[meeting adjourned] >> hello and welcome. >> recording in progress. >> hello examine welcome to the tuesday december 19, 2023 entertainment meeting of the commission. i'm the commissioner vice president, we will start with announcements. >> we would like to start the meeting with the land acknowledgment.

we the san francisco entertainment commission recognizes that we're on the homeland of the ramaytush ohlone land. as well as for all people who reside in their traditional territory. as guests we recognize that we benefit. we wish to pay our respects by acknowledging and by affirming the soverne rights as first people. this meeting is being held in hybrid format with the meeting happening in-person, broadcast live on sf gov. tv.

using meeting id 81986996090. we welcome the public's participation during public comment periods. there will be an opportunity for general public comment at the beginning of the meet anding there will be an opportunity to comment on each discussion. each comment is limit today three minutes. for those attending remotely, the commission will hear up to three minutes of remote comments. because of the 20-minute time limit, there is an possible that not every one will be able to provide public comment. public comment will be taken by person or call in. for each item they will call each and then from people attending the meeting remotely. for those attending in-person, please fill out a speaker card, come up to the podium during public comment. state your name and the affiliation and then your

comment. you will have three minutes. once finished, please hand your speaker card to the podium. select the raised hand option when it's time for public comment. if calling by phone, dial star-9 to be added to speaker line when your item of interest comes up. you may unmute yourself by dialing star-6. if you're meet ing be sure to view it. alternative while we recommend that we use zoom audio or telephone for public comment, you may submit a written public comment through the chat function on zoom. please know that commission sxerz staff are not allowed to respond or question. thank you sf gov. tv for sharing this meeting with the public. >> all right, thank you commissioner secretary. let's do a roll call.

>> vice president bliemmanned. >> here. >> commissioner perez. >> here. >> commissioner tomas. >> here. >> and commissioner wang. >> here. >> the next agenda item is general public comment. is there anyone here that wants to comment on items not on our agenda this meeting? okay, we'll close public comment and move to item number 3 which is approval of minutes of last meeting. >> so moved. >> second. >> is there any public comment on our minutes approval? >> no public comment on this ct. >>--item. >> close public comment. >> vice president bleinman? >> aye.

>> commissioner thomas. >> aye. >> commissioner wang. >> aye. >> director is feeling ill so we may want to continue. >> that sounds to like a great plan. >> do we have a motion to continue the executive director report to next meeting? >> no public comment for this item. >> all right, it is been continued. >> vice president. >> aye. >> commissioner perez. >> aye. >> commissioner thomas >> aye. >> and commissioner wang. >> aye. >> now it's been moved. we're on to number 5, which is report from our senior inspect or. >> thank you, vice president bleinman. >> we have received 38, 311 complaints. my only update tonight is about

trinity irish bar who holds an permit with our office. is respond today a souped complaint from the previous weekend. upon mia rival is witnessed prerecorded music and dj in the back area. i found the sound levels to be in n violation of their approved limits. 4dba and 4d b.c. above their approved limit. i went upstairs and observed the patio door open, and music escape from the roof top. i did not see any music--the

manager was only semi familiar with the previous conditions and no one onsite was familiar with the sound. the owners arrived and discussed the numerous vie layssing. but due to mia rival and entertainment lowering at 11 p.m., there was no need for violation. trinity was find $500 and. this is their second citation since november, so if we observe one more before february 16th, we will have grounds to suspend their permit. that's all for updates. >> any questions? i don't have any either, oh

please. >> no, knoxer i was just saying, i don't have any questions. >> commissioner thomas does not have any questions. only 38, must have been relaxing. only two weeks. all right, i have no further questions. so let's do public comment on this agenda item. do we have any? none here. >> no public comment on this item. >> okay, we'll close public comment and we can move on to number 6 which is hearing and possible action regarding applications for permits under the jurisdiction of the entertainment commission. and i believe senior analyst rice will be leading us off. >> yes, good evening, commissioners. the first permit on our regular agenda is to permit to extend their outdoor entertainment and amplified sound in their back patio through december 6 of

2024. that's next year. they would like to host to dj, from 4:00 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the process of get ago proof alto get an entertainment permit from us, once they get the planning approval and we'll be work withing director to apply for our brick and mortar per mitt. we received one complaint from the neighborhood about this application. your seener folder, application, their neighborhood letter and map, the neighbor complaint, sfpd station did not have any added conditions. and you'll see the staff recommendation is to approve with the good neighbor policy and the list of the permit conditions in your memo. which i will not read out loud

because it's long. here to speak is chris hastings owner of casemans. --casements. >> hello, thank you commissioners. i'm one of the owners of casements, there is three owners, one partner sean. is here with me tonight. our other partner is on his way to ireland to see new family members. we were just getting going when things shut down because of the pandemic and things were tight. we came out-of-pocket to pay the pay roll before the pandemic shut down. the ease of rules with legislation program allowed that business to survive and actually to thrive, we were

able to expand behind the business. and i think it's because of that expansion that we're here today and i'm talking to you. it was, obvious and immediate success and to lose it would be really detrimental to the business. we would have to layoff about eight employees in addition to the musician sxz performers that come into the space. i started this process 27 months ago, it's been a long road to get to here. and there is still some more things to go. we have conditional use application hearing on the 25th of january. so this application is to let you comply until that conditional use is approved. we're not asking to change anything about how we're operating, we just want to continue to do what we're doing

