SNOW HILL – Pizza Tugos will be able to make entertainment changes following approval from a county board.
The Worcester County Board of License Commissioners (BLC) voted unanimously last week to approve a request from Pizza Tugos to offer live entertainment inside on its second floor. Though the board had some concerns about the potential impact on Route 50, the restaurant’s connections were confident the change would have no effect on the surrounding area.
“We think we’ve earned the privilege to at least try it and see how it works out,” Pizza Tugos owner Scott Heise said.
Attorney Hugh Cropper, representing Pizza Tugos, told the board the restaurant was seeking permission to relocate its second-floor entertainment. Though Pizza Tugos had approval to have live entertainment on the outside deck, Cropper said that with all of the noise from the surrounding businesses and the highway it simply couldn’t be heard.
“You just can’t hear the music,” he said. “What we’d like to do is move the music from outside to inside.”
He pointed out that all of the surrounding properties were commercial and included a noisy go-kart track.
Heise showed the board the proposed location for the musicians, just inside the garage door connecting the deck to the interior of the restaurant.
“We do want to have the music facing out,” he said. “You won’t be able to see it from the road.”
BLC members noted other restaurants with garage doors in West Ocean City were asked to keep them shut when they had live entertainment.
“Route 50 means an awful lot to this board,” BLC member Charles Nichols said.
Cropper pointed out the other restaurants with those doors weren’t so close to a go-kart track. He added that the tiki bar set up on the deck would block the sound as well.
Heise agreed and said this was a change he was proposing as he made ongoing enhancements to the property at the corner of routes 50 and 611.
“This is just another step in improving the whole property,” he said.
BLC member Marty Pusey agreed Heise had been making positive changes at the site.
“Moving the band inside is a positive from our perspective,” she said.
Though BLC member Reese Cropper III brought up the idea of higher glass barriers to block sound, Heise stressed that the facility was not a nightclub. The BLC voted 3-0 to approve amplified, two-piece music inside Pizza Tugos second floor but cautioned Heise to be careful.
“It’s something you’re going to have to really watch,” Reese Cropper said.
