reminder for those interested in the decision to sign up on the sign-up sheet. thank you. >> thank you. you are now on item 16. case number for nine west portal avenue. >> good evening, president miguel, and members of the commission. planning department staff. the case before you is a request for conditional use authorization pursuant to planning code section 303 to modify two conditions of approval imposed in june, 2009. it is located at nine west porltle avenue. in june, 2009, they sought the ability to serve wine by the glass as a compliment retail wine business. in order to do so, they're required to seek conditional use authorization for a bar. in order to ensure that their entitlements would not be a full scale bar, specifically

condition 11 requires that the business closed by 8:00 p.m. daily, condition 12 prohibited outside seating. conditional 13 limited the business to wine and beer only. no more than 1/3 of the occupied floor area be dedicated to onsite wine consumption. condition 15 limited the number of seats to eight. condition 16 required that at least 2/3 of the floor area remain dedicated to retail displays. the scope of today's conditional use hear something to modify conditions 11 and 15 only which deal with the business' hours of operation and the number of permitted seats. all other conditions of approval will remain in tact and are referenced in your draft motion. it wishes to operate until 11 p.m. and until midnight on friday and saturday. they also wish to have 19 seats available to customers rather than eight. since the pact it's went out the department has received three additional letters in opposition and have petitioned

with 40 additional signatures and support. today the department has received a total of two letters of support including one from the west portal avenue association and a petition with over 250 signatures in support. the department has also received five letters in opposition, including one from the owners of the wine bar located at 230 west portal avenue. the department finds the proposed approval to be sufficient mitigation to prevent it from becoming a full scale bar and to ensure the continued family-oriented commercial district. the hours of operation proposed remain more restrictive than those permitted by right in the portal and the number of seats and floor area dedicated to wine consumption ensure that the business remains dedicated to the retail sales of wine. the department does not find competition to be a sufficient reason to prevent them from being able to sell wine by the glass, seeing as the general plan encourages competition. the department starts -- supporting the request to modify conditions of approval and that allows for a more

equitable business plan compared to other businesses in the neighborhood and the increased activity will be a beneficial addition to the neighborhood. they have operated for approximately one year with no complaints and has become an integral part of the community. based on findings from the plan, the department recommends approval with condition. this conclude mice presentation and i'm happy to answer any questions. president miguel: thank you. project sponsor. >> i'm here representing the owners. as you know from my past that i have fought against chains very . very successfully fought against starbucks and that gives me great pleasure to say

we're eliminating a franchise from the commercial mack mack -- makeup of san francisco. when they started their business, they -- well, since then they've learned a lot. they've found that their customers come up from the financial district, take the street car out to west portal avenue and then they have to stop selling -- serving wine at 8:00. and it's just not working for them. so they're redefining their business model which is why they're asking for these modifications to the conditional use permits that were issued a year or so ago. i'm urging your support and i'll ask if you have anything to add. >> good evening, commissioners. we have learned a lot over the past year especially. >> state your name for the record. >> james robinson. what we've learned is once the

franchise -- it was a good thing for us to leave the franchise and become fully independent. it's been pleasing to our customers and it's pleasing to us as owners as well. and as marcia put it, it better serves our customers, we're seeking approval to go beyond 8:00 and add more chairs. it's what they want and we certainly want to deliver what they want. >> one thing i forgot to say, there are another 41 signatures that came in. i think that brings the petition total to around 300, if i'm not mistaken. >> hello, i'm gale farris. we've been around for over three years, almost four years now and i can't tell what you an education it's been. we went in very bright-eyed with the idea of the franchise and realized very quickly that by going independent it gave us more flexibility and we could really listen to our customers

and given them what they wanted which was a great selection of wine and offering a beer now and adding to our wine by the glass. so it's been a great time. thank you. president miguel: thank you. is there any public comment on this item? >> thank you, commissioners. it's certainly been a long day. i would like to add for the record a petition with about 90 signatures stating that another bar is not needed in west portal. my name's keith. my wife owns. i do what i'm told. we collect those signatures in a week and a half. not the two months that they had to do to plan this. i'd also like to add that the president of the west portal merchant association is ellie

wagner. so i would request the have a lessity of the endorsement from the -- question the validity of the endorsement. that's something to take into consideration. personally i'm surprised we're here. last year they came before you when they were illegally acting as a wine bar and they said they never wanted to be a bar, they didn't want to expand. they stated that they only wanted to do limited tastings and there was no mention of the franchise. that's the only difference here is that supposedly they're not part of the franchise any longer. all other considerations are still in play. and still enforced. talk take a walk down memory lane and how we got here. 3 1/2 years ago when they first were going to open up, they were opposed to a wine bar going in. there are statements here on those public meetings that we

had that they stated they would never become a wine bar, it wasn't their intention. that's how they got support. a year after that they legally opened a wine bar one block away from my business. i mean, how would you take that? that's a direct attack from the fastest growing chain in the industry. they stated that they did not know that they needed conditional use permit. when i asked james personally, i went in and asked him, he lied to my face and said they did have a permit. they came before you last year to mitigate that situation to make it legal for them to pour wines by the glass and they misled this commission. they said they never were going to come do what they're doing tonight. my wife's business, our business, is the only business open past 9/11 on the second block -- 9:00 object the second block of west portal. we're the only business still alive on the second block. we're not talk about the marina district. if i were in the marina district i wouldn't be here.

