Lucy's Upstairs to Remain Closed

Lucy's upstairs veranda is closed indefinitely as restaurant owners decide what to do about the noise ordinances and construction requirements that shut down the restaurant's upper level bar.

A monthlong debate over noise between Lucy's and neighboring Presbyterian Campus Ministries ended Oct. 1 with a 5-3 Planning Board vote to authorize expansion.

Although the decision legally grants the restaurant the right to use the veranda, it is more of a victory for Presbyterian Campus Ministries and a logistical and financial nightmare for Lucy's.

Before Lucy's opens the 2,2916 square feet of outdoor space on the restaurant's upper level for business, it must be enclosed fully -- meaning no more "veranda." Complying with full enclosure requires the construction of walls and a roof as well as a visual screen, which must be a brick wall, a six-foot wooden fence or a row of evergreen hedges.

Lucy's co-owner Norman Bullard said regulations imposed by the Planning Board make it financially difficult to open the upper level.

"The approval comes under conditions we many never be able to meet," he said.

Lauren Rothwell, a member of PCM, said requiring Lucy's to completely enclose its upper level would take care of the noise problems the group previously had complained about.

"(The decision) was better than we had hoped for," she said.

Town ordinances limit noise in Lucy's zoning district to levels of 65 decibels -- about the sound of a blow dryer -- between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. and 55 decibels between 11:01 p.m. and 6:59 a.m.

Rothwell said that crowd noise has interfered with ministry programs since the restaurant's opening but that the real problems began on Thursday nights during football season when Lucy's hosted the John Bunting Radio Show.

Bunting's show conflicted with a Thursday night dinner held for church group members from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

PCM members said the rooms neighboring Lucy's commonly are used for quiet study and personal reflection -- things, they said, that cannot be accomplished with the uninclosed bar several feet away.

But Bullard said the church group's arguments are not based on fact.

He said a videotape filmed from Lucy's upper level shows 45 consecutive days in which adjacent PCM rooms were not used -- evidence he said contradicts the church group's arguments of the rooms' usage.

Regardless of the arguments of either side, Lucy's veranda will remain silent until new walls are raised or an appeal to the Planning Board erases current enclosure requirements.

When asked what Lucy's plan of action would be, Bullard said, "The town has approved this for five years, so I guess I have five years to think about it."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.