until we can get some other permits in place. which is predominantly, having playlist sounds out of small speakers on the patio from 4 to 10 p.m. with occasional djs smaller bands. i think that was all i have to say, i'm happy to answer any questions, if you have any. >> hello, thanks for coming in. have you had any complaints from neighbors before? >> we had had, the only complaints is from the same person that wrote the letter. and we had a continual use application hearing and it's been now twice rescheduled. and the first time that i spoke with them was the first time i was aware of the complaint. all of the out reach has an

overwhelmingly positive response. the reason is our preference is a deterrent and helps to stop some other things that are happening there that are loued and disturbances. and so, yes, there has been one person that i've spoken to who i believe is probably the same person who wrote the letter living on cat street. >> okay, and moving forward, how do you plan to address these potential complaints in the future? >> by making sure that everything goes off at 10:00 am and that the volume is appropriate. there was a learning curve. i also do believe that we are being, people partying all the time. there is people day drinking there all the time and i think

most san franciscans know about what was happening and now start to go happen again so. i think, it definitely sound happy back there and in speaking to the person, that we're being blamed for some of the sound that is not actually us. >> okay, thank you. >> i'm a huge fan of casements. is did my best to keep you at business during the early pandemic and the irish soda and cocktails kept me going going in the early pandemic. >> that's awesome. >> and i love the back, and i'm super happy to be able to support this and recognize that, you know, it's not, it's nice to have a queer friendly

irish bar in the mission and that's the kind of bar i like to go to. so i'm very happy to be able to support this and help move this forward and yeah, i just, i appreciate your bar. >> i appreciate it, thank you. >> so casement is a neighbor of ours, at teets, you have been just great. it's an awesome addition. a lot of activity was on valencia and commission felt like, it was a mile away from va lenz i --valencia was there. and the back patio is amazing and i'm very supportive. no further questions. you can have a seat. anymore discussion? motions? >> i would be delighted to move

approval with staff recommendation. >> second it >> all right, is there any public comment on this item? yes, commissioners, looks like we have three hands raised in zoom. i'm going to do it in the order that i saw the hands raised. so the first person is initial jy. >> just a reminder, uz have three minutes. >> if you can please state your name and you have three minutes. >> caller: hi my name is jennifer and i live on cap street, and while i appreciate supporting a bar, the 10:00 p.m. was a understatement. we start today recording it. the issues that the residents have on cap street on parts of

mission and 20th are that they don't know how or the correct chan toll report noise. we only found out recently that dialing 311 is the way to go. in the past in speaking with the neighbors, they have called the non emergency mission police department. so i don't know if those calls are being recorded. i just met with neighbors this past week, and there is more than one neighbor that said they call on a regular basis. is do have to say that i have called casements myself in trying to talk to the manager in lowering the noise. and i've been given the run around, and then i get hung up on. is would love to support a bar that in this neighbor, but according to this good neighbor policy, i feel like, like there is a little bit of gray area. i would love to hear how you're

going to, stick to the policies and i also want to know if your bar, once the music stops at 10:00 p.m., are they going to be able to be on the back patio? because i believe that according to the city, you're not allowed to be on the back patio after 10:00 p.m. that's pretty much all i have to say. thank you. >> thank you. okay, next person on zoom that i'm going to bring in is carani, i'm sorry if your name was miss pronounced. if you can hear us, state your name you have three minutes. >> caller: thank you for listening. and i do want to make a comment that i support a small business that's in our neighborhood.

we've been living for about 15-20 years. and the parking lot has been definitely an issue over the years but not since covid started and casements put the bar in the back, because i definitely they are related. the noise that you hear after 10:00 p.m. with people partying, hanging on the parking lot as to people thinking that you can just party and hang out. so people driving to the parking lot and open their car doors and blast music, there is trash everywhere. and as far as the good neighbor policy, it says that there is a 100 feet parameter where it should be clean. and it's definitely not clean in the back area, where that would extend the parameter in the casements back yard. that's the problem for me, there is no signage in front saying please respect our neighbors in the casement bar that says to remain quiet, respect our neighbors so we

don't see any signs like that. our neighbors whose name is monique, told me that she could be on zoom tonight but she will be attending the meeting on the 25th, physically walked into the bar one night when the noises was so loued that she could hear in her house across the street on cap street and they just shoot her away and say there is no manager onsite. that is not being a good neighbor. i want to know what you're going to do about the noise, the trash, the public urination that caps on cap street because of people coming out of the bar. yes, that's all i have to say about everything. >> thank you. and then we have a phone caller, last three digits, 505.

caller if you can please unmute yourself and state your name and you have three minutes. >> caller: i'll just, yeah, i just want to agree with the other people who have already said everything that, when we try to go in there to explain to the management nobody is able to talk to us and speak to us ,z that's all toif say. thank you. >> okay, state your name. okay, he's gone. >> that's all we have more hands raised. >> do we have anymore discussion before we entertain motions? want to come back and address some of those? >> yeah, chris, maybe hop up up

here, why not. so i will just prefacing it by saying that getting a permit is that the neighbors who didn't know who to speak with, or didn't know where to call. now know that 311 is the way to reach our inspectors. and i want to reiterate that we're a body that permits entertainment so that amplified sound and our jurisdiction is when the amplified sound is playing and it goes until 10:00 p.m. and it amplified sound is being played after 10:00 p.m., if it's off, it's not our jurisdiction. i think some of the neighbors brought up that they might want some way of being able to

