Bar Nun Keeping Liquor License Under Sound Mitigation Conditions

The Denver Department of Excise & Licenses has determined that Bar Nun can keep its liquor license with a set of conditions after neighbors lodged complaints with the city alleging that the bar at 1225 Logan Street is too noisy and disruptive.

In August, Bar Nun had a liquor license renewal hearing, which is uncommon in Denver, where hearings are usually only required for new applications. However, a city inspector sent Bar Nun’s license to a hearing because the bar has incurred 35 complaints, mostly about noise, since it opened in 2020.

At the August 14 hearing, Excise & Licenses inspector John Walker said some of those 35 complaints may have been counted twice, but he was certain that at least 25 complaints were unique instances. Still, 31 of the complaints were from the same person, while four people testified at the hearing that the bar is too noisy, generates trash and attracts cigarette smokers.

Bar Nun has never received an official citation from the Denver Department of Public Health & Environment. The DDPHE confirms that it has visited the bar, but could not verify whether its sound levels exceed legal limits. The last complaint, closed without a citation, was filed in January.

After the renewal hearing, Hearing Officer Edward Tilbury recommended approval of the liquor license renewal under the following conditions: The patio must be closed at 10 p.m. on weeknights and at midnight on weekends; no glass, metal or other noisy trash may be dumped after 10 p.m. each night; all doors must be closed when not in use; and a 25-foot no-smoking perimeter from residences must be created with conspicuous signs that are at least one square foot in size and clearly lit.

In a November 4 decision, Excise & Licenses Executive Director Molly Duplechian agreed, calling the conditions "specific and enforceable."

According to owner William "Butch" Buckley, the bar was already doing everything under the new license's conditions except for the no-smoking signs and an occasional trash dump after 10 p.m.

“I'm super relieved,” Buckley says. “I want to tip my hat to the city and say thanks for not shuttering my business. But none of this should have taken this long.”

Buckey resents the lengthy process, saying he had reapplied for his license last November and had to pay around $4,000 in attorney fees to represent his business at the license renewal hearings. Still, he's happy with the outcome.

Duplechian wrote that the city had also contemplated adding a condition that Bar Nun must close all windows from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., but she decided against it, “as there have been no substantiated complaints indicating that these conditions are necessary to ensure the Applicant operates lawfully.”

Buckley had opposed that condition, saying for eight months out of the year the shades are drawn on his patio due to weather, so he doesn’t think that sort of restriction would have changed much. He also avoided another, more worrying condition.

Neighbors who testified in support of more restrictions on the bar had asked for the patio to close by 10 p.m. on weekends, as well. At the hearing, Buckley testified that doing so would cost Bar Nun an estimated $192,000 in revenue over a year.

Since learning of the decision last week, Buckley has already signed a contract for a new ice machine and plans to invest in new kitchen equipment and T-shirts for staff.

“I didn't want to invest a whole lot of money into a company that I was going to have to shut down, and with closing early on the weekends, that would have done that, for sure. It would have been the cause of death,” Buckley says.

Because the process took so long, Buckley is already going through the process of applying for his next liquor license renewal. The bar owner says he hopes the establishment's neighbors felt heard by the city and that things can move forward smoothly.