The Winnetu Oceanside Resort is now allowed to amplify music during outdoor events after securing support from the Edgartown planning board at a meeting on Tuesday. 

The board voted to allow amplified music at five of the Winnetu’s 28 outdoor permitted events each year despite objections from neighboring homeowners and their lawyers. The approval is only for a year with potential for an extension.

“The applicant has very substantial experience in handling gatherings in the size and the related traffic and parking,” said board member Julia Livingston. 

Winnetu owner Mark Snider applied to alter the hotel’s entertainment permit in August to help the business recover from a significant drop in weddings. The five outdoor events will be held before July 1 and after August 31 to help increase business during the shoulder season.

Ms. Livingston, who was acting as chair in Mike McCourt’s absence, emphasized that at the spring annual town meeting voters approved changes to zoning bylaw to allow amplified music if sufficiently managed. 

“At the town meeting, [voters] liked the idea of letting people do this up to five times a year,” she said.

The planning board received several letters from abutters concerned about noise levels and increased traffic in the area.

Sharon Guadagno, who lives on the same street as Winnetu, told the board at the meeting Tuesday that the event bylaw should not extend to commercial properties. 

“They thought they were voting for their fellow residents to have more events on their properties, not a professional establishment,” Ms. Guadagno said of the town meeting vote.

She emphasized that amplified music at a home event is significantly less loud than a commercial event. 

Peter Brown, an attorney hired by homeowners in Katama, agreed that the bylaw is inapplicable to commercial properties and only gives residential properties the ability to host commercial events.

“In order for this board to even consider this proposal it needs to make the legal determination that this bylaw reaches commercial property, and I would say to you that’s dead wrong,” Mr. Brown said. 

He urged the board to submit the issue to the town counsel and get a legal opinion before voting.

Joseph Sieber, president of the Katama Association, also voiced his opposition. He served on the subcommittee created by the planning board to review proposed changes to the zoning bylaw, and said he didn’t believe the bylaw applied to commercial businesses. 

“The fact that the letters that have been submitted to this planning board are 45 against and seven in favor, I think, shows the reflection of the town possibly more broadly, that this is opposed,” Mr. Sieber said. 

Robert Gagel, who has lived in Katama for over 45 years, said passing the amendment would not be consistent with town values and highlighted voter approval of the leaf blower bylaw.

“I merely want to point out that sound is one of the most important issues, and to be certain that the planning board understands the implications of an approval,” Mr. Gagel said. 

The board told abutters that Mr. Snider revised his original application in September to accommodate neighbor concerns about traffic. The Winnetu first proposed altering its clambake events but withdrew those requests.

Amplified music shall be allowed only upon showing that noise can and will be sufficiently managed to minimize any impacts on neighboring properties.

The proposal outlined that the five events would be invitation only with no more than 225 guests. The hotel also said it would also turn off its music at 9 p.m., an hour before the town’s noise bylaw kicks in, and direct speakers away from neighboring homes.

The Winnetu said it would have onsite parking and fill gaps in vegetation to help mitigate the disturbance to neighbors.

Ms. Livingston said the hotel’s experience hosting the annual Possible Dreams auction and the Jaws screening over the summer indicates it knows how to manage large events. 

“They probably know how to handle it better than you know, Joe Blow who happens to own a three-acre piece of land who decides he’s going to rent it out to weddings,” Ms. Livingston said. 

The board concluded it would extend the permit for one year as a test run.

“Perhaps one of the things, and I think the thing that may make sense, is to look at a one-year approval to see how you perform,” board member David Ignacio said.