communicate directly with your staff and part of a good neighbor is a manager being able all the time. i'm wondering if this is okay with you to make sure that. >> yes, that's totally fine. i think likely the people got in, got the mailer that has my cell phone on it. i'll be happy to give that to any other neighbors. i'm a little surprised by the comments of getting the run around, there is most always a manager on duty and that's something that we would take very seriously. in terms of the trash in the lot, it's a big issue. we clean it constantly and it's constantly dirty. not necessarily trash from our customers it's just, it's just back there. and being on private land and the landlord, the parking lot

company is our landlord makes that a little bit challenging but we're in constant communication. we're constantly trying to clean it up. >> and correctly, i've been in there besinger people are not coming in and out from your patio. >> nobody is coming in from the patio site. would i like to clarify that, the 100-foot radius does not extend to cap street. and that's one of the things that the caller called out, it would not be the expectation the way i understand it, for us to be cleaning cap street, it's a full city walk before the entrance of our space. i did get the email from the person that emailed in. and we do have signs of keeping quiet on the inside and yesterday i ordered 7 more to post around the outside to be more proactive and knock some of that noise out. was there anything else that was brought up that i didn't address?

>> i think it's important in terms of education for well for all of us, because wore all neighbors to different venues. what we, vice president said, what we regulate here is the amplified sound, the entertainment. so sound from people in their cars in a parking lot is not part of what we regulate. and that's something we're calling the non emergency police department number is probably your best bet to address sound from, you know, individuals with car doors open in a parking lot, that's not something na our inspectors will go out and address. but if it is music or sound coming from, from one of our permit holders, that is what

you call 311 about. so just to be ear, what is going to get you the best response from the city. is know, you can also call 311 but you're not going get one of our inspectors to come out to tell people to turn off the radio. >> i'm also a neighbor, i lived near the business for 20 years. so it's in the other direction, from cap street, so it would never be a noise issue but i do live a block and a half away. >> i spent 12 years on the same block and the same cross over between people who hang out in that parking lot, which is like a wild west situation. and the people in casements, there is not a lot of overlap in the diagrams. it's a different clientele for the parking lot. my patio never actually, ours

wasn't adjacent to the parking lot so we didn't have to manage the people in the parking lot. but it is a place where maybe the city may want to take a closer look at night because it's very willed and it's pretty dark. >> we would welcome that. >> okay, i have no further questions. >> one last thing, can you make a commitment that when you do have live dj, you have onsite manager that can help manage the sound. >> yes, and yes, absolutely. >> thank you. >> all right, thanks, chris. >> i'm ready to move to approve the staff's recommendation. >> i'll second. >> we already moved it. >> oh. >> can i get the second? >> are we we're going to remove? , no no no, we are good. old movements are good. >> we can leave those. >> we're going to vote now. >> let's vote twice to be sure. >> great.

president bleinman. >> aye. >> commissioner perez. >> aye. >> commissioner thomas. >> aye. >> commissioner wang. >> aye. >> it's been approved. and i want to reiterate to anybody that inspectors are reachable through 311 and that's why we exist to help man ang. --manage. so don't be afraid to utilize our sefshsz. yeah, i said t.all right, moving along the next permit. >> all right, price have the, the next permit on the agenda is an amendment to a one-time allow to allow the sky star wheeler at fisherman's wharf, excuse me to extend their outdoor through their the duration of their lease through the port which ends on april 30th, 2024. relocated from gold gate park to fisherman's wharf.

they would like to provide prerecorded music on the ferris wheel starting on december 27 of this year. so very soon. if they get approved to extend their lease, they would like to extend their amplified sound as well. if that happens, i'm representing that we review that amendment administratively so the director can make a determination subject to our limit for the extent daouration. which received no opposition to this application and sfpd did not provide any recommendation. you're senior holder, their neighborhood out reach letter and map as well as a letterer from chamber of commerce that we got today. here to speak to you is star

barley about the wheel and he has presentation on the tap lop. >> good evening, vice when the bleinman. i'm happy to be here today. i have a vao, i thought a couple of visual sxz how location and so you hound works. let me walk you through this real quick. this first slide, we're located directly between the embarcadero and jefferson street. so the 250-foot radius, that from the central part of the wheel is about 70% water on the bay. the rest is behind us, i have a map that is in your file as well, it will show you shortly. but i wanted to give you a visual on where it is, what it looks like in this place. it was the bouidin parking lot

prior to us moving the wheel. i'm the design of the move, from park to fisherman's wharf, now i'm serving as director for the project. this is just another shot, you can see pier 43, the arch there. this is you can see what it looks like from the water. and just a local shot from on the street on jefferson. we are really fortunate to be right at the f-line stop we're really excited about that. so we have a trolley coming by quite often. this is actually a sunrise shot, and you can see the franciscan raent behind. the sound that we're amplifying is locally base sound. we're not a concert and we're not providing any live music.

so the whole idea here, this was a maximum coug scenario that we had to set up already. the sound is primarily foc pused directly beneath the awning on the platform and around the coug area and it makes the wait in line just a little more enjoyable. but we've had extensive out reach with the neighbors. and these are the neighbors, as you can zoo the lower part of the circle there is the hotel sever and then what is called the sefer walk. there is about 10 to 20 businesses. i met with each one of those businesses personally. sxik tell you that everybody is thrilled to have us in fisherman's wharf right now. so there wasn't any complaint about anything, they have my direct number.

they can't hear anything. so when the trolley is going by, you cannot hear the mousse pick because it's focused primarily for our guests. so that's pretty much it. and i'm ready to take any questions, you may have. >> i thought it was great and you're bringing a lot of vibrancy to fisherman wharf and thank you keep it up. >> thank you for saying that, commissioner. >> yeah, it looks so much better where it is now than it was in golden gate park. it looked nice there but it looks so fantastic. when you come over the hill in the car anyway. thank you. >> thank you. yeah, it's exciting. >> yeah, i had a chance to experience the wheel. >> oh you did.

