Vinyl has been under scrutiny by the city of Ashland through some ongoing complaints that range from excessive noise, fighting, and generally disorderly conduct. The Council has not taken away their liquor license, but advised the Ashland Police Department to keep a close eye on the bar.
According to the Council’s report, “The primary complaints involving the Vinyl Club have been excessive noise and generally poor behavior by patrons on Will Dodge Way.”
The back-alley bar with a stripper pole on the dance floor has been making improvements to keep the night scene here in Ashland more tame in response to the disorderly conduct complaints. “We have a zero fitting policy and if you do get in a fight you’re usually 86ed out of the bar, which stops a lot of people from fighting,” said bartender Whitney Carlos. “If someone thinks a fight is going to happen, the bouncers are called and they are kicked out on the spot.”
At the moment, the Ashland city council will take no further action upon Vinyl. Police teams will still monitor the club during its night hours. Due to the past complaints, Vinyl will be under harder scrutiny than other bars when it comes time to a renewal of their liquor license.
According to Bartender Terriel Thomas, “Vinyl has been reaching out and cooperating with APD as well as the neighboring establishments to make the night scene here in town more suitable for not only the patrons, but also the community surrounding the night club.”
It’s tough to be one hundred percent submissive to noise in a night club, but Vinyl has taken some measures to decrease the noise levels. Thomas states the owner, Michael Leslie, has “done some remodeling which has allowed him to move speakers around to position them not so close to the door.” Thomas goes on to say that Leslie has “security staff outside taming the noise levels while the customers are waiting in line.”
Michael Leslie has been building his relationship with the APD “so that now it is more of a partnership which allows him to touch base with them and check to see if his efforts are making any progress, which they have,” according to Thomas.
While Vinyl is trying to rid its stigma from past problems, it isn’t the only bar being under scrutiny as APD keeps a tight watch on the local nightlife. Granite Tap House is also being flagged by the city for fire escape hazards and noise complaints. So far, police have reported that Granite has dealt with these issues and is expected to have no further problems for the time to come.
