Tag Archives: Brickette Lounge

maybe it is time for the brickette to deal with overflow parking?

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Every single time I bring up this topic I get abuse or just comments that are nasty. I think these people need to grow up and realize that the reason the signs went up is based on immediate neighbor complaints to West Whiteland regarding the people attending events at this bar creating dangerous situations on the roads.

It really is that simple. And when the problem was first discussed, people did ask the bar owners or managers (can’t say for sure whom because I wasn’t there) about helping them get an arrangement for a satellite parking lot so they could have a shuttle or a valet, and they said it wasn’t necessary in essence.

Well obviously it is necessary. And if they are indeed keeping to their actual capacity inside, they need more parking outside.

A comment I received recently:

That’s sad. They have an event that is so popular on Monday nights that the parking lot over flows out onto the street. Folks travel from out of town to participate. Now where will they park. I say residents should not call and let a business thrive….

You see that photo taken recently after the no parking signs went up? It was taken the evening of July 12. I would think it was safe to assume that this business is thriving enough that the owners of this bar who also own other bars in West Chester Borough, and are getting ready to open something else would have the resources for valet parking and a satellite parking lot, and or a satellite parking lot with a shuttle.

The Brickette to my knowledge has not had residents file complaints against them as a nuisance bar with the PA LCB. And all it takes is an anonymous phone call to their hotline:1-800-932-0602 or you can submit a complaint online: https://www.pa.gov/en/agencies/psp/contact-psp/bureau-and-office-directory/liquor-control-enforcement/report-a-violation.html

Instead, all the residents are asking is to be treated with respect. And it’s to be treated with respect predominantly by the bar patrons, and those same bar patrons should also treat the no parking signs with respect unless of course they’re viewing the parking tickets as paid parking costs?

I do think that the Brickette is trying in some areas to do the right thing based on a very recent (July 3rd) Instagram post:

What they say is:

Policy Update:

Hello everyone, we wanted to make you aware of an update to our policy regarding minors.

1. No one under 21 unless accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, per PA State Law – 40 Pa. Code ss 5.321

2. No one under 21 years of age after 5 PM – NO EXCEPTIONS.

This includes all live music and events, such as cornhole and line dancing.

As of yesterday, West Whiteland also put up No Parking signs on the part of Sorber Drive that is in their municipality. That is 200 feet. The rest of Sorber is the responsibility of West Goshen Township, and they only seemed concerned lately about threatening residents with police removal at meetings. (Yes that happened, check their meeting recordings right?)

West Whiteland also has NO PARKING signs on BOTH sides of 100. Residents are urged to call the police if they see people parking in defiance of the signs because West Whiteland is a big township, and the police cannot be everywhere at once although they do drive-bys here.

Now back to the people who don’t like when I write about this. One person is an engineer in who does a lot of work for developers, and while not naming names, you see them on the bottom of plans submitted at public meetings in many townships.

This person is very big on having their opinion heard, which I don’t have a problem with, but this person instead seems to be making a hobby out of social media platform hopping to essentially harass me for my opinion on anything else I might write about as in not just this.

That is not just exercising “opinion”. Behavior like that is distinctly uncomfortable because you have to scratch your head with the attention on me as just one woman, don’t you? Why not just scroll by anything he sees that I might write since he knows he doesn’t like my opinion?

And then there all the other opinions on this topic. And a lot of it is derogatory attention directed at me personally when I didn’t originate the problem.

I am writing about the problem because I have lived in small neighborhoods which have faced issues from neighboring commercial communities that were not resolved until there was a crisis point.

All West Whiteland is trying to do (and the state for that matter) is protect the neighbors and the patrons of the Brickette Lounge. People might think it’s benign to just park all over the place like this, but it actually isn’t. What is being attempted here by the signage is to avoid accidents, harm or loss of human life and that’s not a bad thing. it’s actually a really good thing.

And I can see by that post from July 3 that this bar posted that they are trying to follow the law, and that is also a very good thing. But now what we ask of them is to truly get a satellite parking lot that they can do valet parking or shuttle parking with. That will handle the overflow and keep people from parking where they should not park and keep everyone hopefully safe. I see this all the time where they don’t have much room for parking.

