Osprey tiki bar can reopen, but must keep noise down

Drinks will begin flowing again at a long-shuttered Osprey tiki bar in early October but drunken crooners be warned: Karaoke is forbidden and live music will be strictly curtailed.

County leaders agreed to end a four-year legal dispute Tuesday with Casey Key Fish House owner Jimmy Von Hubertz over his detached tiki bar, but not without some elaborate and unusual conditions designed to control noise.

Neighbors repeatedly complained about loud music at the tiki bar, leading county officials to rule in 2004 that the structure was illegal and shut it down.

Von Hubertz sued, and on Tuesday the Sarasota County Commission agreed to a settlement agreement that will allow the bar to reopen but only offer live music on weekends until 9 p.m. -- as opposed to 10 p.m. for outdoor music countywide.

In addition, the music must be kept to 70 decibels, which is lower than the countywide standard of 75 decibels.

The agreement even specifies where bands can set up on the property (they must face away from nearby homes) and the type of music that can be played: Island style, soft rock and jazz.

Von Hubertz also is limited to three-piece bands without amplified bass on all but seven holiday weekends totaling 20 days.

"You've gotten really specific on this, which is fine," said Commissioner Nora Patterson.

Von Hubertz sat down with neighbors last week at the bar to hash out the music restrictions. A neighbor even paid to have a sound engineer measure noise levels.

"I want to make my neighbors happy," he said.

Von Hubertz said the battle over the tiki bar -- which he plans to demolish and rebuild as a "Chickee Hut" that does not need to be permitted because it is built by American Indians -- was a battle to preserve a piece of Old Florida at the 1950s-era Fish House.

"This was a victory for the whole community," he said.

Commissioners agreed.

"This is a jewel," said Commission Chair Shannon Staub. "There were an awful lot of people that were not disturbed by the music but now that it's reined in, it's going to be as good as it was before."