NEWPORT – The Wayfinder Hotel has been hoping to make its redesigned pool area an entertainment spot for hotel guests and local residents.

Part of the allure would be light acoustical music from a live band, individual musicians, or a DJ into the evenings, no later than 9 p.m., according to attorney Turner Scott, representing Wayfinder management.

For the music to happen, the City Council had to approve an outdoor entertainment license, which the council denied on a unanimous 7-0 vote Wednesday night.

The council rejected the application after hearing strong objections from residents of Bridgeview Condominiums, the 96-unit complex that abuts the hotel property on the north side. The pool area is also on the north side of the hotel.

“A lot of people who live here work at the military base,” said Tripp Allen, a condominium resident since 2006.

“They have families with small children,” he said. “Sound carries and we are not that far away.”

Allen said there is already an occasional noise problem from the Festival Field Apartments just north of the condos, and condo owners don’t want an additional noise problem coming from the hotel to the south.

“We want you to know it would affect our quality of life,” he said.

“The way the complex is laid out, it serves as an echo chamber,” said Rich Hudson, another Bridgeview condo resident. “This really isn’t a good idea.”

“I’m listening to taps being played at the Newport Naval Base clear across the water,” said Bill Maraziti, from his condo during the remote City Council Zoom meeting. “I can hear both taps and reveille loud and clear in this complex.”

He said he did not object to the short military music interludes, but he said delivery trucks at Stop & Shop and Walmart down the hill start coming in and backing up as early as 3:30 a.m.

The Wayfinder application asked for permission for outdoor music as late as 11 p.m., which attorney Scott amended to 9 p.m. during the meeting.

“If the only hours of peace and quiet are from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m., how do we get a decent night’s sleep?” Maraziti asked. “How can that be quality of life?”

Richard Semco of Middletown told the council he owns four Bridgeview Condominium units that he rents out.

Two of them nearest the hotel are leased to professional engineers with small children and they would move out if they had to listen to music from the hotel pool seven days a week, he said.

“I don’t want to lose these tenants and I’m concerned about property values,” Semco said.

Jim Maraziti, president of the Bridgeview Condominium Association’s board of directors and Bill Maraziti’s brother, said residents “strongly oppose outdoors amplified music at the hotel.”

That was enough for council members.

“We’ve been through the mill with Gurney’s and residents of the Point,” said Councilwoman Susan Taylor, referring to earlier complaints when Gurney’s Newport Resort & Marina had music at the north tip of Goat Island.

“The council has been down this road before,” agreed Councilman Justin McLaughlin.

Attorney Scott said he would like to meet with Bridgeview Condominiums representatives and see what can be worked out.

“We haven’t been able to talk to the residents and they are already showing up with pitchforks,” he said.

The two closest Bridgeview buildings are 273 ft. and 287 ft. away from the pool area, which is surrounded by a 12-foot fence, Scott said. Also discussed were special speakers that diffuse music.

McLaughlin and Mayor Jamie Bova both suggested that the Wayfinder representatives meet with the neighboring residents and determine what may work. The Wayfinder could then apply for one-day special event licenses for the music to see if it is acceptable, they said.

sflynn@newportri.com