there's high density housing. we're talking about a 2 1/2 block commercial district with no high density housing. there's already an established wine bar in the neighborhood. you made a great decision last year. you allowed them to do what they wanted to do. i'm asking you to verify and agree with your decision last year and not approve this conditional use permit. we're the last business standing on that second block. we drive business to that second block. thank you. president miguel: thank you. >> good evening. i've been a resident of west portal for over 35 years. i'm very familiar with west portal area. i'm also past president, the greater west portal neighborhood association, although i'm not here

representing them. i have to tell you that i resent people putting words in our association's mouth. mr. mccartle from what i understand runs a great business. they have good wines there, he's good to his customers and everything. and he's done well the whole time he's been in his position. i don't know why he is objecting to competition and that's the only thing i'm hearing from him is he objects to the competition and he felt that it was unfair because wine styles was part of a franchise operation. they're no longer a part of franchise operation and even when they were, they were an excellent business. they served wonderful wines and i don't see how they can be even considered to be in competition with them. they sell different kinds of

wines, they have a totally different atmosphere. so i'm going to urge you to please approve this conditional use permit. thank you. president miguel: is there additional public comment? >> i'm going to try this again. i'm in support of the debut and their application. just a little background. i was working for james and gale for about almost three years and have known, i lived in the area as well. i'm very familiar with their business model and who they are and who they are as a person and familiar with the community that -- they have a huge amount of support within the community. they have definitely strivinged to run a very respectable business. they have never done anything as far as i've known to

disloyal their license or what they do or to start a business or serve wine that they were illegally supposedly doing. they had no knowledge of that and they weren't. so when it comes down to credibility, james and gale are amazing business owners. they have done a huge amount for the neighborhood. they keep up with their building, clean it, it's impeccable when it comes in and when you walk around, it's a beautiful wine shop. and i have to say as well for myself, they mentored me into opening my own business in the inner sunset area. so this is one reason that i got into it. i started a small wine bar at the 7th and irving. i'm very familiar with the business model and it pushed me into knowing that they are exceptional people and it showed me to be a good business person and good for the community and especially when when it comes down to hours. people -- a wine bar is

different than a regular type bar. people aren't going there to -- they're not 20 somethings to do shooters, they're not going there to get drunk, whatever you're trying to come up with. people are going there to really enjoy themselves, have a glass of wine, be with family, be with friends and have that particulate of the community. that's a part of wine. giving them the opportunity to change and expand their business to 11:00 during the week and midnight on friday and saturday, it's part of the economy, it's part of the times, it's part of what they do and what the communities asked for. time and time again we get people coming in there prior to when i was working there asking if they could get a glass of wine and we had to turn them down because we couldn't do it after 8:00. and so we're -- and the customers don't understand that. so, this is an opportunity for them to actually succeed at their business and they're doing very well but this will give them an opportunity and this is a society for all of us to strive. we want to do that. thank you very much. i appreciate your time.

president miguel: thank you. >> good evening, commissioners. i'm in public relations. i had the privilege of walking up and down the west portal with james, meeting, greeting people in the neighborhood. and he's very engaging, great energy, seems to know everybody and everybody seems to know him. but what we're talking about here is competition. and when -- there are vacancies all over west portal. they're going through somewhat of a transition. they need people that are going to provide the energy and the enthusiasm to want to do that. and i don't think we should punish people if they want to work harder or provide hours that are certainly reasonable, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, up to the point, i mean, where it is right now, he almost has to become a police officer at pickup -- and pick up wine

glasses and you have to explain that to guests and guests get angry and say, what are you doing? you know, they don't understand that aspect of it. but those were things he agreed to at that time. the good thing was, some time has passed now and he's shown that he's a good owner, good operator and has a good relationship with the community. so, now's the time he says, hey, in essence i was running the business as a hobby. i need to run it as a business model. so we need to give people the opportunity to change their models, to make it better and stuff. so i see no adverse effect to it. i met the new captain at the station. he had no issues with it at all. i hope the both of these merchants can come together and maybe do some cross promoting to create a vibe and promote the whole area, not just look at their own business as an island and stuff. it's a good energy up there and i think hopefully in the years to come, you know, they'll be

able to make their issues that they have now be by gones. thank you. president miguel: thank you. is there additional public comment? >> good evening, commissioners. i'm here as a resident and a fan of them. my girlfriend and i have been constant customers of theirs ever since they've been in the neighborhood, basically. and they -- as they've said before, other people have said tonight, there are vital -- they're a vital part of the neighborhood. they've really revitalized that portion of west portal. we were here last year when mr. and mrs. mccartle brought their case against them the first time and at that point he was saying that, oh, they were on their knees and the business was doomed to fail any minute now because of the horrible competition from wine styles.