>> the park for my partners birthday, i took him there. it was nice to get the view. i'm looking forward to see there. it's beautiful so good luck. >> thank you. >> no comments, thank you. >> i'm the chairman and any, anyway to get more people down to the wharf right now to help with the recovery down there is fantastic. >> i'm dealing a lot with everything at the pier and it really, it feels like, part of this reinvitation you know, after covid and post covid, a lot of people are rallying around it. it's an exciting project. >> it looks like it's always been there. >> thank you. >> no further questions, you can have a seat. is there any public comment?

start with that and before we do our motions. >> no public comment for this item. >> all right, do we have motions? >> i move approval with staff recommendations. >> seconded it. >> okay, vice president bleinman. >> aye. xh. commissioner perez. >> aye. >> commissioner thomas. >> aye. >> and commissioner wang. >> aye. >> all right, congratulations. and let's move on. thank you, vice president, good evening commissioners. we have a few more permits and the first one is for outside door for beer garden, so beer garden explains itself, outdoor

beer garden that serves german-style food. they can host live music and outdoor amplified sound for their patrons. and their requesting the ability to host the outdoor entertainment between 3 to 8:00 p.m. wednesday through friday and between 1:00 to 8:00 p.m. saturday on. and they would not exceed five hours of entertainment per day. they have set an external sound limit so it's not to exceed volume, playing and the limit is reflected in the staff recommendation below. additional, they would like the ability to record sound and human speeches and music. during the same hour but it should not exceed involves of more than 50. the business has two speakers, they will use for prerecorded and entertainment which allows

them to control the volume. the applicant conduct extensive out reach and use services to their residential neighbors. there is no operation for this permit and sfpd northern station did not have any added conditions. here to speak to you tonight is owner savi, he'll tell you. >> hello, i've been since 93, sorry in haze valley and also the owner and then in 2011, we open the biergarten. and i would like to have limited entertainment to make it more pretty and more lively.

we tried to keep the neighborhood clean and tidy so all the trash and everything around, to clean up and to make it a space for families to come with kids and they can, you know, it's not a bar or anything restaurant, so people can sit outside and maybe one of you guys been there already and just like, the people of families can go there and enjoy when it's sunny to sit outside and listen to a little bit of music. and i would like any complaints from the neighbors like always there to to be called and to turn it down. we have also onsite like manager who takes care of these things also. you know. it's not that i want to be loud i just want to make this space

even more green, even more pleasant to sit in the sun and to be in haste value. --valley. >> questions, comments? >> thanks for coming n.are you going to have polka music? you've got to have polka music. >> i think sometimes when we have oktoberfest, we have more poke amuse i can. but generally, i like personally, i'm from munich but i kind of old fashion kind of music which i like to select records, play sometimes records which are old fashion and so on.

it's more the people who are like, authorized. >> craftbrooke. >> craft and sometimes helmshstein. but you know. >> anymore questions? >> when you do have live music, who is going to be the managing the entertainment? , i mean, we had very very little live mousse pick, because we're really rarely, you know. it's mostly that i have a friend who has wonderful collection of african music and old jazz and all kinds of things, you know, and i want to put that forward. i have not had a lot of time to spend there and control it in that way, you know, because i was always so busy with the restaurant. and constantly working there,

you know. buzz is would like when our weather comes back, i mean, now the next three months, going to be hard for us, because it's going to rain wh* it rains, it's often times closed. but when it comes back, i would love to do more interesting things for the neighborhood. >> so no live music but you will just play, playlist, is that what you're going to do? >> not just playlist, sometimes old records, sometimes we have a playlist, sometimes we have maybe, if i find a good little band, you know, that would be great. that's all, you know. >> but when you do have the bands, who is responsible for managing them? >> speaker: the manager onsite. there is always somebody there.

people can talk to. if there are complaints he can tell me. beirgarten is one of the first beirgarten in the area. our idea to bring that idea from munich. like where i grew up every area in the city has his specific beirgarten. it's part. for example, mission has one and they're all different in size and in the way they feel and look. bow they're very important to the neighborhood. where parents can bring their

kids. they can play, like the faoz ball machine where the kids can play. when the parent just have a drink, you know. and you don't have to sit in the indoors space. >> i look forward to check out your place soon. >> please, right now the weather is not fantastic but when it's a sunny, it's a beautiful place. we planted a lot of things make it really green and lush so people really sit in a nice space. >> thank you. >> all right, is there any public comment on this? yes, we have two people with their hands raised on zoom. the first person is curt.