Thanks for stopping by. If you don’t like my opinions, that’s fine you can read someone else with whom you are more comfortable.

at the brickette, no parking signs are for other people…

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Friday evening

Apparently to Brickette Lounge patrons, “No Parking” signs are for other people.

A resident just sent me this who lives near The Brickette. They are calling West Whiteland Police now. Photo was taken at 10:15 PM I guess.

As was the case on Wednesday evening, West Whiteland police is sending someone out now, and these people will be ticketed.

West Whiteland ticketed on Wednesday as well. Those cars you can see in the photo that will be at the very bottom of this post.

The neighbor who saw this tonight said they just can’t believe how blatant it is that they are just parking in between the “no parking” signs.

Of course recently the company which owns The Brickette (3 West Hospitality) was in the news chatter again about their next place called Jolene’s, opening soon. So maybe (just spit balling here), just maybe, 3 West Hospitality could hire a valet service and/or a satellite lot with a shuttle?

It’s becoming more and more obvious that whatever the capacity is inside, isn’t matching the parking outside. And they need to come to a solution. Or they should want to come to a solution.

West Whiteland Police are there now. And no, I didn’t call them.

Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday evening

giddy up brickette patrons: no parking on 100 now in place

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A few months ago now I posted the above photo showing where people were parking for the brickette lounge on Old Route 100 / Pottstown Pike.

I have written about this topic before, because I thought the parking was nuts, and the residents on Kirkland and surrounding streets can attest to this craziness because they live it.

So the first, no parking zones went up on Kirkland. As of early this morning, the signs went up on 100.

I hope this helps the residents. If you see 100 all parked up, you can call the police now. If you see Kirkland all parked up, you can call the police now as everyone already knows if you see Sorber all parked up that is I think West Goshen and they have to deal with it.

live at the brickette it’s wednesday night.

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Come on. The signs are up. Ticketing is happening and yet there is this. COME ON BRICKETTE! I have been harassed on Facebook for writing about this but tell me, is this OK that these patrons literally don’t give a damn?

The photos received tonight are 100 and Kirkland. They came with a message:

Worse it’s been yet!

Called twice and they said they have received numerous calls.

Can’t see either way, and you have to be fully in the lane of traffic to even see.

Seriously, what does it take? I mean we all know what it will take and that’s a terrible accident that might result in not only injury but worse.

No one wants that.

This is unacceptable. The Brickette took away parking for the patio and smoker area. They need satellite parking and perhaps a shuttle. Either that, or they are over their stated occupancy because of all the parking issues but no one has ever said one way or the other what the occupancy was versus the number of parking spaces with prior owners and new owners.

And I will state for the record once again that because I point out these issues with the parking it doesn’t mean that I don’t think the Brickette should be there. And the neighbors are not saying that either.

But West Whiteland is baby sitting bar patrons. Neighbors are not being treated well. This is a problem, so Brickette are you going to step up or be put in the category of nuisance bar?

Shaking my head on this one.

live at the brickette…paid parking!

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I got a really funny message this morning:

Paid parking outside the brickette now, must be expensive!

~ happy neighbor of the Brickette Lounge

So West Whiteland, thank you. The neighbors are appreciative of any efforts to give them their neighborhood back.

Of course the Brickette could help fix this problem too by getting a satellite parking lot and shuttle, right?

live at the brickette on a monday night…unbelievable.

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Un-freaking-believable. Just wrote about the Brickette on Route 100 Old Pottstown Pike in West Whiteland. I have lit up the photo slightly so readers can see.

Here is the original photo I was sent at 8:00 PM on the nose. Those are a bunch of cars, not just a couple.

Look at the fog settling in.

This is patently irresponsible of the Brickette Lounge. They are putting patrons at risk. It’s selfish fuckery and yes I just said that out loud.

That’s all I have got. Shame on the Brickette. They could have satellite parking and a shuttle for overflow. They could do ticketed nights to control capacity. But the management and ownership seem to not be able to do this and why? So truly disappointing.

Also, and related, some long time line dancing folks who have been dancing there since it was the original Brickette have all stopped going. Now these are people who love line dancing, so I inquired as to why. Especially since they were so sad when the original Brickette closed and so happy when it was initially re-opening.

