Daryl's House's outdoor stage under discussion in Pawling

The volume of sound performers would create on a proposed outdoor stage at Daryl’s House is scheduled to be considered when the Town of Pawling Planning Board next meets to discuss the long-gestating project.

The application for the stage was submitted earlier this month, more than 18 months after rocker Daryl Hall first announced plans to expand the musical offerings at his venue and restaurant on Route 22 in Pawling.

The Planning Board discussed the embattled project, and volume information from sound tests, at its meeting Monday night, according to attorney Kenneth M. Stenger, of Stenger, Roberts, Davis & Diamond in Wappingers Falls, special counsel for the board for the application. 

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The proposal, which became entangled in a lawsuit and threats by Daryl’s House to abandon Pawling, calls for a potential capacity of 2,000 people and a satellite parking site in the Village of Pawling that could hold nearly 300 cars. Concertgoers would be transported to Daryl’s House by bus. 

The stage would sit behind Daryl’s House, which hosts live music indoors on a regular basis. 

William Sayegh, an attorney for Daryl’s House, said his client is focused on working closely with the town to secure approvals.

Speaking of the proposal, Sayegh said “We’re very hopeful.” 

Stenger said an internal review by the Planning Board prior to Monday’s meeting generated requests for clarification on the parking and the sound. The board is scheduled to discuss the project on Oct. 2.

“The town looks forward to working through this process as efficiently as possible, without giving short shrift to the very important concerns,” Stenger said. 

A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Hall and Oates is well known for a string of hits that includes “Maneater,” “Sara Smile,” “Kiss On My List” and “Private Eyes." Hall and Oates, according to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, is one of the most successful acts in rock history. Hall is a former Dutchess County resident.

Daryl’s House opened on Oct. 31, 2014 with a performance by Hall and Oates. Daryl’s House is also where Hall films his internet and cable television music program, “Live From Daryl’s House,” without an audience.

The venue’s proposal for an outdoor stage was first announced in February 2016. However, the proposal to build the stage stalled when town approvals could not be secured in time. 

Daryl’s House in March 2017 filed a lawsuit against Pawling after the town issued a Notice of Violation-Order to Remedy. That notice, among other claims, said the venue’s headcount was over capacity on Feb. 26, when the site was visited by the town building and zoning administrator and fire marshal; and parked cars blocked emergency access.

In the lawsuit, Daryl’s House said the town had allegedly taken measures to reduce the concert venue’s maximum legal occupancy; and that would force the business to close. Daryl’s House asserted that the town “improperly placed a moratorium on the application for the outdoor concerts until such time as Daryl’s House acquiesced to the wrongful and illegal reduced occupancy edict.”

In April, Sayegh told the Journal that the venue might move out of Pawling because of the dispute. In June, the lawsuit was dismissed in state Supreme Court in Poughkeepsie and both sides said they were working to resolve the disagreement.

John W. Barry: jobarry@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4822, Twitter: @JohnBarryPoJo