With the blessing of the City Council, the sounds of recorded and live music may waft through the Friday-night air in the heart of Orange City — at least until midsummer.

At the urging of Michael Stridacchio and his customers, karaoke will delight its singers and listeners attending the improv concerts at the Knuckle Sandwich, located at 475 S. Volusia Ave.

“We haven’t had any issues at all throughout the whole time we’ve been doing this,” Stridacchio told the City Council March 12.

Stridacchio’s request for a special-event permit for his weekly Family Karaoke Night came after a code-enforcement officer had cited the owner of the Knuckle Sandwich property for having “loud music and the use of a PA system” in January, according to a city memorandum. When Stridacchio applied for a special-event permit for the Friday-night entertainment, “Code Enforcement … paused action, pending the outcome of the Special Event application.” 

That outcome was the City Council’s agreeing to a trial period of four months.

“We thought we would just test it out,” City Manager Dale Arrington said, as she recommended allowing the Family Karaoke Night on each Friday evening between March 15 and July 19. After the trial period, if city officials see no problems, the Knuckle Sandwich’s Family Karaoke Night may become a permanent and regular weekly happening.

“I hope you’re OK with a four-month trial period,” Mayor Gary Blair said.

Blair added he had heard some of the karaoke at times at his home nearby, but he did not find it noisy.

“We only allow outdoor entertainment in a few places,” Arrington noted. “Outdoor entertainment, depending on where it is located, could have impacts.”

Stridacchio related how the event started and grew.

“We brought this together with people and families to come together,” he said. “We’ve had families that would normally probably not talk to you or talk to them, other people of different incomes, different situations, and brought them all together, and their lives change.”

“When we started doing this family karaoke, it was small. We had four or five people show up,” Stridacchio continued. “Kids are playing hopscotch and cornhole, and they’re dancing, and they’re singing. Kids that were afraid to talk in front of school, in front of their class — they’re now raising their hands and going, ‘Can I talk first?’, and this is all because one child said, ‘I can do karaoke, I can do this.’ … This all comes from the heart.”

A number of Stridacchio’s customers were on hand to support him and keep their favorite weekend entertainment going.

In that vein, a friend of Stridacchio came from Ormond-by-the-Sea to lend his voice and support for the karaoke events.

“I don’t see him violating any parameters, getting closer to the street,” Quinton Van Cleef said. “If you take this away, what message are you sending to the community and to the youth in Orange City? If you take the arts away, what else are they going to have to do on a Friday night? Especially when Mike’s gone out of his way to bend to accommodate for everything to put a special event together?”

No one spoke against allowing the karaoke routine.

In any event, Arrington recommended, and the City Council endorsed, conditions for the temporary outdoor-entertainment permit at the Knuckle Sandwich:

— Attendance is limited to 60 people.

— Patron seating is limited to the inside of the restaurant and under an outdoor awning.

— Parking is limited to the address of the Knuckle Sandwich and an adjoining site on the north side of the restaurant.

— The outdoor music must end no later than 11 p.m. 

— The music and noise from the karaoke event must not exceed 80 decibels.

The City Council unanimously approved the permit for Knuckle Sandwich’s karaoke. Vice Mayor Alex Tiamson hailed the vote.

“I’ve always advocated for a gathering place, a downtown,” he said. “I see nothing but positive. … It’s a place for kids to have fun.”