The Charm Draws More Neighbor Criticism

BREWSTER – Annual entertainment licenses were officially granted for the Charm on Main and Ocean Edge, extending the previous license until June 30 despite ongoing complaints from neighbors. 

This past June 16, the Charm and Ocean Edge were granted provisional entertainment licenses for 120 days. Select board members agreed that the shortened time period would allow them to gather more information about neighbor complaints. With the 120-day license due to expire on Oct. 28, the select board held a hearing on its final decision on the full entertainment license last Monday. 

Around 10 neighbors spoke at the public hearing regarding the Charm, some in support of the establishment and some opposed. 

Since the provisional license was granted, the Brewster police received one noise complaint, with officers arriving on the property and determining the noise was not a nuisance. 

The Charm, which took over the Old Sea Pines Inn last year, has had upwards of $5.5 million in renovations to the property. The inn accepted its first guests on July 31. 

“It’s a beautiful spot,” said Donna Prescott, a resident on Landing Lane. “However, there has been noise.”

Prescott argued that even with doors and windows closed, she could hear guests talking. 

Kathy Sullivan, a homeowner on Bittersweet Drive, said the noise continued into all hours of the night. 

“The volume of noise when there are people there is very loud, and in the summer it went [until] late hours,” she said.

On Aug. 2, Sullivan made a complaint to the previous innkeeper about the volume of noise coming from the establishment.  Since opening, the Charm’s previous innkeeper left the company and was replaced with a new staff member.

Prescott said that with the weather turning colder, many of the guests are going inside earlier, but she is worried about the summer months. Since the inn didn’t start accepting guests until the end of the summer, many neighbors are nervous about what the more popular season will look like. 

Pat Denegri, another homeowner on Landing Lane, said there isn’t enough evidence of what the inn will be like in peak season.

“Our problem is how can we truly assess what is going to happen there because they had a very, very short season,” she said. 

Neighbors also said they haven’t been able to get a full picture since the Charm hasn’t hosted any outdoor events with music, which is permitted by the entertainment license as long as it isn’t amplified. 

Tricia Norton, a resident at the Villages at Ocean Edge (a separate entity from the mansion), spoke in support of the establishment, saying management is very prompt in closing down events at respectful hours. 

Denegri said the proximity of the residential neighborhood to the Charm is what makes it a unique situation. She also said the operations at Ocean Edge don’t apply to what could happen at the Charm.

Kathleen Belknap also spoke in support of the Charm management. As a resident who shares the driveway and parking lot area immediately west of the Charm, she said she’s had nothing but respectful interactions with staff. She said the owners installed a catch basin which all but stopped flooding issues at the end of her driveway. She also shared, anecdotally, that the innkeepers will occasionally deliver her mail. 

Bill McCann, a resident living on Bittersweet Drive, said there were previous talks about sound barriers like shrubs or trees. 

“If you look at the way the trees are configured, they are spaced at probably five- to six-foot centers,” he said, acknowledging that the inn removed almost all of the vegetation that would’ve helped limit the sound carried over to neighboring homes. 

During the discussions, select board members clarified that the entertainment license does not include noise; it creates stipulations to entertainment hosted at a venue, but the town’s noise bylaw is what dictates noise levels. 

Given the timing of the season, the select board agreed to grant the full entertainment license for the Charm, which is set to expire on June 30. The select board urged neighbors to attend the entertainment license renewal public hearing sometime in early June next year. 

“As one of the speakers tonight mentioned that it really won’t be until next summer that we really test the brakes on this system and see how we can make this a success so that it’s comfortable for the residents who live nearby and so that an important local business can be productive and provide services that guests to the Cape desire to have,” said chair Mary Chaffee. 

The public hearing for Ocean Edge’s entertainment license followed the Charm’s and saw no in-person neighbor feedback. Carolyn Noering, an Ocean Edge neighbor, emailed town manager Peter Lombardi on June 16 and Sept. 25 with noise complaints about the establishment. 

“Tonight I’m feeling sick,” she said in her Sept. 25 email. “I came to bed at 8:45 [p.m.] only to discover that Ocean Edge has loud music playing on this chilly, rainy night. At one point Ocean Edge had permission to play loud music only in the ballroom. Why can’t the town and Ocean Edge return to that arrangement? It is so inconsiderate of the select board and Ocean Edge to subject neighbors to this loud disturbance.”

Ocean Edge’s legal council argued there were similar claims made at the 2022 entertainment license public hearing, and Ocean Edge management hired sound professionals to conduct tests on and off the property. The professionals attended a select board meeting to present their findings, and the board granted the license. 

Select board member Amanda Bebrin said that most of the events hosted on the front lawn of Ocean Edge are under the jurisdiction of the planning board, since they are in charge of special permits. 

After the board approved the annual license, select board member Pete Dahl urged Ocean Edge management to be as responsive as possible to complaints, but noted that it is almost impossible to run “perfectly.”