BREWER – Though councilors addressed many issues during their nearly 31/2-hour meeting Tuesday night, one of the topics that generated the most debate was a bid to open a new nightclub in a building that has housed many over the years.

After hearing from residents, various city staff and those who put their comments in writing, city councilors shot down Timothy and Michele Hogan’s requests for a liquor license and amusement permit in a 4-1 vote.

According to Timothy Hogan, who owns Bangor lounge and game room Miami North, he and his wife wanted to open a nightclub called Mickey’s in a vacant building at 30 Clisham Road. In the past three decades, the location has housed a number of similar enterprises, including Babes, The Rocks and the Show Ring.

During the public hearing preceding the council’s deliberations, lifelong Brewer resident Timothy Hogan described the proposed establishment as a multiage night club, which would serve the 18- to 20-year-old crowd on one floor, where liquor would not be served, and those 21-and-older on another level.

Though building owner Warren “Babe” Bellefleur acknowledged the various businesses housed in his building had been the source of noise complaints in the past. But, he said decibel-level testing by the Brewer Police Department on site, at his property line and in the nearby residential area found no violation of noise limits. Residents, however, disagreed. They said Hogan and Bellefleur were missing the point.

Elaine Commeau, who lives on Upland Road, said she has quietly tolerated the problems associated with the loud dance music for years. Though she said she’s not opposed to business and likes rock music, Commeau said it wasn’t the noise so much as the vibrations which travel from the club through the ledge- and clay-based earth to her home that disturbed her.

“I hear the bass – and not only do I hear the bass, I feel the bass,” she said, adding that she’d even considered selling her home at some points. “It almost drives you crazy.”

Lynn Higgins of Tremont Street agreed, adding that Brewer police officials who’d been to her home to listen to the noise agreed with her. “We’re not crazy, we’re not hearing things,” she said.

Higgins said the neighborhood had long wanted some peace and quiet, but many people gave up hope of getting it.

Among the reasons councilors cited in their decision against the nightclub were discomfort with the notion of mixing teens and adults, the possible effects of loud noise on hearing and the lack of affordable solutions for the vibration problem. Councilor Larry Doughty cast the sole vote in the Hogans’ favor, saying he believed they should be given a chance to show they could run the club without creating sound disturbances in the neighborhood.

In other business, councilors approved a plan to expand a proposed access road that would ease some vehicular congestion on Wilson Street, which is soon expected to become even busier.

According to Economic Development Director Drew Sachs, the expansion involves a parallel access road councilors approved in June as part of Brewer’s corporate center project. As part of that project, the city acquired almost 85 acres of undeveloped land that had escaped development largely for lack of easy access. To provide access to that land, councilors approved the construction of two service roads. Initially proposed were streets running from Wilson Street into the heart of the park and an access road that would run parallel to Wilson Street, from the middle of the proposed park to the end of Sparks Avenue, a dead-end street off Wilson Street. The parallel street also would cut across parcels owned by others, opening the back portions of those lots to development.

On Tuesday, councilors agreed to add a second section – from Sparks Avenue across Green Point Road to Parkway South – to the planning and design phase, though the section approved in June and the portion approved Tuesday likely will be built in separate phases. In addition to saving about $30,000 in engineering, permit and related costs, the city hopes to address an anticipated increase in traffic in that part of the city.

In early November, the city struck a deal with Eastern Maine Healthcare for all but 11 acres of its outer Wilson Street parcel. EMH officials plan to begin construction this spring on a health care park that will include a multistory administrative building and a facility for outpatient clinical services. Over the next five to seven years, EMH hopes to develop another 30 acres for medical offices, research facilities and other tenants suited to the health care theme.