HomeMy WebLinkAbout5/5/2025 Item 7a, DuBois
noelle bangthedrumbrewery.com <
Sent:Monday, May 5, 2025 7:59 AM
To:Advisory Bodies; Stewart, Erica A
Cc:Tway, Timothea (Timmi); Loew, Michael; City_Attorney
Subject:Public Comment – Construction Board of Appeals, May 5, 2025 (Item 7.a – 1150
Laurel Lane)
Dear Members of the Construction Board of Appeals,
My name is Noelle DuBois, and I am the owner of Bang the Drum Brewery, one of the small businesses
located at 1150 Laurel Lane.
I’m not here to take a position on the legal or technical safety of the building — I’m not qualified to do so.
I’m writing to share how the long-standing construction challenges and the recent Notice to Vacate have
impacted our business, and to ask that our experience be part of the public record as you consider this
matter and future tenant communication.
We fully understand that the City has a responsibility to uphold safety standards and protect the public.
We respect that duty and know that these decisions are not made lightly. I also want to acknowledge that
many individuals within the City have shown care and support for Bang the Drum, and that means a great
deal to us.
That said, the process has been extremely difficult to navigate. A code violation was posted on January
22, 2025, but we were not made aware of it until March 12. Our certificate of occupancy was changed
from permanent to temporary in April 2023, yet we were not informed or made aware of how vulnerable
that left us.
Operating a brewery, restaurant, and event space requires long-term planning — for our staff, our
customers, and our community. We've worked hard to operate in good faith under highly unstable and
unpredictable conditions. Now, with just days before the required vacate date, we’re left without the
staff, bookings, or support needed to continue.
We organized our community and showed up to the April 1st City Council meeting, hoping for clarity.
Unfortunately, that clarity did not come in time. It's incredibly hard to run a business like ours without
timelines or consistency.
This hearing may not be directly about us, but the ripple effects are very real. What small tenants like us
need most is not vague promises or shifting deadlines, but concrete timelines and transparent
communication.
I respectfully ask the Board not only to consider the human and economic impact this process has had
on our business, our employees, and the community we serve — but also to help create a clearer system
moving forward, one that ensures tenants receive timely, transparent communication when health and
safety issues arise.
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Thank you for your time and for your service.
Sincerely,
Noelle DuBois
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