Bar Le Ritz Has Suffered a Temporary COVID Closure, But Must Still Battle an Old Noise Complaint | Eater Montreal

"After seven months of pandemic closure, the Mile-Ex concert venue Bar Le Ritz PDB is still facing noise-complaint court hearings stemming from a 2019 complaint that produced a $985 fine; the owners’ request to postpone the November 4 hearing until they could reopen was denied, and there is a second identical $985 fine with a November 19 court date. Co-owner Meyer Billurcu posted that the business has $0.00 in revenue right now and that the city said the trial will proceed whether they show up or not, which effectively hands a guilty verdict if they cannot attend; he says they only asked to delay the trial until they were operational, not to have the fine dropped. The venue closed in March due to COVID-19 and chose not to reopen in the summer because public-health distancing rules made operations unviable, leaving them seven months without income and relying on the federal rent relief program that can reduce rent to 25% with landlord buy-in. The fines predate the pandemic and, Billurcu notes, also predate thousands of dollars the Ritz invested in renovations and soundproofing—measures that, he says, eliminated complaints after the work was done. Opened in 2008 as Il Motore and renamed in 2014, the venue reports having had no noise complaints for roughly its first decade, only beginning to receive them around 2017 as the neighbourhood changed; management says it has tried to be respectful by going door-to-door with notices and making modifications, and is asking the city to dismiss the case because the closure and financial strain have already been punishment enough." - Valerie Silva