Kelly’s Taproom, a popular Villanova student bar, is under investigation by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, a probe the owner says is the latest in a pattern of targeting by officials and neighbors in Lower Merion.
Kelly’s, located on Lancaster Avenue in Bryn Mawr, is a popular watering hole for students at Villanova, which is about a mile up the road.
The investigation was first reported by The Villanovan, the university’s student newspaper.
Bar owner Gene Mitchell said Kelly’s was served a citation in mid-May listing numerous alleged violations of Pennsylvania’s liquor code, including noise, open container, and disorderly conduct violations.
A representative from the Pennsylvania State Police confirmed in an email that the agency is leading an investigation involving Kelly’s, but said it is unable to disclose confidential information about an active investigation.
Mitchell said the citation is the latest in a decades-long battle with local officials and residents in Lower Merion, from issues securing building permits to neighbors making constant complaints to the police about the bar.
Some Bryn Mawr neighbors have complained of disruptive behavior by students patronizing Kelly’s, including throwing garbage on the street, urinating publicly, and making noise late at night.
Last August, Kelly’s ownership met with the Lower Merion Police Department and the state Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement to form a “good neighbor initiative,” under which students who were cited for disorderly conduct or similar violations anywhere in Lower Merion would be barred from entering Kelly’s.
In a social media post from September, Kelly’s encouraged students to refrain from public drunkenness, open containers, and vandalism outside of the bar.
“There are some neighbors that have a negative sentiment towards the Villanova Community for whatever reason, right or wrong, justified or not. Regardless, we are sure we can all collectively change that mindset,” the post read.
Mitchell said the bar has done everything it can to mitigate bad behavior by students, but that there are limits to what Kellys’ staff can control, especially when students misbehave outside of the bar’s walls. Kelly’s has installed decibel readers to monitor noise, invested thousands of dollars in fake I.D. scanners, and hired bouncers with military backgrounds, he said.
“I just don’t know what more we could possibly do,” Mitchell said.
A message left with the Lower Merion Police Department was not returned.
Mitchell and his wife, Angie, allege that the bar is being targeted by a handful of disgruntled residents and Lower Merion commissioner V. Scott Zelov, who Gene Mitchell said is “just relentless in his crusade against Kelly’s.”
Zelov in an email said that “all bars and restaurants are treated fairly and equally by [the Lower Merion Police Department] and that “the owner’s attempt to blame neighbors and me is very disappointing.”
“As a Commissioner, I receive residents’ complaints. There are many upset neighbors, especially those with young families, about the open containers, public urination, and the disruption to their quality of life, often from students leaving Kelly’s,” Zelov said.
Zelov said neither Lower Merion’s commissioners, nor the police department, are targeting the bar.
Gene Mitchell said he and Angie plan to “fight this to the utmost” and that they are willing to do anything the township and state “are reasonably going to ask us to do.”
This is not the first time Villanova students have spurred headaches for their Main Line neighbors.
On a block of nearby Tredyffrin Township, neighbors of a set of off-campus Villanova student houses have complained of beer cans strewn in the street, vomit on their cars, and loud noise and music extending into the night. The residents worry that problems will get worse once Villanova opens its new Cabrini campus this August.
Angie Mitchell said that while Kelly’s has taken steps to mitigate student behavior, “you know what you get into when you buy a house with a university near it.”
Villanova University did not immediately respond to request for comment.
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