Live music at Ballard's on Block Island is limited for Labor Day 2022. Here's why
PROVIDENCE — A state Supreme Court justice has agreed to stay the two-week suspension of the entertainment license for Ballard’s Beach Resort, but imposed restrictions, including that no live music be played.
A duty justice on Friday granted the popular Block Island resort an emergency stay until the full court could consider the matter Sept. 8.
The court; however, ordered that no live music be performed at the venue or any paid advertisements for live performances be taken out for the rest of the season. Ballard’s also must have four security personnel on-hand on weekdays and seven on weekends, all of whom must wear identifiable security gear.
Ballard’s was ordered, too, to work with the Town of New Shoreham to provide appropriate crowd control and security.
The order was yet another reprieve for the beachfront resort after the New Shoreham Town Council, acting as the Board of License Commissioners, voted Aug. 22 to suspend Ballard’s entertainment and liquor licenses for two weeks, essentially closing out the summer season. The move came after headline grabbing brawls associated with a Reggae Fest at Ballard’s on Victory Day that led to several arrests and drunken crowds swarming downtown Block Island and the ferry terminal.
The Department of Business Regulation last week stayed a suspension of the resort’s liquor license.
Hearing Officer Catherine Warren concluded that a stay was necessary to allow Ballard’s meaningful opportunity to have full hearing on the merits.
She determined, too, that some of the crowd-control issues, including people being unruly in the line for the ferry, could be attributed to Ballard's entertainment license and not the serving of alcohol.
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She emphasized the premise of progressive discipline, noting that the establishment’s last infraction was 16 years ago for a noise complaint.
Ballard’s had criticized the board’s license suspensions as being driven by prejudice and bias against the resort and argued that they would lead to unrecoverable losses for its owner and its 100-plus employees.
The town faults Ballard’s for posing a health and safety risk to the community that draws as many as 4,000 visitors to its premises at times.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Why Ballard's on Block Island live music is limited for Labor Day 2022
