A group of homeowners in Oak Bluffs is asking the town’s select board to turn the dial down on a popular bar’s music.

About 40 members of the Harthaven Community Association have signed a letter urging the board to pull the plug on outdoor amplified music at Nomans, a seasonal venue with a large outdoor area. The issue came up last week, when the board was renewing alcohol and entertainment licenses for bars and restaurants in town.

Doug Pease, the president of the homeowners association and a member of the town’s zoning board of appeals, said the music from Nomans has become louder in recent years, raising concerns for neighbors.

“It’s noise creep,” Mr. Pease told the board at its meeting on March 11. “It was initially represented to us as acoustic music, non-amplified music. [That was] fine. You’re going to have somebody out there playing a guitar, hitting a snare drum; that’s very different than disco music late at night bumping.”

Nomans, which is adjacent to the Island Inn and opened in 2019, operates in the summer season, and is one of the largest outdoor bars and eateries on the Island. There is some indoor seating, but many customers order food and drinks at a counter, and then sit among firepits and yard games outside.

The restaurant regularly has music, either performed live or played by a DJ. The Harthaven homeowners have asked that any DJ or live music be played only inside, with the windows and doors closed.

Mr. Pease said that Lola’s, the restaurant at the location prior to Nomans, had music inside.

“Is there any reason we can’t revert to that?,” he said. “Because once it’s outside, it’s the thump, thump, thump of the bass woofers that just resonate throughout the community.”

The homeowners also alleged that Nomans improperly expanded its parking lot.

Nomans owner Doug Abdelnour was at the meeting, and said that some of Harthaven has been against the restaurant from the start.

“I expect Harthaven to fight us constantly, because they were fighting us before we even opened,” he said.

The board said it planned to go back to the original permit to see what select board members initially approved when Nomans opened, and urged the owners and community to come to a resolution on their own.

“That’s an important starting point for everybody,” said select board chair Gail Barmakian.

Opposition isn’t uniform in Harthaven, though. Several neighbors wrote to the board in support of Nomans, saying it is a benefit for the neighborhood.

“There is not another venue on the Island where community members can gather in large groups to connect with old friends they are only able to see once per year when on vacation on the Island,” wrote Harthaven resident Chrislan Fuller Manuel. “I acknowledge that Fridays (DJ night) might be a little loud but given that the restaurants on our Island only have a few short months to operate it seems to me that the Harthaven HHCA president should consider being more supportive of our neighbor by putting up with a little music one night per week in July and August.”

Mr. Abdelnour said that many of his customers are Harthaven residents, and historically there’s always been a contingent against whatever restaurant is operating there. The assertion that things have become more disruptive over the years is wrong, he said.

“The place was a year-round nightclub playing music ‘til 1 a.m. for more than 30 years,” Mr. Abdelnour said. “And Nomans closes at 10 p.m.... All of our entertainment ends at 9 p.m.”

Mr. Abdelnour, who also owns Nancy’s in Oak Bluffs, said that while the parking lot and restaurant can be jammed packed for about five weeks a year, so is the rest of the Island.

“If the beach was too busy and you couldn’t find a place to put your towel, would the decision be to close the beach?,” he said.

The select board did approve Nomans alcohol license and plans to pick up the entertainment license at its next meeting.