Blue Lake Resident Ray Raygoza addresses the Blue Lake City Council

For the love of a bar. More than a hundred Blue Lake residents, actual and spiritual, amassed at the Skinner Store building for Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. Due to the size of the venue, nearly half the crowd was forced to remain outside, huddled around windows, straining to hear the proceedings inside. The hot topic? Complaints of excessive, late-night noise at the Logger Bar.

In short, the public wants its music.

After a brief introduction and discussion of Blue Lake’s vague aural zoning rules — businesses must operate at a “reasonable sound level” — the Council got out of the way for a marathon public commentpalooza. The first speaker was Ray Raygoza, owner of R&B Auto, whose home is near the bar. While he expressed displeasure with the Logger’s rowdy nighttime activity, Raygoza made clear that he did not wish to see the bar shuttered.

“We’re not here to try and shut the bar down,” Raygoza said. “We are here to ask the current position of the noise ordinance in the downtown area.”

An engaged citizenry convenes

Raygoza was the only speaker who took serious issue with the way the bar currently operates and, after sitting through one more speaker, he left the meeting. Then, one after another for over an hour, Logger Bar supporters paraded to the podium to express their love for the establishment and the work put into it by its owner, Kate Martin.

“Look how many people came out in support of our bar,” Blue Laker Eric Hall said, motioning to the packed room. “This is impressive.”

Many rejected the idea that restricting weekend music to before 10 p.m., citing the belief that it would hurt business since that is the hour when the bar sees its biggest crowds. Still, a willingness for compromise was voiced.

“Apparently some people want to complain, but they don’t want to stick around to work on issues,” resident Rick Willits said, addressing Raygoza’s swift exit.

A handful of speakers who spoke in support of the Logger Bar

Ultimately, the Council said they would consult Blue Lake’s city manager on whether the bar’s musical exuberance was at odds with any City codes. Some of the discussion focused on the belief that the Logger Bar’s longevity afforded it some grandfather clause-y exemptions from current sound ordinances, but that was never confirmed. It was also decided that Blue Lake Mayor Michelle McCall-Wallace would draft a letter to send to Alcoholic Beverage Control informing the agency that the City was looking into complaints. (No one seemed to want ABC involved. They are meanies.)

After the meeting adjourned, many in attendance migrated to some local bar for drinks.

The Blue Lake City Council

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