City suspends liquor license for downtown Cape bar; owners say they want to fix problems

The Cape Girardeau liquor-license review board ruled against local bar Willie T’s in a suspension appeal hearing Friday morning.

In its decision to uphold the weeklong suspension, the board cited noise violations as well as other nuisance claims leveled against the bar and its owners.

In appealing the suspension, Debbie Palmer and her husband, Billy, acknowledged past issues but said they’d made good-faith efforts to accommodate their neighbors whenever a complaint surfaced.

“We want to be good neighbors,” Billy Palmer said. “We want to run and operate a profitable business, but if there’s any issues anybody has, let us know. We have always promptly addressed them.”

Debbie Palmer, in whose name the bar at 36 Spanish St. is licensed through Palmer Enterprises of SEMO LLC, said Willie T’s hadn’t received complaints for about the first year after opening in September 2015.

Last fall, however, it installed an upgraded sound system that included powerful subwoofers.

Billy Palmer recalled how, in November, nearby resident Ron Garms spoke to him about what Garms said was gratuitous noise coming from the sound system.

Palmer said when turning down the subwoofers didn’t solve the problem, he moved them to the back of the bar before removing them altogether to address the complaints.

He also noted the interior has been renovated to insulate the establishment from sound leakage.

More complaints were filed in early January after one of the bar’s managers and his girlfriend stayed and continued to play loud music after closing the bar, unbeknownst to the Palmers.

This continued until police arrived about 3:30 a.m. to issue a summons for peace disturbance.

Billy Palmer said the manager had been issued a “final notice” no further infractions would be tolerated but remained on staff. No complaints citing after-hours noise have been filed since then, but another citation for excessively loud music was issued to another bar manager in mid-February.

Garms mentioned an array of activities during his remarks before the board, including litter, public urination and vomiting and parking problems, all allegedly associated with the bar.

Debbie Palmer said ongoing construction in other parts of downtown has caused congestion as people turn west to find parking.

Cape Girardeau police Lt. Brad Smith said complaints about trash in the alley were addressed and haven’t been an issue since.

Addressing the other nuisance claims, Billy Palmer said they sought and implemented suggestions from police officers, outfitting their doormen with security shirts and blacklights to more effectively identify fake IDs and better training to spot alcohol-related problems before they go too far.

“We have asked the police on several occasions if we need to help disperse the crowd at the end of the night,” Billy Palmer said and Smith later affirmed. “Police have told us, ‘No, your job is to get them out, and then we will disperse them.’”

Regan Laiben also addressed the board, complaining not only of noise but smoke pollution.

Smoke from the bar, she said, still enters her family’s adjacent apartment and business.

“If something upsets them, let us know. We’ve addressed any issue that’s ever been brought up. We don’t want to bother our neighbors,” Billy Palmer said after the hearing.

“We’re going to make sure the music doesn’t exceed the volume,” Debbie Palmer said after the hearing, adding she plans to have an HVAC professional examine ways smoke from her bar may be affecting adjacent properties.

“I wish they would just let us know a lot of the time,” she said.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627

Pertinent address:

36 Spanish St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.