses earplugs when he goes to bed.
“There’s no way you’d be able to sleep with the nightclub,” he said. “The worst part is the time of day. It’s from about 11 p.m. till about 3 a.m.”
Business licence records show both Hyde Social and Pizza Wine Disco are licensed as “eating establishments,” and not “nightclub or entertainment establishments”.
A nightclub or entertainment establishment is described by the City of Toronto as, “A dance facility where seating is not provided for all patrons”, and where, “food or beverage may be offered.”
Social media videos from inside both establishments show packed venues, with patrons dancing.
The City of Toronto confirms it has received complaints about both venues, and is investigating to determine if the establishments have the appropriate business licences, and if they are in compliance with the Noise Bylaw.
In a statement to Global News, Hyde Social says, “Hyde operates as a licensed restaurant and bar with a full kitchen, serving food and beverages. We strive to be good neighbours and as such when we were made aware of the concerns as to noise, we hired an accredited sound company that completed a full analysis of our operations.
“It was confirmed that our operations are within the prescribed permissible noise levels as per the City By-Laws.”
Pizza Wine Disco also says it is in compliance with all municipal bylaws.
“PWD is not a nightclub – it is a restaurant. The venue does not have a dancefloor or guestlist and does not charge a “cover/entrance fee”. The kitchen remains open during operating hours and the food programming is the focal point of our business,” said a statement.
“We are deeply saddened by the relentless attack on our business by a handful of neighbours who have continually tried to shut us down since our inception.”
A petition “Shut down the nightclub portion of Pizza Wine Disco (PWD)” has garnered more than a thousand signatures.
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