>> hi, i just want to say i lived in hays value a week before the pandemic hit. so i've seen, so, rebirth, you know, since the pandemic. and to me, super important, a sense of community, also a place just lively and has you know, permitted live music or even like a nice dj, it's really important to me. this community which happened in the last two years, i think it's important that we have places like the beirgarten where we check out this music and this dj. it's a community hub and it's

important, so i just wanted say my support for this. thank you. >> thank you. >> the next person is dylan johnson. >> dillon, you have three minutes. >> all right, good evening, folks. pretty much i'll keep it short and sweet, i want to echo what the earlier caller said. i'm actually the manager the beirgarten i just want to tell that you we're going to do our best make sure that everything is good and on our end. and, i also want to speak from the perspective of the feedback that we get from the customers. our customers is about half neighborhood folks and the other tourist. when they come by, people are

asking about music and always brings in a good crowd. i've never got a complaint in-person to myself. and yeah, i just want to say it creates a fun environment. that's what we strife for, thank you. >> thank you. >> all right, do we have any motions? >> i would like to a motion to approve this permit with staff recommendations. >> i'll second. >> okay, president bleimman. >> aye. commissioner perez. >> aye. >> commissioner thomas. >> aye. >> and commissioner wang. >> congratulations, it's been approved and we can move along to the next item. thank you. >> the next permit is for a

place of entertainment for odc theater, odc theter was built in 1969 and a staple in the mission serving as a dance company, school and theater. the applicants are applying for poe permit and will continue to host performances at the premise. they conducted out reach notifying all of their residential and commercial neighbors as well as the indian cultural district which is near by. there was no opposition they did not have any added conditions. here to speak with you, is chief of staff, hello thank you. >> yes, as was introduced, we it's been in the mission district since 1976 and first modern dance company in the american starting in 1979 and our campus now has three buildings, we purchased another building in november of last year. and as we, expand the campus, we just want to make sure that

we're in compliance with the city. i think, out date this commission so i think we've been formerly grandfathered in. but we had a positive experience getting our permitied for our block party last summer and in the process, realized that we wanted to be in compliance now fully with the whole organization. >> that's good. >> thank you. >> questions. >> doing awesome. >> public comment. >> you can have a seat, occasionally we have applicants like you that are just trying to do the same thing that they've been doing for years, and it makes our life relatively easy. is there any public comment on this? >> no public comment on this item. >> all right, close public comment. do we have motions. >> i would like to move to

approve this with staff recommendations. >> second. >> all right. >> vice president bleinman. >> aye. >> commissioner perez. >> aye. >> commissioner thomas. >> aye. >> and commissioner wang. >> aye. >> congratulations, all set and we can move on to the next item. >> the next permit on the regular agenda is for a jam to bam transition for campus located at 22 west chestnut street. under this permit application they would like to expand their amplified from 2 to 10 p.m. and sunday 10:00 am to 10 p.m. staff recommendation is to continue with the same sound condition. the applicant conducted neighborhood out reach alerting of the application.

there was no opposition and as of tonight we received two letters of support from the neighbors who live upstairs to the business. and as fpd had no added conditions. here to speak with you is owner noel. >> good evening, commissioners and commission staff. my name is noel, i've been in the service industry for almost 20 years. we opened campus in 2011 and we spent many many years expanding our private back patio there. today, i'm the owner operator of the business. and today we are seeking to get our fix place amplified sound permit expanded there with ours, with extend hours. we only have small speakers in the around that meter that are

4 to 5 inches big, so we try to keep the sound localized and to make it more am bee ant so it's not shall we're in good standing. i'm on premise almost everyday to make sure that everything is running smoothly. i work in good standing with abc and sfpd. we're respectful to the community and stlief our best to be a good neighbor to everybody. if you have any que,z feel free to ask me. >> no questions, thank you. >> great. >> i just want to say, glazesing to you guys, it's great to see a minority women owned business. >> thank you. >> coming forward. i was wondering, your experience with your community out reach. >> so we, notify the neighbors around us and then we sent letters and i kind of talk to

as many people as possible that were just the parameter of the venue. >> what was that like what was the response? >> pretty good response. i feel like nobody had any major complaints, so. >> that's awesome. >> all right. >> hopefully. >> all right, looking forward to checking out your venue. >> thank you very much. >> it's a rare thing to have your upstairs neighbors write a letter to support. >> yeah, try doing that on chestnut. >> i learned to run a bar from her partner, i consider them to be in the very very elite highest level of operators in the city. so i have no problems supporting this in full.

so let's go to public comment first. >> no public comment for this item. >> i would like to approve this with staff conditions. >> seconded. >> okay, vice president. >> aye. >> commissioner perez. >> aye. >> commissioner thomas. >> aye. >> and commissioner wang. >> aye. >> all right, glazesing, it's been approved and we can move on to the next and final. >> the final permit tonight is for jam to band, which includes amplified sound at palm house located at 2032 union street and they also applied for a billiard pool table. from 4:00 to 10:00 p.m., tuesday through sunday since november of 2020 and we

received zero complaints about the business. under this llp, they would like to add indoor application and expand their outdoor for amplified sound. they're seeking--but shall not host more than 10 events with entertainment per calendar year and each event shall not exceed four hours of live entertainment. they would like the ability to amplified sound daily. applicant notified all of their commercial and residential neighbors about their llp application nearly 30 days in advance. however, on december 13th, i received four letters of opposition for the permit. i provide education and asked if they would like to be put in touch with the owner directly but only one took me up on the offer.

as i explained to the neighbor and counsel, this commission only has time and all but one proposed commission were outside of that scope. i provided a letter to the applicant and he provided a response which is also included in your file. i also met with the neighbor yesterday to address their concerns. the neighbor requested modification to speaker configuration which are all happening to no changes needed to be made. and i think it's important to remind the commission that the neighbor lives to the rear and this application is indoor and outdoor the front of the business. so the front of the palm house is 350 around the block. although this business, does not have any outdoor programming to the rear, they do have a back room with

windows that they sometimes open for ventilation. based on the neighborhood feedback, the owner has agreed that all windows will be closed by 10:00 p.m. and yesterday during the meet ing, i saw that they removed from wrafrng handles from the doors so the patron kz not open the window until they add a crank back on. that's a real commitment. requesting to have indoor entertainment under at 10 p.m. we have never received a sound complaint so we have no history. i'm recommending that we allow them to have entertainment until 11:00 o'clock but there is the ability to bring them back if there are future issues. sfpd did not have any added conditions. and here to speak to you tonighted is owner jeff davis.

