Hipsters vs neighbors in the Woolen Mills?

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by

David McNair
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The Black Market Moto Saloon was shut down by city officials for hosting live music without a special use permit, and it looks like the old live music vs neighbors debate has been re-sparked once again, a la Bel Rio (without the embezzement and skipping town). In fact, it appears the Woolen Mills neighborhood association president has resigned after referring to the Saloon’s (and nearby Lunchbox, also an apparent noise creator) clientele there as “hipster douchebags.” Some think the Saloon owner got what he deserved, others think the City is squashing culture.

Black Market Moto Saloon Facebook Page

Seems they think they’ve been unfairly targeted: “Be sure to check-out the C-ville article on our music issue today. In the past six months there have been 13 noise complaints. 12 have been for the Lunchbox and one was “in the area”. Come sign that petition tonite! Especially if you live in the neighborhood.”

The Hook: Music mayhem: Should live acts play on Market Street?

The Hook learned that Woolen Mills Neighborhood Association President Dunham, citing online “vitriol,” announced her resignation. “The hyperbole amps up and feeds on itself, and we have chaos,” she wrote in an email to neighbors. “It’s just careless and hurtful, and utterly unnecessary.”

One neighbor, however, reveals that Dunham has engaged in some online vitriol of her own, as postings on her Facebook page, in apparent reference to the Black Market Moto Saloon, refer to an “infestation of vermin” and “hipster douchebags” in the neighborhood.

Cville: Officials pull the plug on live music in Woolen Mills

“We did not have any music,” Frankovich said regarding the evening the Saloon was shut down. “We had a nice dinner crowd. Meanwhile, across the street at the Lunchbox, they’re having an outdoor hip hop show.” Under the impression that both restaurants had received warnings at the same time, Frankovich said he wondered if the city was acting on “some sort of personal vendetta.”

Daily Progress: ‘Bel Rio — Part Deux’? City halts more permit-less music

Jim Tolbert, the city’s director of neighborhood development services, accompanied by two police officers and three fire officials, shut Frankovich down late last week after learning that the Moto Saloon was hosting unauthorized music.

Tolbert said the saloon opened “under the pretense of being a restaurant,” and its certificate of occupancy specifically states that there can be no amplified music.

“They just chose to ignore it and moved on,” Tolbert said, adding that the saloon got an emailed warning on June 22.
Police were called to a concert at the saloon last Thursday night, Tolbert said, which alerted officials to the code violation.
City officials notified the saloon Friday via posted notice that its certificate of occupancy had been revoked, and the fire department noticed the saloon was still open on Saturday, Tolbert said.

Dunham responds

See Ms. Durham’s comments about this post in the comment section below.

 

Comments

2 responses to “Hipsters vs neighbors in the Woolen Mills?”

  1. Victoria Dunham Avatar
    Victoria Dunham

    Dave, a neighbor went on my private FB page and did screen captures of comments I made. He then cropped and edited them and sent them to Matteus Francovich to wind him up. As a result of the editing, he completely eliminated the context of the comments along with the larger conversation that surrounded them. The neighbor also took care to eliminate his own angry diatribe from the comments before passing them on. I have no idea who them passed the edited comments on to the Hook and Cville, but assume it’s someone attached to Moto. I do know, however, that neither you, nor Courteney Stuart, nor Laura Ingles of the Cville Weekly ever spoke with me first before writing stories containing this erroneous information. You then compounded the error by adding your own assumptions.

    I find it remarkable that you are continuing to repeat this story, based on comments that appeared on my *private* FB page for under 2 hours, all the while ignoring the many nasty and vitriolic posts about Woolen Mills residents that appeared on Moto’s *public* FB page for many weeks. Additionally, my resigning the presidency of the WMNA had absolutely nothing to do with my FB page, and your assumptions regarding this chain of events is entirely wrong. Once again, you would have known this had you taken a few minutes to contact me regarding this matter.

    Readers of the Hook, DTM, and Cville Weekly need to know that you, your fellow reporters, and editors have performed due diligence before your stories ever reach the public’s eyes. Failure to do basic fact-checking makes you look like hacks. I am requesting that you eliminate the erroneous and harmful information from this story.

    Reply
  2. Kathy Compton Avatar
    Kathy Compton

    It is shabby journalism to include private Facebook postings from someone’s personal page. If you look at her track record, Miss Dunham has done exemplary work for Woolen Mills community. To quote a screen shot that has been edited and pulled from a private post, intended for friends only, just for the sake of stirring up controversy insults the journalistic profession. This error should be acknowledged and corrected on all postings of this story.

    Reply

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