And I was told that not only is there no place to park in the parking lot, there are limited seats inside and they said after you dance for a while you’d like to sit down and watch the dancing and you can’t or if you do get a seat, can we call it? The boozy college student kind of crowd kind of takes over and takes your seat? So does that fit with the profile of the two other bars this company owns in the Borough of West Chester?

Maybe I am unusual, but I was never even a big fan of how crowded the old Rat used to get back in the day.

Anyway, that’s it. Bad bar neighbors are very unattractive. And it doesn’t matter whom they are catering to.

https://chestercountyramblings.com/2024/03/03/live-at-the-brickette-on-saturday-night/

things that make me curious

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I’ve written about the Brickette Lounge twice now. Probably three times if you count when I merely shared the article about it coming back after being closed and then sold on my blog’s Facebook page.

I was glad it was getting a second lease on life initially, because it had been such a community favorite over time. A place like that is not ever going to be my jam because it’s line dancing, which has never interested me. Sometimes I like country music and Americana Roots music, but the whole honky tonk in the land of Yankees? I am completely ambivalent.

The old Brickette coexisted with the neighbors. The new Brickette isn’t so much. I know nothing about the owners or staff and the barbecue they serve isn’t bad, but not as good as Farm Boy BBQ, but no one is and that’s just my opinion. Not a criticism.

However, where I am criticizing the Brickette and the bar people who own it has to do with the parking. And it’s not just a couple of cars of overflow it is a LOT of overflow, taking over a residential neighborhood and parking on Route 100 like it’s a side street and it’s not.

This parking problem is dangerous. And it also lends itself to a conversation about occupancy levels inside the building doesn’t it?

I suggested while writing about this, that maybe if they did ticketed events it would help with the parking and therefore occupancy issues, right? Because when you create a ticket event, it’s basically like a cover charge. And you also get a count. It’s not a bad thing. Just like it’s also not a bad thing that it was suggested to the Brickette that they rent a satellite parking lot for these very crowded evenings and have a little shuttle bus.

In the meantime, West Whiteland Township is proceeding with no parking signs and parking restrictions as per the meeting last evening.

Some people have been kind of obnoxious about the neighbors expressing their concerns. And now people are getting obnoxious about me writing about this. Someone rolled up today with a few comments allow me to share the screenshots.

These comments make me curious.

Gosh, she was fun, right? I leave my comments open because I like normal discourse. not pound on me I am a horrible person for having an opinion different from theirs discourse. And when people come in guns a blazing like this, you think to yourself, they’re not necessarily just a customer but maybe they have some affiliation with the actual establishment and or the ownership group right? Well that’s what I wonder about here.

But it’s funny, my new pen pal goes from thinking it’s “weird“ that I write about this too. I’m a bad writer. And when you hit a nerve with someone you can always go to the bank on the fact that they will say you’re a bad writer.

And also, it is not elitist in the least to say if you can’t afford to go out, don’t. It’s life and simple economics.

And do I have resentment about the Brickette? That doesn’t even make sense because I really don’t care about the bar, I care about the neighborhood around the bar.

Then this woman says my writing about this is “unproductive.” It’s just something I’ve decided to write about because I see a problem happening with the neighbors, and the neighbors deserve more of a voice. It’s that simple. It’s not about trying to shut the Brickette down, they just need to be decent to their residential neighbors. Dealing effectively with their parking problems will accomplish that.

So actually the Brickette does have control over their parking lot. And no they can’t magically make the land footprint bigger, but I also wonder if it is possible to rearrange the parking lot so you get more parking spaces in there?

The whole point writing about this is the neighbors have rights too. They don’t want their bar neighbor to not have success, but they reserve the right to not be happy to find drunk people on their lawns, eating McDonald’s, and parking everywhere and on Old Route 100 making it dangerous to exit the neighborhood onto Old Route 100.

So there we have it. Enjoy your afternoon.

brickette lounge can do better for the sake of their neighbors….and patrons.
sign down…at the brickette

brickette lounge can do better for the sake of their neighbors….and patrons.