>> speaker: good evening, every one. my name is jeff, i appreciate the time. where do i start, palm house opened up back in 2014, restaurant bar. i don't want to go through covid and stuff, but it was obviously a tough time, we laid off about 45 people and we made it through it barely and we came back 2021, opened up outdoor dining and opened up more as a restaurant and 2021, was great and 2022 and 2023, and it's been pretty dismal to be honest. and we're planning to come to code with everything but also to add opportunity for us to build some business here. whether it's live music, open until 1 1:00 o'clock, just to

have opportunity to do different things and host different things. i did my neighborhood out reach as you guys can see. went to all the neighbors around the area. went to all of the business sxz had multiple support from all of our neighboring businesses. our outdoor patio, i have pictures that i can show, i'm sure there is a gentleman that is in opposition to our speakers but i will show where our speak residenter located now and they're not giant speakers. and the ones located in the business now, do not face that street, they all face towards the office street which is webster or union itself and those businesses, that side of the street is all businesses or union street is also all businesses. we also tore down our park which we did that about a month ago, to eliminate any extra noise as well. we shut down two weeks ago to

remodel. we closed for two weeks, redid the bar, repainted everything, we're redoing the bathroom. i don't want to say clean up, but elevating did a little bit more as well. and spending a lot of money to make successful and to keep our staff and keep the business going. the last thing we want to do is to shut down, but if we don't want to take the measures, 2024 is not going to be a very goodyear. any questions? again, i can show pictures, but i'll have to do that in a minute.

we've got no actual history of complaints about sound from your venue that came from any of our channels, have neighbors previously reached out to you to engage around sound? is it something family? >> me personally, no but now that i've taken over an owner there as well. past management, there may have been past messages, one neighbor that's all i heard about. and this particular neighbor that we did not call was yesterday. and actually, on the out reach my phone number on there as well. and i told him, i'm available 24-7 if there is a question if there is something going on. i think the biggest issue is what the gentleman is going to talk about is the back windows. the back window when it's like if there is a party meaning, an engagement party or whatever party, if they open up the

windows, there was tele con. so the if the idea is open and he's in the back area, i can probably empathize if there is going to be loud noise. i told him that we're going to make an effort to keep those windows shut where we removed the handles now where, a guest cannot open those up. and then, i also, don't want to put any conditions on this, but if the gentleman, i'm willing to, i don't want to put but we talked about putting locks on there. the problem is the windows, that's not a problem. and we do have management on staff every night. i also operate and own other buildings properties as well but i'm at palm, i live two blocks from palm house and my corporate office is next to palm house. i'm there probably too much. and then, so again i'm always

available my management is always available. and i empathize with our neighbors too, i do live in the neighborhood and if it's loud, it's louedsinger, but if there is a way to correct it, i'm here to correct it. >> thank you. >> thank you. and somebody's phone number accessibility on our website so if people want to say something about the sound level, they're able to connect with your manage. >> i don't know if i want to put my cell phone on my website. >> just a phone number. >> we do have a phone reach the host, but also my neighbors, i would want my neighbors to be in contact with me or my management team. like i said i'm always available, and unfortunately i said it yesterday on the vampire, i don't sleep. i'm always around.

and also my management team as well. >> it's important, i did business there for years and we had a similar situation with neighbors in the back. i've always had neighbors and many of them, were not always excited about what i was doing. in my businesses but what i found giving them immediate access to somebody, because they feel like they have control or some somewhat control but when they call and they can hear the noise, it can get a little crazy. buzz if they call, hey, hank, how are you doing, you know, sure we'll turn it down. they're like ahhh, i have some control over this. >> yes, yes, i agree. that's y my management team whether, our current g.m./she is an owner as well. the gentleman that is going to speak, has her number and has

my number as well. there is multiple ways. i empathize and i'm there to help the neighbors and i'm here to also have a successful business and keep the business alive. >> all right, no more questions frus, you can have a seat. let's open to public comment. we have a few people with their hand raised in zoom. so the first person we're going to bring in is andrew greenstaff. if you can hear us, you have three minutes. >> caller: hey i'm representing the owner of 3033 buchanan street which is a property in close proximity in palm house. last wiebesinger they send a

letter permit application, conditions to the permit or agreed to by palm house. in that leter, we noted that residential neighbors have had on going issues related to excessive noise and unwillingness to address concerns. over the years, residential have exchanged over 200 messages with palm staff. generally only requesting that palm house minimize noise which is already neighborhood bit good neighbor policy. that does not include dozens upon dozens ever calls being made to palm house. to date there have been 70 complaints made to staff on the noise.

palm house back windows have caused issue because they have been kept open in the middle of the nice. 62 feet from palm house not 350 around the block which is an important extinction have exceed 80 decibels. yesterday evening my client met with deputy, we left the meet ing very openful. should the commission decide to issue permit, we request commission submit. reporting to neighbors raggeder those readings.

