NEIGHBORS OF
TRACE BREWING

Hello! Neighbors of Trace Brewing is an organized and diverse group of residents who live adjacent to Trace in the Bloomfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Many of us supported Trace’s opening and appreciate the community it brings. However, a series of developments over the past several years has made clear that the impacts of amplified outdoor events on our residential block require fuller context and public understanding.

We believe that if “Trace was built to be part of the Bloomfield neighborhood,” they must also respect the quality of life of the people who live here, and treat residents’ comfort and consent as part of their basic community responsibility.

THE MAIN ISSUE & TIMELINE

In 2019, at a Bloomfield Development Corporation (BDC) community meeting, Trace’s leadership assured neighbors that the brewery’s outdoor courtyard would be used for seating only, with no outdoor amplification. At that time, closing the adjacent residential alley, Clement Way, for events was not part of any plan shared with the community. Read notes from the 2019 community meeting here.

When Trace opened in 2021, management quickly broke their word, and lengthy outdoor amplified events immediately began taking place in the courtyard multiple times per week, often audible inside nearby homes even with windows closed. Neighbors repeatedly addressed these issues directly with management, offering reasonable requests such as moving amplified music indoors and keeping windows and garage doors closed during loud events. These requests were supported by nearly 50 nearby households that signed a 2023 petition to the BDC and several city agencies.

For context, a successful music and event venue, The Shop, existed for years in Trace Brewing’s current building, and honored this exact same arrangement with the neighborhood. The Shop valued neighbors' quality of life and responded to neighborhood concerns by keeping noise from their concerts contained and indoors.

But Trace was unwilling to budge on anything, and the neighborhood petition was ultimately ignored.

COMMUNITY ACTION

Since organizing as a group, Trace management stopped communicating with us and shut the door on communication. Even worse, they began spreading misinformation about what we wanted and what our motivations are while continuing operations as normal. By early 2024, state regulatory authorities, specifically the Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, had opened a long-running investigation in response to multiple noise complaints from a large group of residents. That investigation led to Trace pleading guilty to multiple noise ordinance violations and paying applicable fines. Because of these violations, Trace lost its Amusement Permit in 2024, limiting its ability to host amplified events in their outdoor courtyard.

After losing the Amusement Permit, Trace shifted amplified events to the Clement Way public alleyway, easily obtaining special event permits from the City to close the public street behind many of our homes for these regular, larger gatherings with noise levels which typically hover between 70-90 dBA. Previously, this type of permit was rarely used in this location, but over the past two years we’ve seen weekend parties from March through December, sometimes twice in a single weekend. These events remain a chronic source of disruption for neighbors and prevent us from enjoying our homes and yards.

In response, residents living specifically along Clement Way developed a second petition, requesting an end to the approval of these special event permits, and signed by nearly every occupied home that sits on the alley. We delivered it to the Office of Film & Event Management, which oversees event permitting, but progress has been stalled by bureaucracy, a lack of clear channels for community relief, and seeming indifference.

In response, neighbors along Clement Way developed a second petition, requesting an end to the approval of these special event permits, signed by nearly every occupied home that sits on the alley. We delivered it to the various offices in the city which oversee events permitting, but progress has been stalled by bureaucracy and a lack of clear channels for community relief.

Trace has stated that these alley events are hosted by a separate entity known as “Clement Way Artists Inc.” At Trace’s Amusement Permit appeal hearing in late 2024, their owner testified that this entity was developed with guidance from the director of the City’s Office of Film & Event Management to get permit application approval that would decenter Trace due to their prior infractions. Regardless of the structural details, these events have continued to create regular, loud amplified noise adjacent to Trace and behind residential homes.

CURRENTLY

As of December, 2024, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) has objected to the renewal of Trace Brewing’s liquor license based on its compliance history, including the noise violations documented by BLCE. Trace is currently operating under temporary authority while awaiting a scheduled appeal hearing this summer.

Since opening, Trace has made no meaningful compromises of their own volition and, when pressed, management has chosen intimidation, false claims, division, and disparaging remarks over honest dialogue with their neighbors. Now, many nearby residents who used to enjoy going there no longer feel safe or welcome at Trace.

WHY THIS MATTERS TO OUR NEIGHBORHOOD

This is a mostly working class neighborhood: people work night shifts or multiple jobs, kids have nap schedules, and people are in school. Some neighbors also have disabilities that are aggravated by Trace’s loud parties. We understand that city life comes with noise and that bars and restaurants can occasionally get loud, and we live with that. Trace Brewing operates unlike other neighborhood establishments, an event venue whose management seemingly does not care about their impact on people who have made this community their home.

