Some residents of a South Anchorage neighborhood say the VFW club next door is so noisy it just doesn't belong there.
But leaders of VFW Post 9981, in a strip mall south of Huffman Road on the Old Seward Highway, say they've gone to great lengths to respond to the residents' complaints by insulating, soundproofing and turning down the music at their members-only club, which serves alcohol.
And Robert Waites, president of the Old Seward/Oceanview Community Council, which heard from both sides, said in a letter that he thinks the chief complainers "are not being a good neighbor and are harassing businesses."
The VFW opened in the mall in January.
Since then, the dispute has escalated beyond an easily resolved neighborhood conflict, and the outcome will at least partly be up to a judge.
Fights between commercial property users and adjoining residents are common, especially in older parts of Anchorage, said Richard Fern, the city's lead land-use enforcement officer. In one place, condos were built next to an asphalt plant with the predictable result -- unhappy condo owners. Elsewhere, body shops occupy spots in residential neighborhoods, and even if they're within the law, they're not pretty.
What's different about this battle, Fern said, is that Don and Katie Kessler and three other couples are filing a private enforcement action before an administrative law judge.
The case is headed to a hearing where the residents will try to convince the judge that the VFW and the mall owners have violated, numerous times, city codes against excessive noise, unsanitary garbage handling, and other rules. The hearing is set for Sept. 26.
Usually, rather than a judge deciding, city code enforcement officers investigate land use complaints, and sometimes issue citations, said Fern. This is the second private enforcement action he knows about in his 13 years on the job.
The Kesslers, who are spearheading the enforcement action, say they've been working with the VFW for months to try to resolve their complaints. They want the city to revoke the VFW's permit to operate a private club with alcohol.
The administrative law judge can only impose fines. But once they secure a judgment backing up their assertions, said Katie Kessler, the neighbors could ask the Anchorage Assembly to shut down the VFW club.
The mall, a long, dusty-pink, one-story building on the west side of the the Old Seward Highway has been there about 30 years, said mall owner Norm Bristow.
With two restaurants, an exercise place, a barber shop and a garden-supply shop, it looks much like any other strip mall. Except that when you get to the VFW, there's an outdoor patio with tables fenced off in front.
Inside the VFW, wood laminate floors gleam. Pool tables, a shuffleboard table and an electronic dart board sit on one end of the room, with a dance floor and tables in the middle. The bar is in the rear.
Behind the mall, there's an alley-sized road, and a buffer of trees and bushes, then the subdivision.
The subdivision is down a slope, below the mall, and separated from it by a retaining wall. It's between the Old Seward and the railroad tracks, and near a private airfield.
The Kesslers built the house 17 years ago, said Don Kessler.
Their master bedroom on the second floor overlooks the back entrance to the VFW. It's closer than you'd want your bedroom to be to a bar, about 30 feet.
Their biggest noise complaint: karaoke. It's loud enough they can sometimes distinguish which club member is singing, said Don Kessler.
The VFW generally has karaoke Wednesday through Sunday, VFW leaders say. Monday night is football.
Besides the loud music, people have vomited near their property. Foul language sometimes fills the air. And trash blows around the mall, said Katie Kessler.
H.J. "Joe" Carlson, who lives across Back Road from the Kesslers, said he's retired and is worried about the value of his property, with the level of noise they get. "It's going to be hard to sell."
Carlson and his wife are participating in the enforcement action.
To document what goes on, the Kesslers have installed a camera in a birdhouse in the trees, facing the back door of the VFW club.
VFW post leaders say they've taken numerous steps to answer the complaints of the Kesslers and others, such as adding insulation to their back wall, soundproofing rear doors, removing some speakers, lowering the bass and turning down the jukebox.
"We're just hoping to resolve the issues," said Steve Hubbard, post commander. "It's like an ongoing toothache -- you just want to get it pulled."
Bristow, the mall owner, said there was talk of installing a fence to absorb some of the sound.
But it would have cost $8,000. Though the Kesslers offered to pay $1,000 of it, the expense was too much, said Bristow.
He said sometimes people come and dump trash around the mall, and he cleans it up.
Anchorage police and the city health department both say they have fielded complaints. Police reports show twice this summer, officers asked the bar staff to cut the noise, and another time a responding officer heard no noise outside the bar. The Kesslers have a list showing many more calls to APD, but police didn't always send officers, they said.
A spokeswoman for the city health department said the department sent someone to evaluate noise levels, but they have not observed noise in excess of that allowed.
The VFW is renting the mall space. The organization sold its old building at 9191 Old Seward to get out of debt, said Hubbard.
"I believe the recent neighborly disputes and the lack of civil communication has completely escalated to a point that seems extreme," senior vice post commander Eric Lucas said in a letter written to support the VFW's position.
The group is a nonprofit, open only to family members and active duty soldiers and veterans who have earned campaign ribbons for combat-related service overseas, such as in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The VFW took the place of Jazzercize, which moved after generating noise complaints of its own. The Kesslers said they complained when Jazzercize opened its doors to let air flow through, and the music was too loud.
The Kesslers say they have not had such problems with any other tenants of the mall through the years.
They've got nothing against the VFW as an organization, said Katie Kessler. "It is against a bar."
Reach Rosemary Shinohara at rshinohara@adn.com or 257-4340.
By ROSEMARY SHINOHARA
Anchorage Daily News