Burr Ridge's 'Drunk Karaoke' Upsets Resident

BURR RIDGE, IL — A Burr Ridge resident told village officials last week that "drunk karaoke" at a nearby bar was so loud that it bothered her and neighbors every weekend last summer. She estimated she called the police at least 15 times.

During last week's Village Board meeting, resident Jennifer Fox complained about the noise coming from the County Wine Merchant, 208 Burr Ridge Parkway. She called the karaoke "brutally unbearable."

In response, Mayor Gary Grasso said he had spoken with Fox and that she had a valid complaint.

"I think you and I are on the same page," he said.

A message to County Wine Merchant through its Facebook page last week has not been returned.

During public comment, Fox said she particularly had problems with the noise after 10 p.m., saying it should be at a manageable level. It became a lot more of an issue last year, she said.

Fox also said she could not have a phone conversation or speak with a neighbor on her patio last summer because of the noise.

"It's not that I don't like music being played, but it's at a decibel that I can't play my own music, for instance," Fox said. "It really ruined last summer, which was stressful for everyone."

Fox said half of the neighbors on her side of the building at 450 Village Center Drive have signed a petition for the village to do something about the problem. The other half of residents are either away or she was unable to reach them, she said. Three of them were reluctant to sign because they didn't want the owners of the County Wine Merchant to see their signatures, she said.

"Every weekend was drunk karaoke at County Wine Merchant. I walked over myself with my dog, so I'm not exaggerating or dramatizing," Fox said. "It was drunk karaoke every weekend night, the same songs, drunk, slurred singing every night until midnight Friday and Saturday nights for three months."

She acknowledged that when she moved into the building, she was not looking to live in a "sleepy, quiet town." Otherwise, she said, she would have moved to a "sleepy, quiet" residential neighborhood. But she said the bar should not be infringing on people's peace and quiet late at night.