SAN CLEMENTE : Neighbors Ruffled Over Music Permit

Much to the dismay of irritated neighbors, live bands will still be able to perform at Ragamuffin’s restaurant seven days a week, but they will now be forced to end performances by midnight on weekdays.

The Planning Commission on Tuesday granted restaurant owner Albert Curtis a six-month trial permit to continue live and recorded music at the popular eatery. Curtis had been staging performances without a permit since 1987.

A group of neighbors who live near the restaurant at 1527 N. El Camino Real had signed a petition against the permit and told commissioners that loud music coming from Ragamuffin’s each night disrupted their lives.

“I’ve been awake every night for the last three years,” said Janet Bishop, a San Clemente resident. “I can’t handle it. We go to bed at 10 p.m. and have to listen to the music until 2 a.m. I love music, but who needs it in their bedroom every night?”

But not all in the crowd of about 30 people who turned out for a special public hearing agreed that the restaurant creates a noise problem.

“I don’t think the problem is as extensive as these people are making it out to be,” said Paul Lentz, who runs an automotive electrical business next door to the restaurant. “I’m only 50 feet away from the restaurant and the noise doesn’t bother me, and I’m working as late as midnight on some nights.”

Curtis, who said the complaints took him by surprise, said: “I’ve never met any of the people who signed the petition. I’m really sorry that it affects them that way.”