A "temporarily closed" sign sits in the window of a Highlands bar, Baxter's 942 Bar and Grill. But soon, it could read "open for business."Baxter's 942 closed five months ago after Louisville Metro ABC decided not to renew its liquor license. Since then, neighbors WLKY caught up with at the local dog park say it's been quiet. "It's a totally different environment," said Highlands resident Leah Bammann."It's night and day," said Highlands resident Ian Arlen. We discovered complaints from the community are one of the reasons Metro Louisville ABC did not renew the bar's license. "Weekend nights, it's been a total circus," Arlen said. "People invade the neighborhood. You know, I have lunatics driving around blasting music outside my house all hours of the night."Another reason is concerns over repeated acts of violence near the bar, including shootings in August and October. However, these shootings did not occur on Baxter's property.Frank Mascagni, who represents Baxter's, says they're wrongly being held responsible. "It's easy when you're looking for somebody to blame for violence," he said. The bar took legal action after its license expired on Nov. 1, 2024. In January, there was a hearing. Just this week, a judge ruled in favor of Baxter's. We obtained a copy of the ruling. It says "to deny" them a license based on "third-party" criminal activity that didn't occur on premises is "unreasonable."The ruling also said the Louisville Metro ABC Director, Brad Silveria, "abused his discretion when he erroneously, unreasonably, and arbitrarily denied their license." While the judge did say there is evidence that “public sentiment” supported the decision to deny the bar's license, he referenced the case Bickett v. Palmer-Ball, which states, "a license may not be denied simply because it is protested. If such were the case, few licenses indeed would be issued."The ruling states Silveria's decision "to rely upon such 'public sentiment' as a basis for denying Appellant’s application for the renewal of its liquor licenses was an abuse of his discretion." "Obviously, we were happy," Mascagni said. "We've been fighting this since the license was denied on Nov. 1. So it's been five and a half months, a long and arduous journey."Louisville Metro ABC issued the following statement: "We’re disappointed with the hearing officer’s recommendation. Regardless of how the State Board proceeds, Metro ABC will continue to protect neighborhoods by holding business owners accountable who create a danger of gun violence and other public safety issues."Neighbors say they aren't happy. "And everyone at the dog park thinks it is best that it not stay open," Bammann said. Councilman Ben Reno-Weber, who testified at the hearing, says he is disappointed in the decision, too. "I think we need to keep our eyes on the important part here," he said. "What we care about is the behavior of folks in our neighborhoods, and what we were seeing previously was that this operation was attracting people who were misbehaving in our neighborhoods."Baxter's has already secured a state liquor license renewal this year, but ABC will have 15 days to find any exceptions and appeal the ruling.Mascagni says the ruling still has to go before a three-judge panel to affirm or deny the ruling.Should ABC's appeal not hold up and Baxter's get its license back, the new license will be valid until Oct. 31, 2025.