Our neighborhood values diversity and community—just as Trace says it does. We just ask that they extend that same respect to the people who live nearby, and treat consent as part of their basic community responsibility.

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: FAQ

Have you tried working with Trace?
Yes. Many neighbors engaged individually and in good faith for more than two years, but Trace management stopped communicating once we organized collectively in 2023. Since then they have worked to discredit our efforts by spreading harmful rumors about individual neighbors, misrepresenting our motives, downplaying the size and diversity of our group, and even portraying us as a threat to their patrons’ safety—an accusation that is completely unfounded.

I've heard that "Neighbors of Trace" isn't an actual group of neighbors, but just 2-3 angry residents who blame everything on Trace?
It's disappointing, but we are familiar with this attempt to minimize the size and undermine the legitimacy of neighborhood opposition. Their argument relies on dismissing opposition by portraying it as marginal, instead of just taking responsibility for the impact of their behavior. While not every neighbor sees every issue in exactly the same way, we are unified around the impact that the amplified outdoor events have on our lives, as seen in the number of signatures on our petitions and voices that have made themselves heard to local agencies.

Why are you a seemingly anonymous group?
Trace management has targeted and harassed individuals who have spoken out, and spread lies and misinformation about who we are and what we want. For these reasons, the safest position for our group is relative anonymity. However, all of the relevant state and local agencies have full access to our petition signatures and any other contact information they need.

Isn’t this just city living?
City life means traffic, porch conversations, construction (!!!), and sirens, but not regular seven-hour outdoor DJ parties audible inside our homes on any given Sunday afternoon. This is a diverse, working class neighborhood that has thrived in community with the other businesses in the area. We are invested in our homes and community, and we aren’t going anywhere.

Do you oppose Trace’s diverse and inclusive events?
Absolutely not, and we have never stated otherwise. Despite efforts to paint Bloomfield as monolithic and homogenous, many of us who petition Trace are members of the same communities that Trace celebrates. Multiple things can be true at the same time: neighbors can support Trace’s inclusivity while holding them accountable for the harm their outdoor events continue to cause.

Why did law enforcement get involved?
After Trace cut off contact with neighbors in 2023, we turned to municipal and state agencies and the organizations responsible for liquor licensed businesses and noise enforcement. Some of them opened their own investigations, and once these investigations begin, neighbors have no control over the methods or outcomes.

Has Trace broken any laws?
Yes, primarily those set by the state Liquor Control Board applicable to all Pennsylvania liquor licensed establishments. Trace management has pled guilty to multiple noise violations, paid fines, and eventually lost their state Amusement Permit in 2024. Legally, they can no longer hold amplified parties in the courtyard and must either hold loud events indoors or apply for a Special Event permit from the city to close Clement Way.

What’s the deal with decibels?
Small increments matter! Sound is measured in decibels and for every 10 decibels the volume sounds twice as loud to our ears. So, an 80 dB reading sounds twice as loud as 70 dB, and the brick buildings along Clement Way amplify the effect.

Trace claims that the outdoor events in Clement Way are not really Trace events, and so they aren't responsible for them.
This argument relies on a narrow technical framing that asks people to ignore what they can directly see and hear, in an attempt to separate Trace management from responsibility for the effects of these events. Although the new "Clement Way Artists, Inc" group now pulls the event permits, Trace Brewing sits on Clement Way and plays a central role in making the events happen. Trace promotes the events, attaches its branding, sells their beer, coordinates food trucks, and otherwise provides the infrastructure for each event to take place. In other words, the outdoor parties wouldn't happen if Trace wasn't at that location facilitating them.

Trace claims that they have made many voluntary changes based on neighborhood complaints, why isn't this enough?
Unfortunately, we aren't aware of any changes Trace has made to mitigate their neighborhood impact that was not a result of pressure from state and local agencies. Again, several neighbors worked with Trace management in good faith for almost three years with no results, and Trace cut off all communication once we organized into a group.

This was never a problem until your group started complaining! Can’t you just move somewhere else?
Businesses that exploit their environment rely on people staying silent about the negative impacts on their lives, and many feel powerless to change their environment for the better. Once it became clear that the vast majority of neighbors were upset, and that the extreme noise from Trace’s outdoor parties was seriously harming our ability to feel comfortable in our homes, we organized and spoke up.