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People are going to think I am picking on a local business just because. I am not. This is a question of public safety, and how neighbors are being treated.

A post on NextDoor caught my eye, and it wasn’t the first post I had seen about problems living near the new Brickette Lounge on Historic/Old Route 100:

I just have to say this…I live near the Brickette, I am very proud of locally owned businesses. However tonight as many other nights the patrons of the place parked directly on Pottstown Pike right in front of the business as well as on Kirkland and other streets close to the bar. I am aware of this situation as it happens often so when I see it I know to be careful turning from Pottstown Pike onto Kirkland & vise versa. This is an issue that needs to be addressed due to the fact as I was turning onto Kirkland tonight and traveling up the street, another vehicle coming in the opposite direction almost hit me head on as with cars parked on the side of the road it leaves the road very narrow there is no way to move over. Thank god the other vehicle saw me at the last moment, came to a stop and we both drove away safe but these patrons parking causing hazards must stop! Some of my neighbors have even found people passed out or eating McDonalds on their front lawn in the middle of the night! The police have been notified on several occasions but nothing has been done to stop this very dangerous situation. Can anyone point me in the right direction of who within the township I can express my concerns to. Thank you in advance.

This is not the first time since they reopened, that I’ve heard these complaints. You see these posts go up in places, and then they come down. Yet the problems seem to persist.

I have no problems with live music, I have no problems with line dancing, but I do have problems when patrons of a bar and seemingly the actual establishment don’t respect the neighborhood in which the bar sits. And whether these patrons and/ or the establishment like it or not, this establishment has residential around it, and they need to be treated with respect.

Kirkland Avenue is its own small neighborhood. And if you’ve ever been on it, it’s a fairly narrow road. It runs between West King and Old Pottstown Pike.

That street is not an extension of a parking lot. And I could tell you honestly without batting an eye if I found bar patrons on my front lawn eating McDonald’s when a bar closed, I would turn a garden hose on them.

The Brickette is owned by a company that owns lots of local watering holes. (See https://www.3westhospitality.com/venues )

3 West Hospitality describes themselves as:

3 West Hospitality is a growing restaurant operations and management group that is focused on high-quality concepts and staff development based out of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

I know West Whiteland is trying to deal with this. They are in the process of ordering no parking signs but they are advertising for the signs and no parking on Old Pottstown Pike and Kirkland Ave, etc. and that takes time.

The company which owns the Brickette could do better, but are they in fact being a little hands off? I mean they should want to be a good neighbor, right? The old Brickette Lounge didn’t do this. They never had to deal with parking problems. They weren’t crappy to neighbors.

Last week the Chair of the West Whiteland Supervisors, Brian Dunn, went out on Monday evening at the request of residents to check out how busy the Brickette is on Mondays. You see they do line dancing Mondays and Wednesday. Well he almost got hit coming out on Old Pottstown Pike/ Old Route 100 because of ALL of the people parking on Old Route 100/Pottstown Pike!

People were really excited when it was announced that the Brickette was being saved. Michael Klein reported in The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2022:

Again, I am really glad that this place is doing so well again. It looked so dismal for the last few years of its prior existence. However, there are neighbors to be considered, and there are safety issues.

The owners of this place should be looking for solutions. Success is a great thing to have, but if you can’t fit all your patrons on your footprint, then you have to look to safely solve the problem. People parking on Old Route 100/Pottstown Pike is not safely solving any problems it’s basically Mae West’s famous quote “Hello, Suckers” because it’s only a question of when someone gets hit leaving this bar for parking there, not if, right?

3 West Hospitality and the Brickette could make the line dancing nights or whatever an Eventbrite event. That way when they sold out enough tickets that covered the spaces in the parking lot, they were done for the night on that event. They could rent a shuttle bus and offer shuttle service.

Brickette Lounge has expenses they have to meet for sure, but they also have a responsibility towards the community they exist in. They also have a responsibility towards their guests. And by not stressing things like don’t park on the road in front of the bar, they put patrons at risk, don’t they? Are profits worth more than lives?

Maybe Brickette Lounge doesn’t give a damn about these issues, but they should, shouldn’t they?

It’s that simple.

Be better, Brickette Lounge. Please.