>> [inaudible] >> the project before you is a conditional use authorization request to establish a new self service specialty food use dba place with a non-residential use size in excess of 3000 square

feet. the department is recommending approval of conditions. the existing site is occupied by three-story over basement mixed use building with approximately 2000 square foot ground-floor retail space that is currently occupied as a specialty retail use. we are proposing to occupy the subject ground-floor commercial space and basement area as well. the proposed sandwich shop will have 10 seats internally and outdoor trees. all users are proposed to be connected with the commercial space. no expansion of the commercial space is proposed. it currently operates three locations, including one in san francisco on market street that will be transitioning to the proposed location if approved. in addition to the comments and positions that were included as part of the packet, the department has received two additional phone calls and nine

letters and e-mails in opposition and 14 e-mails and additional signatures in support of the proposal. the comments in support and in opposition to the project are similar to the comments already summarized in the packet, and there are copies for the commission if you wish to review them. the project is found to be consistent with the city's general plan policies in that it will create employment opportunities and contribute to the vitality of the subject. therefore, the department finds the project to be desirable. i believe the business owner as well as his representatives are here to further present on the operation and logistics of the business. also, they will be able to answer any questions. this concludes my presentation, and i will be happy to answer any questions. thank you. commissioner miguel: thank you. project sponsor.

>> thank you, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak. i wanted to go over a few of -- tidbits about our business, and i assume you guys have a lot of questions, so i will lead time to answer those. i first opened up the shop in 2007, started as a one-man, 1- employee show and quickly turned into a business that now has three stores with over seven -- 70 employees, 37 of which worked in the san francisco location. the san francisco store was a flagship restaurant. we are planning to have this new location. the new store is about 10 times their original size of the first restaurant. do not really see any much problem with efficiency, space, electrical, all the kind of

upgrades that we need in our improved equipment fit perfectly. and they are available at the new location where they were not in other location -- the other location. we also do not sell the alcoholic beverages. we are a strict food and soft- drink restaurant. we previously anchored the block there, allowing other businesses to fill comfortable doing business on the block well before we got there. people said the bloc was cursed. people said the space was cursed. another sandwich shop opened up down the street. they felt that they would be able to run their businesses there as well. our customers come from all over the bay area, all over california, as far as australia and siberia. we have had people come in saying that they have come in --

we are bringing in additional foot traffic to the castro area. when they come in, they do come and buy chocolate from the chocolate shop we will be in having or one of the coffee shops close by. currently, the space is now on market, now, he gets the benefit of all the additional coffee sales instead of the local coffee shops that are just down the street from where i guess was and where the proposed new place hopefully will be. we have done a lot of things. learned a lot from our previous space and from opening up in redwood shores and also stanford. we found out if we start taking phone orders that now the phone orders become 35% to 40% of our business on a daily basis. these are people that call in and have the option to pay before they even show up. a walk in, get their food, and lead. they are there for a total of

about 60 seconds, maximum. they have already ordered and paid. we installed recently and iphone application where they can order, they can pay, and the phone will let them know when their order is ready, so they can just walk up, find their name, grab their food, and lead. it has been working great in redwood shores and stanford. we will do the same thing at this location. we also adopted a food and sanitation program, which is not required, but we wanted to make sure that with all the concerns that people may have, that we were in full compliance with the department of health. if you look at our last seven held scores within the last year-and-a-half, the lowest score we had was a 91. our last score was a 98 at our last location. 92's, 94's, 96's mixed up in between. we will also install a new ventilation system.

we will attach our own hook to help with any smell or older concerns. also, the ceilings are very high. do not really see that the voice is going to be an issue there. the next available residential tenants upstairs, and at the old location, we had -- we sent out a couple people to clean up the block to find any trash, the king of the neighborhood trash. also, we find starbucks and 7- eleven trash, too. we will continue to do that in our new location. we currently sleep our streets of the market, where we are operating right now, and there is no reason why we will stop doing that. we started with a community liaison out of an old location.

people were yelling their concerns, any issues that they have. she would set up meetings with them. she would address their concerns to come to some reasonable -- sometimes, things that maybe were a little bit in common, but we were happy to do them. we will continue to do those things for the neighborhood. we look forward to anchoring the neighborhood again, bringing more traffic down there to the businesses that seem to be suffering a little bit right now. just want to be a great neighbor. i live in the building right next door. been living there for over a year, born and raised in san francisco. absolutely love to do business out here. do business in the city i was born in, be an asset to the community, to the city, to the state. i'm happy to answer any questions. i'm sure you guys have some.

