The GOAT bar in Carmel has been closed for almost a year. It just got closer to reopening.

Brittany Carloni, Indianapolis Star
·3 min read

The GOAT tavern in Carmel, which has been closed for nearly a year, saw progress Monday night when the Carmel City Council approved a request to rezone the property.

A rezoning of the site in midtown Carmel, from residential to business uses, will give the bar the ability to reopen once renovations of the existing building are complete, according to commitments between the owners and the city.

Those renovations include enclosing outdoor areas and adding additional restrooms.

The GOAT, or Greatest of All Taverns, opened in August 2020. Within four months, the city received complaints of noise and public urination outside the bar. The property surrounding the tavern is zoned mostly for residential uses, but land across the Monon, such as where Sun King and Fork and Ale House are located, has commercial zoning.

Owners of The GOAT agreed to commitments with the city Monday that will be in place once the bar reopens to address previous concerns about its operations.

The GOAT, a tavern/restaurant that's been open in Carmel's Midtown section since August, is shown on Dec. 8, 2020. The establishment said it will now close at 2 p.m. every day and change its business model — at least temporarily — after complaints from neighbors over noise and accusations of customers trespassing on private property.
The GOAT, a tavern/restaurant that's been open in Carmel's Midtown section since August, is shown on Dec. 8, 2020. The establishment said it will now close at 2 p.m. every day and change its business model — at least temporarily — after complaints from neighbors over noise and accusations of customers trespassing on private property.

Some of those commitments include:

  • Establishing and maintaining a neighborhood hotline.

  • Having no outdoor speakers

  • Ending outdoor food and bar service daily at 7 p.m. with removal of all outside patrons from the bar’s patio by 7:45 p.m.

  • Ending alcohol service at 11:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 12:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday

For more than a year, there has been ongoing debate over whether The GOAT should be allowed to operate at its location, 220 2nd Street, in the city.

The debate even included legal disputes between Carmel and the owners of The GOAT last year after the city’s zoning appeals board denied variances at a meeting in April that forced the bar to close its doors.

The tavern’s owners filed an application to rezone the property in late 2021. The application has made its way through the city’s plan commission, which gave it a positive recommendation with commitment requirements for owners.

The GOAT (right), a tavern/restaurant that's been open since August, Carmel, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020. The establishment has garnered a few complaints from neighbors who say they dislike noise, and trespassing onto their property.
The GOAT (right), a tavern/restaurant that's been open since August, Carmel, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020. The establishment has garnered a few complaints from neighbors who say they dislike noise, and trespassing onto their property.

The city council’s land use committee reviewed the rezoning request over the last several weeks and, at a meeting March 2, returned the project to the full city council with no recommendation.

Carmel City Council members Monday night voted 7-to-1 to approve the rezoning of the property. Councilor Tim Hannon was the lone vote against the land use change.

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Several council members commended The GOAT’s owner, Kevin Paul, for cooperation with the city.

“I think Mr. Paul believes and knows that he has to live up to these commitments to be in business,” Councilman Kevin Rider said at the meeting. “And it's going to be his responsibility, whether it's with security or whatever it is to make that happen.”

Councilman Jeff Worrell said he wanted to give the tavern a second chance.

The GOAT (at right), a tavern/restaurant that's been open since August, Carmel, Dec. 8, 2020. The establishment has garnered a few complaints from neighbors who say they dislike noise, and trespassing onto their property.
The GOAT (at right), a tavern/restaurant that's been open since August, Carmel, Dec. 8, 2020. The establishment has garnered a few complaints from neighbors who say they dislike noise, and trespassing onto their property.

“I am comfortable now with the changes that have been made for the hours,” Worrell said. “I have decided that this is not a perfect situation, but that I am going to trust that the operator will abide by these commitments.”

Hannon could not support the rezoning of the site, despite empathy for the business, he said.

“This is not an appropriate use of this parcel,” Hannon said.

Alan Cohen, a neighbor to The GOAT, said that the city council would come to regret their decision if they approved the rezoning of the property.

“Any other business would be able to operate on this property without negatively affecting the neighborhood and residents in general,” Cohen said. “The GOAT is not one of those.”

IndyStar approached Paul at the meeting, who declined to comment immediately after the decision.

Contact IndyStar's Carmel and Westfield reporter Brittany Carloni at brittany.carloni@indystar.com or 317-779-4468. Follow her on Twitter @CarloniBrittany.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: The GOAT bar in Carmel takes critical step to reopening