second reiterate our request that the commission limit their indoor entertainment to 10:00 p.m. and limit only two outdoor speakers or outdoor entertainment and at least 8 feet away from the edge of the property line and facing union street. finally, we ask that indoor noise levels are measures to the am by ant not the outdoor patio due to the drastic ditches between the front and the back of the building. we do ask that the commission impose, live entertainment neighbors are afford -- ~>> your out of time. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> this person is calling n

this person has the phone number ending in 8151, if you can hear me state your name and then you have three minutes. >> caller: devin johnson and i live on buchanan street. our back window is the rear of palm house. and we've had regular noise issues with the palm house since they opened about 10 years ago. we lived at this address for 20 years. before the palm house, it was operated as a restaurant and, you know, good food, quiet conversation, they always kept their windows closed and they had absolutely no impact on our ability to sleep at night in the bedrooms in the rear. palm house has operated more, i though they have a restaurant liquor license, they operate more as a bar nightclub, a lot

more people pack in and louder music and they have this issue of opening the windows where the noise flows into the interior of the block. we made multiple calls in the day to the police. we even met with anderson one of the former managers and there is been no change. as recently in conic con, my neighbors, i believe they wrote letters. they were awakened at 1:00 am because of the noise coming from the palm house over the interior. i'm oppose today adding more sound and the permits that they're requesting, they have not demonstrated that they've been able to take care of their neighbors with, you know, their existing music and playlist and

clientele so i'm not sure they'll be able to manage this level. thank you for your time and i'm opposed to it. >> thank you. >> that was the last comment on zoom. >> all right, i'm going to issue a mia culpa here. we only have five total commissioners tonight. commissioner camino was not enable which brings us to four which is our minimum. we realize that commissioner wang needs to recuse herself from this due to the fact that one of her family, cousin is an owner and that leaves us without a quorum. so this is, i'm apologizing

because i, i didn't fully understand the rules about how many people we needed for a quorum, i thought it was an existing group that we had and not the, the including the two empty seats. soy apologize for that, but we should entertain a motion to continue this, well we have to, until we have a quorum to vote on this. i apologize to the call sxerz owner, i know how frustrating this. so we're sorry for that. so i would like to have a motion to continue. >> so moved. >> second. let's do public comment on this specific motion. if anybody wants to call back in i'll give you a second. but we cannot proceed without a qualmer, that is the law. >> so this would be at our

first january meeting, assumption we have a quorum for that meeting. >> the earliest possible, yes. presumably january. >> no public comment for the motion to continue the meeting, or continue the item. >> yeah, i'll give you a chance, if you want to, but do step to the microphone. yeah. >> speaker: quick question about, do i need to put the sign back up? >> you can reach out to our staff, they will give you the run down on what the situation is. sorry this happened very quickly and i'm bumbling through it as a civilian on a commission. >> okay, this is a vote to continue the item. >> there is another. >> oh sorry. >> if we could, could we make it the third tuesday in january, rather than the first,

we're going to be out of town. >> we're canceling the second, january second we're canceling and the next would be the 16th. the third. >> perfect. >> one other thing, with the the posting, it was in a place that was kind of tucked in acorner of the building and the curtains of the, this is just for you jeff, the curtains of the patio completely obscure, the posting. i would recommend if it would be okay with the commission. >> so there are like, certain guidelines on postings and i need to follow that. and if the neighbors do this all the time f they don't think it's following the guidelines, they can send us a picture and we can instruct the instructor if they're within guidelines. >> i was just hoping if you can use the marquee. >> we're going to continue this

anyway, these hearings are not for a back and forth, that's meant to be outside of hearing, this is just for the official business. is there any more public comment? anybody? >> no, no more public comment. >> okay, so we are voting. >> we are vote to go continue the item to the next meeting. vice president. >> aye. >> commissioner perez. >> aye. >> commissioner thomas. >> aye. >> does she vote? >> to continue, i think that is okay. i don't know what we're doing. otherwise, we're in a cul-de-sac. >> okay, commissioner wang is an aye. thank you. >> yeah, flying without two commissioners is tough so we're hoping we'll get the two seats filled as soon as possible. that's the final permit on the agenda, if i'm correct. so the final item is commissioner comments and

questions. >> staff we're hosting for the holiday party last week or two weeks ago. thank you so much, that was super fun and happy anniversary to us again and happy holidays to everybody. >> see you all after the new year. i'm hoping that we have a rocking new year in san francisco beinger it's probably going to be pouring rain from el nino. here's to 2024, hopefully, it's a little, hopefully we turn that corner. is there any public comment on our final agenda item? >> no public comment for this item. >> okay, no public comment so we will adjourn the meeting at 6:49, thank you every one. >> recording stopped.locals.

>> (music). >> the work go ahead offered i

didn't the rec and park friday's local young people between 14 and 17 to be part 6 the workforce and eastern responsibility and professionalism and gain job skills and assignments in neighborhoods parking and recreation centers and includes art and crafts, sport, cooking, gardening and facility support and so many more. >> (multiple voices). >> i think we're part of the this is the fact we're outdoors and it is really great to be in nature and workreation is great first step to figure out what you would like to do workreation

covers real life working skills and expansion can be allowed (unintelligible) it is a really great program because um, students get placed all the time for what they like. join us in the experience and opportunity and i really like the workreation program it is fun to workout at the summer camp with all the kids each is different and the staff is really nice. >> why? is because i used to go to the local park often when i was a little kid. with my mom i often had to translate for my mom i applied in the hope to provide assistance for other people with first language was for the english.

