Owner of Seaport restaurants that want to expand says he has fixes for loud music, screaming patrons; residents of building he's in are not so sure

The Boston Licensing Board decides tomorrow whether to let Gavin Moseley, who operates Borrachito and the Garret in the Echelon building at 70 Pier 4 Blvd. in the Seaport, open a third joint next door, a sports bar called Rocco's.

At a hearing today, Moseley's attorney, Dennis Quilty, said Moseley would agree to a condition not to open until holes in an empty space above the restaurant area are filled to block sounds and vibrations that now rise up into the building's condos late into the night.

He said Moseley hired a sound engineer and that he is working with developer WS Development to figure out how to get into the void and block the gaps.

He added that Moseley has also agreed to hire additional security guards with the main job of policing lines of eager patrons and shushing them.- and said his client and WS are continuing to look at how to keep ride-share and food-delivery vehicles from getting out of control.

Some residents of the building, however, said they'll believe it when they see - or stop hearing - it.

Corey Nevin, who lives above Borrachito, said vibrations from Borrachito music are "audible in the walls and when we're laying in bed." 

Another resident added: "Every night we wonder what time we're going to be woken up" by the places, not just the music but by screaming by "drunk patrons" and "Ubers coming up honking their horns, and this goes on until 2:30 in the morning."

And yet resident said he's worried that even with plugged-up noise channels, the very nature of the new 65-seat sports bar would cause problems. "Sports bars are typically enthusiastic places that draw enthusiastic sports fans" and sports fans "tend to have some louder ways of expressing themselves."

One resident who said he hasn't much been affected by Borrachito becaue he's on the other side of the building worried that he would when Rocco's opens on his side. Borrachito is "on one side of the building, they want to piss off the other side of the building now."

Quilty said his client has held a series of meetings - most recently on Monday - with residents the Seaport Neighborhood Association and WS, to first identify and then come up with fixes for all the problems.

He asked for time: Fixing the noise problems due to faulty construction won't happen overnight, he said. But he added that Rocco's can't open until the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission approves the expansion, assuming the licensing board first gives its OK, giving time to make the needed fixes.