FREELAND — A group of residents worries their tranquil life in their pastoral Freeland neighborhood might be negatively affected if the local brewery receives permission to regularly host live music events and build an indoor pickleball court, though the business owners say they’re doing what they can to accommodate the surrounding community.
The neighbors claim the loud music, yelling and chatter from the venue doesn’t allow them to sit outside at night and enjoy some peace on their property. The events have also led to an increase in traffic, excessive speeding, trespassing, littering and belligerent behavior, the neighbors lamented.
During a small neighborhood gathering Oct. 1, some Freeland Avenue residents said a permit application notice for Penn Cove Brewing Company’s brewery and taproom would only allow a small tasting room and brewery with a limited number of parking spots. However, they claim, it did not mention live outdoor music or other events.
Marc Aparicio, CEO of Penn Cove Brewing Company, said that the owners initially applied for a taproom and brewery license, but their intention from the beginning was to have outside events. They later found out that in order to do that the business needed a different permit from Island County — a Rural Commercial Event Center permit.
The application process began three years ago, and over $15,000 later, it’s still going.
To Marc Aparicio, it feels like it will never end.
“No permit should take that long,” he said.
In order to host outdoor events, the business has been applying for temporary permits which allow up to around 200 people to attend the events. Marc Aparicio said this summer there have been less than five outdoor music events.
Mitch Aparicio — Marc Aparicio’s brother and the brewery’s sales and marketing executive — said it can take 45 days to receive one of these permits. It’s a costly and time consuming effort that the brothers are hoping to end with a permanent permit that would allow them to host as many events as they want.
Many residents on Freeland Avenue fear such a permit would only exacerbate their problems if the brewery doesn’t effectively mitigate impacts.
Tom French is among these concerned neighbors.
“I don’t think there’s anybody in the neighborhood saying we don’t want a business there,” he said. “We’re saying we want them to be more responsible.”
He believes the street is a ticking time bomb just waiting for something bad to happen, as many cars leaving the business turn left towards them to avoid the highway; the neighbors believe some drivers are trying to avoid being caught drunk driving.
The neighbors said they would like to see improved noise mitigation, traffic management and security. Most of the Freeland Avenue neighborhood is inhabited by people over 55 years of age, and many use the road to exercise and walk their dogs.
For the past three years, the neighbors have felt frustrated with the owners’ responses to their requests to lower the music, which they said would remain loud. On the other hand, Marc Aparicio said he has always responded to every message and email he has received and believes some were sent to the wrong contact, leading neighbors to believe he was ignoring them. Sometimes, he could only acknowledge the message and pass it to staff, as he wasn’t in the area.
One of the requirements to obtain the event center permit is to host a community meeting. The brewery held a first meeting in 2021, which the county required to be held again as the address wasn’t visible on the property, leading some prospective participants to not be able to attend. The second meeting was held in July 2023, when it felt safe enough after three years in a pandemic. The neighbors present at the small gathering Oct. 1 said only two residents on Freeland Avenue received an invitation to the meeting, one of them being Michael Rolfe.
After the large community meeting, many neighbors felt unhappy with how they had been treated by the brewery’s supporters, whom the neighbors allege called them “whiny.” The neighbors agreed they have been unfairly depicted as “a bunch of old retired people who don’t want any noise and are resistant to change,” as Rolfe said.
“We’re older,” French said, “And we were a pretty rambunctious generation, so I think we can handle a little bit of rowdiness. This is slightly beyond that.”
Following the meeting with the community, the neighbors hosted another meeting, inviting the Aparicio brothers, the property owners and the sheriff.
The Aparicios said they are trying to be good neighbors and have made some efforts to mitigate any disturbance to the neighborhood, such as measuring the decibel levels of the music every time they have a band playing outside, hiring a sound engineer to reposition the speakers to make sound bounce off the walls in a way that reduces impacts in the neighborhood and increasing signage on the patio reminding customers that drinking alcohol outside of the area is prohibited.
At the same time, Rolfe claimed in an email that both him and French recorded sound levels that exceeded the 60 decibel limit, and believes the business can do better.
The neighbors said they worry that the permit would allow the brewery to host weekly live music events, but Mitch Aparicio said they intend to do otherwise.
“Although getting the rural events permit would allow us to have events anytime we want, we’re going to be reducing it to maybe once a month or less,” he said.
When asked about the pickleball court, Mitch Aparicio explained it as an idea for the future, but there are no current plans in place to build it. The court represents another concern for the neighbors, as pickleball has gained a negative reputation for being particularly loud.
If the permit application gets approved, the neighbors hope to reach a solution with the brewery, something the Aparicio brothers say they feel optimistic about. Commissioner Melanie Bacon, who has heard the neighbors’ concerns, said she believes both parties need to be flexible in order to find a common ground.
The neighborhood group said that if they don’t see any improvements, they will report every single violation to authorities, including drunk drivers. They said that as DUI reports accumulate, the Liquor Control Board can pull their license.
In the meantime, the business and property owners are waiting to hear back from the county regarding their application process. Both sides lamented a lack of communication on the county’s part and don’t know what’s next. Mike Bergstrom, a neighbor who worked as a city planner for many years, said he doesn’t expect to hear much from the county until the application process is complete.
“We’re all kind of scratching our heads,” Mitch Aparicio said.
This story originally appeared in the South Whidbey Record, a sibling publication to The Herald.
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