commissioner miguel: thank you. >> welcome. commissioner miguel: i have a number of speaker cards. >> i'm john bell, on the board of the glbt historic society. i'm here to speak on behalf of ike and ike's place, who has been a huge supporter. he has been a major sponsor to our largest fund-raising event of the year held at the green room across the street, and he has also drummed up quite a lot of interest in our event. when we started marketing the events, and they heard ike's was going to be served, people got very excited. we were able to open a museum in

the castro this year, so we are very excited. very blessed to have his support, and we hope you will still be in the community. thank you. >> crime charles norman. i live on sanchez street, half a block away from where ike was located and about half a block diagonally from where it proposes to be located. i strongly oppose this application and i urge the commission not to approve it. i have lived there for 15 years, and for 15 years, we have no problem on the street until ike's moved in. we had everything going on. the block between 16th and market completely blocked and congested. hours of time with crowds milling about. you could not walk up and down that street.

i had to start crossing to the other side of the street going the long way around the block just to get where i was going. we had people loitering in doorways, people sitting on people's front steps eating lunch, throwing things around, leaning up against my garage. forgive me if for being blunt, but a few times we have people vomit before my front door, and we had to clean it up. this is not what is being advertised to you. this is not a self-contained operation. in terms of anchoring a neighborhood, tangerine has been in operation there for 10 years. there has been continuous operation westar belly as. this is not about ike's. what he does is terrorized the neighborhood, and i strongly urge you not to approve the resolution. thank you. commissioner miguel: thank you. >> jack detail.

i'm here as a private citizen on my own time. i'm here as a neighbor with the same concern that most neighbors would have. also to point out that this is not a community organization, that this is a sandwich shop tried to make money. we appreciate that they feel in order to get a conditional use permit, they need to appear that they are responsive to the neighborhood, but so far, i have not really seen it. i think people go to ike's because they like being seen in line there. it is a cool and hip place to go, and i have nothing against that, but i think that the line benefits ike's. i do not see how he could do as much business without it. he has 10 places to sit inside, maybe 10 places to stand inside. it is a successful business. i have often counted 30 to 50 people in line, so those people are going to come across the

street and said on my stoop, and am interested to know that he sends out people twice a day to clean out my stoop, but i have not really seen it. it says that by monthly, he is supposed to wash the sidewalk, but i never saw back. in fact, i meant to be a nice neighbor and leave him a note to say that he really ought to clean the sidewalks. >> commissioners, good afternoon. i'm the steering committee chair of steeringbuena vista neighborhood association -- share of the bu -- chair of the buena vista neighborhood association. we urge you to approve the project. it is a very successful business that we think has learned hard lessons from the early days of

its phenomenal and probably initially unexpected success. it is not ready to go forward, and as a valued business in the upper market area, which is used by many of my neighbors. this new location will continue its contributions to sales tax and other city revenues, provides jobs, and will contribute to a positive business synergy, which is so important to keeping that area vital. the internal chocoholic in maine has had a bit of a struggle because the current occupant of the space has been one of my favorite destinations, but we resolve it in favor of urging you to approve the ike's place project for that location, as it is before you today, and we urge you to consider the comments. thank you.

commissioner miguel: thank you. >> i'm david goldman. good afternoon, commissioners. i live at 246 sanchez street. i'm the president of the home owners association. i'm just around the corner from either location. you walk down sanchez street and turn right from where i live, you would find the old location. you turn left, you would be where ike's used to be. i'm speaking today to express my strong disapproval. i was able to follow how ike ran his business. his original location was on the north side of 16th street. in the proposed location was on the south side between sanchez and church. both locations are within 300 feet of my residence. i live on the west side between 16th and 15th. the problem the business created for us is neighbors began

immediately. with a high volume of patrons all day long, long lines of people waiting as long as two hours to pick up their sandwiches would end up completely blocking access to the north side of 16th street. ike's provided no seizing all for its customers, and they ended up sprawling on the stoops and driveways of my home and my neighbors. it was a task to keep our driveway clear of the people sitting in the driveway while they ate their neighbors. patrons were hostile to my polite request to refrain from sitting in my driveway while eating. my neighbors reported similar problems. disrespectful patrons. despite my complaints to his stock pick, they and their staff did nothing to alleviate the problem. he seemed totally indifferent to our concern. while many patrons stroll in and created a problem with their cars double park, often blocking my dread wight, and those of our neighbors while they waited to pick up their sandwiches. pick up their sandwiches. again, no help was given to