Residents near Lawrence Beer Company are asking the business and the City of Lawrence to take reasonable steps to reduce the impact of large street events on the surrounding residential neighborhood. 

Residents have experienced two Lawrence Beer Company street events within the last 30 days, bringing these impacts to our homes repeatedly within a short period of time.

The area includes apartments, income-restricted housing, and private homes. Regardless of housing type or income, residents deserve equal consideration for peace, safety, access, parking, deliveries, and advance notice when large events take place immediately outside their homes.

We are not asking that these events be discontinued. We are asking that they be planned and managed with the neighborhood’s residential character in mind.

Recent events have included amplified music and heavy bass that could be heard and felt inside nearby homes for hours. During the most recent event, on Friday, September 18th, sound continued from approximately 4 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. Prolonged high-volume music can interfere with sleep, work, conversation, and normal enjoyment of a home, while also distressing pets and children.

Residents need better communication from LBC.

Currently, residents receive no notice when LBC plans an event. The city-required yellow No-Parking placards are placed on Pennsylvania Street between 8th and 9th Streets, approximately 24 hours before an event, but do not adequately explain event hours, amplified-music times, street closures, parking impacts, access changes, or whom to contact with concerns. These posted no-parking restrictions can cover a period beginning around midnight on the day of the event and continuing into the following day, creating a substantial interruption to normal residential parking. A flyer, email, or door notice would be just one courtesy that LBC could pursue that might help residents plan ahead.

Street closures have also created problems with parking, deliveries, and residential access. During both recent street closures, residents of Penn Street Lofts were forced to use the ONE-WAY ENTRANCE as the exit route from their parking area. This required travel contrary to the ONE-WAY SIGNAGE while creating a potentially dangerous situation, as the One-Way entrance is heavily obscured by a brick dumpster enclosure, trees, and utility housings closer to the street. Vehicles traveling East on 8th Street would be unable to see exiting vehicles clearly, and any vehicle traveling East on 8th intending to turn into the parking entrance labeled "ONE-WAY" would have little to no time to react to vehicles that are being forced to exit.  

Event planning should allow for safe, lawful access to homes, parking areas, deliveries, and emergency routes.

Residents have also experienced the surrounding residential area being treated as though it is an extension of the event footprint, even where people are actively living. Residents have reported attendees gathering near residential entrances, blocking sidewalks or access points, obstructing parking areas, leaving litter, and engaging in intoxicated or disruptive behavior near homes. Events should maintain a clear boundary between event areas and residential entrances, sidewalks, driveways, parking areas, and access routes.

What we are asking for at a minimum, as residents of the area near Lawrence Beer Company/The Warehouse Arts District:

1. Limit amplified sound and low-frequency bass near residences.
2. Set reasonable ending times for outdoor music.
3. Consider both volume and duration.
4. Use speaker placement and sound management that reduce impacts on nearby homes.
5. Provide advance notice of event schedules, music hours, closures, parking restrictions, and access changes.
6. Maintain safe, lawful access to residences, parking areas, deliveries, and emergency routes.
7. Consider residential parking needs when public parking is removed.
8. Keep event areas separate from residential entrances and access points.
9. Clean up event-related litter in surrounding residential areas.
10. Provide a clearly identified contact person during events.
11. Consider documented neighborhood impacts when reviewing future event permits.
12. Consider relocating outdoor events, particularly those with amplified music or a stage, to areas with less residential impact — such as the event space next to Cider Gallery or farther south on Pennsylvania Street, where both sides of the street are primarily commercial, and those businesses are typically closed during event hours.