Neighbors’ complaints of excess noise leads to closure of historic district bars

Police shut down four bars on Saturday night for a variety of violations, including excessive noise. The bars are on President Cordova between Hermano Miguel and Mariano Cueva.

Police outside an El Centro bar Saturday night.

In addition to high noise levels, Cuenca’s Citizen Guard and the national police also found safety violations, underage dirnking, and expired operating permits in several bars.

Director of Cuenca Municipal Control, Carlos Alvarez, said the biggest safety issue was overcrowding. “These places were overflowing and this creates a fire hazard,” he said. “Besides high levels of noise, we have also received complaints from neighbors about large overflow crowds in the streets outside the bars and many of these people are drunk.”

Alvarez said that the city is conducting a review of a number of bars and discos to make sure their locations are legal. “Bars are not allowed within 100 meters of schools and churches and we have found several establishments that should not be there,” he said.

Alvarez added that he believes there are as many as 50 bars in the historic district that are operating without proper permits. He said his office and the police are stepping up inspections.

The closed bars have 10 days to make corrections or they will be closed permanently, Alvarez said.