Council revokes Rainey St. music permit

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Apparently live music and the cozy little Rainey Street enclave just don’t jam that well together, at least for now.

“I think I’ve been a good neighbor, and I’ve tried to be compliant, so it’s a little frustrating,” said area bar owner Bridget Dunlap.

Dunlap says she’s frustrated because the city gave her an outdoor music permit in August for her bar,  Lustre Pearl , and then took it away Thursday night. She says she planned to build a small stage outside for some upcoming shows, including some during South By Southwest.

“We were going to mitigate this whole thing so that all of the sound pushed away into this parking lot, so that it wouldn’t upset the neighbors,” Dunlap said.

All seven council members voted to revoke the outdoor music permit for Lustre Pearl during their first meeting of 2011 .

“Simply because we are self anointed the Live Music Capital of the World doesn’t mean you can play outdoor music wherever you want,” said Austin’s Mayor Pro Tem Mike Martinez .

Martinez says since the permit was issued, they heard a lot of concerns from Rainey Street neighbors. Those concerns focused around the fact that the small street just west of downtown doesn’t have the infrastructure needed such as parking, lighting and complete sidewalks for the crowds live music will bring.

“We listened to the concerns, and we said, 'You know what, some of these concerns are extremely valid.' Let’s work on these in the short term, and then let's revisit this issue of whether or not an outdoor music venue is appropriate for the area,” Martinez said.

But Dunlap says she did everything by the book and still doesn’t quite understand why the council took back something they already gave her.

“There’s a lot going on right now. It’s political, it’s heated. This is something new, it’s change, people are humanely resilient to change. I think there are a lot of factors going on,” Dunlap said.

Martinez says he and Council Member Chris Riley are looking into the current infrastructure of the street and seeing if the city can do anything to improve it.

He also says he encouraged everyone to work together and has even told Dunlap to re-apply for the permit once some of the issues have been worked out.

Rainey Street was also re-zoned a few years ago as a Central Business District and is no longer  considered a neighborhood with single-family houses.