By Adam Swift
The licensing commission held a lengthy public hearing on alleged violations at Populus Tapas and Bars on Everett Avenue at its February meeting last week.
The commission ultimately suspended the restaurant’s entertainment license for dancing and a DJ and continued the public hearing for one month so that the owners of the restaurant can work with the police department to fix issues involving the security cameras and police can further investigate potential violations.
The suspension of the dancing and DJ license came after video evidence introduced by the police department showed patrons dancing, although the restaurant does not have an approved dance floor.
Licensing commission chair Marnie MacAlpine stated that while Populus does have dancing permitted on its entertainment license, it did not have approval from the commission for a dance floor.
The commission initially voted to suspend the entire entertainment license until a dance floor was approved, but later decided to allow television and radio at the establishment.
The commission was unable to come to a decision on other potential violations at the restaurant, including an accusation that was filed with the police department that there was a bottomless go-go dancer at a party at the club and that employees were grind dancing on patrons.
Police Sgt. Star Chung and Officer Joseph Santiago said the video evidence presented to the police was of poor quality in spots and that police could not determine whether the allegations were factual.
Santiago said both he and Chung were concerned by potential overcrowding in the restaurant from what they could see in the videos.
Santiago said Chung was more upset with not getting clear footage that was requested that could have either confirmed the allegations or cleared Populus.
“We cannot clear you, but we can also not deny that there were any violations,” said Santiago.
Restaurant owner Antonio Lama said he had the proper number of cameras and that they were placed where the police told him they should be in the restaurant. However, he said he would be willing to upgrade the cameras and review their placement with police.
“The issue I had with the videos … is that they were of poor quality,” said Chung. “Yes, they were working, but my understanding of working video is that I can at least see faces, and I couldn’t determine anyone’s faces because it was black and white and it was very granular.”
“These videos that were submitted … it would behoove you to update the cameras so that that way we can make out what is going on in your establishment,” Chung continued. “When I can’t tell … I can’t clear you, you might as well give us nothing at that point because we can’t even really tell when you give us something because it is grainy and it is blurry.”
Lama said he felt that he provided the information that was asked for, and that he did not have any issue updating the cameras.
In other business, the licensing commission heard from residents of the condominiums at 73 Winnisimmett St. who live over the Torito Lounge about potential noise violations.
The owner of the business said he was working to provide further soundproofing to help lessen the sound and has worked with the residents to lessen the noise as much as possible.
The licensing commission continued the issue to its next meeting in order to see if the soundproofing was an amenable compromise for all involved.