by Hank Brockett
8/16/01
The two were among 100 residents and neighbors to the Tuckaway Tavern, 2545 Plainfield Road, who filled the nearby St. John Lutheran Church Wednesday night. They gathered to tell about how the noise from the tavern disrupts their lives.
The meeting didn't hinge only on Saturday night's concert featuring rap artist Vanilla Ice.
In fact, the most solid meeting ground between all parties was that no one ever wants to hear or see Vanilla Ice again.
But with Tuckaway's owners seeking to one day become part of Joliet, residents were given the chance to speak out about a pre-annexation agreement that will come before the Joliet City Council in September.
Annexation plans
If passed in the current or an altered form, Tuckaway Tavern, currently in unincorporated Will County, wouldn't immediately become part of the city.
Joliet's policies only allow that to happen if the area is contiguous to the current boundaries. Right now, a handful of properties separate the restaurant and beer garden from the Louis Joliet Mall area.
The meeting came four days after former chart-topper and teenie-bopper icon Vanilla Ice played a guitar-laden and expletive-filled show that residents say destroyed their peace and quiet on that Saturday night.
"I have to apologize for Mr. Vanilla Ice," said Derek Brenczewski, Tuckaway Tavern general manager. "That will never ever happen again."
That didn't cool down any concerns, though, as disenchantment climbed up the charts throughout the two hours.
"It doesn't take much to wake someone up at 1 or 2 in the morning,"said resident Alan Hareld, one of the leaders in opposing late-night music at Tuckaway, which literally is tucked inside a residential area.
If the pre-annexation agreement is reached, Hareld said he is worried that residents won't get a say if noise complaints are filed.
His cause for concern lies in the inevitable confusion over who would have jurisdiction. Residents would be in Will County, and the tavern would be in Joliet.
City jurisdiction
City officials, however, said that if Tuckaway did become part of Joliet, city police would handle matters because the problem emanated from within the city.
Some of the specifics of the proposal include:
* Granting Tuckaway Tavern a Class B-1 liquor license (allowing for entertainment) and a supplemental Class O license (for a beer garden).
* Amplified music would not be allowed to surpass 60 decibels.
* Giving Tuckaway's owners two years to pave the current gravel parking lot.
* And, one of the main reasons Tuckaway started the process in the first place, allowing the restaurant to connect to the city's water supply.
Tuckaway general manager Brenczewski spoke before and after the sounding-off, which included other concerns like drainage issues, hours of operation and increased traffic.
But the complaints kept coming back to the noise.
"We knew that sound was an issue right from the get-go," Brenczewski said, referring to when the establishment first set up in the 1990s.
He said that rather than the assumed future expansion of the Tuckaway, he would try and build a sound barrier soon.
But agreement or no agreement, the neighbors still will keep a close eye and ear on the Tuckaway Tavern.
"It's a quiet neighborhood," said Hoffman of an area with a large number of senior citizens, "and people are going to do what they can to keep it that way."
City manager John Mezera said the next step is the pre-council meeting where city staff will present their recommendation on the matter to councilmen, a few of whom listened intently Wednesday.
That probably will be the day after Labor Day, Mezera said. Residents again will have a chance to speak at that meeting.
The Herald News homepage
The Internet Movie Database
What other critics think - The Rotten Tomatoes Site