>> i like this job we have fun and working and i feel welcome. >> hi. >> like how a job actually works like maybe before then i didn't know like all the jobs i don't know any of that now i do. >> it has to be self aware of things and independence of value of this taught me how to be progressiveal but still learning as i go on. >> i learned a lot like a got to adapt and challenges and obstacles come up everyday and . >> i like that we're able to really work with other people and gaining experience like how in the real world hoe how he work with other people.

>> if you're looking to develop your live skills as well as cash and working in the parks, and meeting great people and working with great staff i definitely recommend the corporation. >> it is fun. >> i definitely do the scombrifrm again that the workreation and park and i'll do that again. >> i will >> i am supervisor melgar. i am the supervisor for district 7. [music] i am a immigrant to san francisco. my family came when i was 12 from el salvador during the civil war.

this place gave us security, safety and an opportunity to thrive, so i love the city deeply, and as a mother of three kids who have grown up as city kids, i'm grateful for everything the city has to offer for people like me and families. i have been politically involved my whole life, either in government or a non profit worker and i care about the community. i care about people around me, and i want to make sure that as the world changes around us, other people have the opportunity that my family did. >> we are back in san francisco post pandemic. so important to be out supporting our businesses, supporting our neighbors. >> i'm the first woman to represent the district, believe it or not. i'm the first latina elected to the board of supervisors without an appointment first ever, so i do think that (indiscernible)

i want immigrants to be represented, women, moms, people that have different experiences because that brings richment to our decision making and i think it makes for betting decisions so that inspired me to run. district 7 is one of the most diverse districts in san francisco both in economics and ethnicity. it spans north from golden gate park. it includes all the institutions in the park, the wheel. the music concourse, mew seem to the south to the daly city boarder and west to the organization. includes the zoo (indiscernible) all those fun things and to 280 oen the east. includes city college, san francisco state. i had ucsf parnassus so very large geographically. it is

mostly single family homes, so it is the place where for generations family (indiscernible) nice parks, lake merced, mount davidson. >> this is like a village within the city, so we are very close nit community. we tend to band together and try to support one another and it is a friendly place and families and people to have a cup of coffee and check out the park. >> ocean avenue, which is the southern end of our district is vibrant commercial corridor that mostly cater tuesday the local neighborhoods and the students. as you go further west you have the mall which has some of the best pan asian food offerings in the city. if you haven't been there, it is really fun. as you go up a little bit further, there is west portal avenue, which is a very old school commercial district where you can still

find antique shops and cobbler shops and as well as like more modern restaurants. it is definitely hopping and full of families on any weekday. >> i'm matt roger, the coowner or (indiscernible) >> carl, other coowner in west portal. >> we are a neighborhood hardware store. been a community institution since it was founded in 1936. we had a little bit of everything. (indiscernible) to gardening or gift buying. >> my entire experience in san francisco is this community. it is a very small town feel for a big city. the community is caring and connected. >> what makes me excited doing business in district 7 is i know it sell well. i grew up here. i knew a lot of customers, parents of friends. it is very comfortable

place and feels like home. >> if you go up north, you have the innerpz sunset commercial corridor which has a awesome farmers market on weekdays and plethora of restaurants. there is everything you need. >> friendly and safe and (indiscernible) i love they bring their kids with them. they teach them how to use their money, and it is something you dont see in too many markets in other communities. i love to see the kids come and talking to you. it is something different then i see from (indiscernible) >> the ev access to transit in inner sunset and ability to do a lot of shopping on foot, and now the improved biking with jfk closed to cars, because we have a 4 and a half year old who rides her bike. we now have a safe place to go and ride bike jz don't

have to to worry about traffic. >> graffiti continues to be one of these things that during the pandemic just got out of control everywhere in the city and i do think that it is hampering our recovery of commercial corridors, so some of the volunteers on west portal avenue, some of the merchants got together with interns at our office to do some hands on abatement and we have been doing it regularly. we are doing it once a week and we have a wonderful neighbor, carrie organizing and storing the paint and supplies in her office on west portal, but this needs more then just a volunteer efforts. >> i'm grateful for the collaboration. we passed legislation at the board and put $4 million in the budget over the next 24 months to help the department of public works hire laborers and

labor apprentices to abate the graffiti on private property on commercial corridors. i think that for a couple years this recovery strategy so we can get back up as normal after this awful pandemic. participatory budgeting is a pot of money that is available every year for district 7 neighbors to propose projects that improve the neighborhood and the district. anyone, any organization in the district can propose a project and then it's a vote. it is popular vote. we have 14 projects just approved and they span from you know, a vegetable garden at aptos middle school to pedestrian safety projects on (indiscernible) it runs the gamut, but it is wonderful because it allows people to be engaged

in a real way, and then to see the outcome of their energy and work, because the things get improved in front of them. >> i like it is really close to the parecollect parks and bunch of businesses as well as a calm feel. it is a very peaceful feel even though it is close to a lot of things. (indiscernible) also not boring. there is stuff to do too. >> so, there is lots to see and experience in district 7. [music]

[music] hi. i'm san francisco mayor london breed i want to congratulate sfgovtv on 30 years of dedicated service as a broadcast channel for our vibrant city. you played a critical role during the pan dem and i can worked keep residents informed. adapted to changing situations that allowed our residents to engage and participate in government.

thank you for 3 decades of informing and inspiring and connect the people of san francisco as the voice that good morning and welcome to the december 8th, 2023, regular meeting of the san francisco ethics commission. today's meeting is live cablecast on sf gov ethics .org/ ethics life for public comment. members of the public may attend in person or may participate by phone or the webex platform as explained in