Bel Rio landlord clamps down on noise

Bel Rio’s landlord says the restaurant will no longer be allowed to have DJs and more raucous performances, and will instead be limited to jazz and similar entertainment.

Building owner Jeff Easter said that he told Jim Baldi, owner of the Belmont eatery that has been at the center of Charlottesville’s prolonged nighttime noise debate, that Bel Rio would have to stick to jazz-type music from now on, as the lease originally indicated. Otherwise the restaurant would be out of compliance with its lease.

“I’m gonna hold him to it,” Easter said Thursday.

Recently, Bel Rio has been diversifying its late-night attractions, bringing in DJs and not sticking only to the lighter instrumental music that Easter said was intended.

“Why wasn’t that done much earlier?” Douglas Avenue resident Jennifer Braverman said. “Because people have been kept up for months and months and months.”

Easter said Baldi recently told him that it would be hard to offer only jazz and still be able to make a living.

An undated sign has been posted on Bel Rio’s front door saying the restaurant is closed for two weeks because of vacation and for kitchen renovations.

“This two-week thing on the door totally caught me by surprise,” Easter said. “He’s not told me he’s closed the doors.”

Baldi could not be reached for comment, so the reason for the renovations remains unclear. Easter, however, said he went through the restaurant Wednesday evening and no construction was going on.

The Monticello Road restaurant has served as the primary catalyst for changes to the city’s noise ordinance, as contention has increased between the restaurant and its surrounding neighbors. Belmont-Carlton Neighborhood Association President Jesse Fiske said the restaurant’s louder and more club-like entertainment has been causing more issues.

“It sounded like they were getting into the club or DJ scene a little bit, and that was really causing problems,” he said.

On Monday, the City Council will once again consider lowering the permissible nighttime volumes for restaurants in Neighborhood Commercial districts — the type of zone in which Bel Rio is located — from 65 decibels to 55 decibels between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. If approved, the change would also apply to music halls.

The maximum allowable volume for amplified sound coming from restaurants was already lowered by councilors in March, from 75 decibels to 65 during the aforementioned late hours. Earlier this year, a majority of councilors indicated they would be amenable to lowering the limit more.

Easter added that Baldi said the building’s owners could show it to possible new tenants if desired, but there has been no verbal or written contract saying Baldi wants to shut down the restaurant for good and end his lease with the Easters, which goes until 2013.

“He seemed like he was going to continue on,” Easter said. “I don’t know if he intends on coming back with a different venue.”