Ruling resolves Under-the-Hill case

Published 12:58 pm Saturday, February 10, 2007

The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled on an Under-the-Hill Saloon case Thursday, upholding a lower court’s ruling in favor of plaintiff James Biglane.

Under-the-Hill property owner Biglane sued the owner of the saloon next door to his home, saying the “constant rock and roll, conversation and the clack of pool balls” kept his wife and him awake at night, according to the court’s decision.

Biglane asked the music be turned down, and it was.

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“Still dissatisfied, the Biglanes blocked off two nearby parking lots that served the saloon, using a cable over the entrance of one and crafting a metal gate over another,” the decision reads.

The saloon owners countersued the Biglanes, saying the loss of parking lot cost him business.

The suit revolved around noise from the bar a private nuisance to the residents of an apartment next door, and if the actions of the neighbor interfered with the business.

“This is a classic case of a dispute between two neighbors,” the decision reads.

Biglane, who owns property Under-the-Hill, said he didn’t have any comments.

“My man told me I won,” Biglane said. “(My attorney) told me it came out the way I wanted it to.”

Andre Farish, owner of the Under-the-Hill Saloon, said he was unhappy about the outcome of the case.

“I’m a little disappointed,” Farish said. “I still have a problem with the gate across Water Street,” a point of contention in the countersuit he filed. The gate barred access to an adjacent parking lot. “It looks like we’ll have to live with it.”

Farish said he and his father acquired the Natchez landmark in 1973 and opened it in its current incarnation in 1975. The building has been around since the 1830s, he said.

Farish came to the city in 2004 to ask them to do something about the gate, which he said hurt business because it blocked the parking lot.

The finding cites historic accounts of the riverfront and previous cases that set precedent.

The court found no evidence that the saloon had lost money because of the lack of parking.

According to the finding, a previous chancery court decision ordered the saloon not to leave doors or windows open when music was playing and ordered it to prevent patrons from loitering in the street.

The bar will still comply with the order, Farish said.