well, we're here a year later and they're saying the exact same thing and the thing that we keep saying to ourselves in the neighborhood is that this isn't a matter of, you know, fighting for a piece of the pie. this is a matter of making the pie figure for everyone and that if these two businesses came together they'd be able to make west portal into a wine neighborhood, something good for everybody. as it stands now, james and gale are the only ones who seem to be working with the neighborhood and they have the support of the neighborhood and the neighborhood association and the neighborhood businesses. >> good evening. i bought that building in 1966. show you my age. the neatest thing about what's happened is there's a community developing here. wine bars, men and women come

in and we're getting people in the community and for one time there's activity there. and this is the time they -- thing we need in san francisco is places for people to meet. this is a wine bar but i do think a wine drinker is a different person. they usually come husband and wife or lovely ladies coming to enjoy. so the last thing i'll say about jim is, when you walk by the front of the building, there's a little can there of water for the dogs walking by. so how can he be a bad guy? thank you. president miguel: thank you. >> hello, commissioners. i'm an employee and i'm 24 years old and like many

americans before i had this job i worked at a series of different places. i've worked for starbucks, i've worked for forever 21. i've worked for enterprise rentacar and they've all been major national changes and until i got this job i really never appreciated or understood the value of having a locally-owned and operated company. when people come into the store they ask for -- they greet me by my name, they ask for james and gale by their names and you don't really see that working at a starbucks. more starbucks but forever 21, nobody knows who you are. people come up and i see a lot of the same people from the neighborhood, they meet before they go out for dinner or they meet new people that they've never met before, were able to -- we're able to introduce them, hey, this is glen, glen, meet marc. and we strike up a really great community and it's something different than i've ever experienced before and it's a really great thing and personally james and gale are the best bosses i've ever had. they care about their customers, they care about their employees.

they care about the neighborhood. so, i mean, i feel like i can't say enough nice things about them. they're just really great folks. thank you. president miguel: thank you. is there additional public comment on this subject? public comment is closed. commissioner borden. commissioner borden: i remember when this item came up the last time because there was a lot of people from the neighborhood talking about how this couple from virginia who said they moved to west portal because of their experience with the business and i remember all of that and i also remember advocating for later hours and at that time the biggest concern was related to the fact that you were affiliated with wine styles which was a national affiliation. and that was the primary, you know, issue and reason that we really -- that this commission cut the hours back. i know i was supportive of longer hours in the first place because i hate having to see things come back if we can

solve them once. i appreciate mr. mccartle's concern but i also get frustrated because people treat the planning commission as if it's their place to protect their business from competition and, you know, competition is the basic tenant of society and presumably competition allows the customer choices, to choose to go to the places they like and would like to frequent. i have -- granted i live the in -- in the marina, i have several wine bars and i only go to one frequently. i happen to like that one more than the others and there's like four. the point is that i do think that west portal is kind of sleepy and could use more nighttime activity. i've been over there for sushi in the evening and there aren't a lot of places -- i'm a wine drinker. there aren't a lot of places to go after dinner. and i noticed that -- i also noticed the way that there is a sense of community that seems to exist around this

establishment. i'm very familiar with the model of wine store/wine bar because in my neighborhood the california wine merchant operates very much from that same sort of format and td be interesting to see, i bet they'd be a much better bar business than they do wine sales business but maybe i could could be wrong. i know that these models work and i know that these places are gathering places in the neighborhood for people to come together. and since the only opposition that there seems to be is the person that owns the other wine bar, it seems to speak to the fact that the community in general is supportive of this establishment. so, with that i would move to approve with conditions. commissioner antonini: i'm very familiar with the area and i really like the comment, whoever said they want to grow the pie rather than split the pie. and i think that's very important and what's happening at west portal is there are a

lot of families that are doing the same thing that we did in 1976 when we moved to the west side of san francisco and started shortly thereafter to have a family. once you're out there, especially when you have youngsters, you don't want to go all the way back downtown again but you want a nice place to go to and of course i know, i've been to the other one, it's great, too, but i think changes are happening and they're happening for the better on west portal. very vibrant during the day, needs a little help at night. not that there aren't four bars there already, but they're a little different and there are lots of restaurants but there's no bar and grill type of restaurant. so that's something else they need out there for sure. but, this is a groot good thing because -- good thing because it's visible and it's open and i think that attracts people, they see the lights and they think may be there is activity on this street and then they walk around for a couple of blocks and they go to the other establishments. the book store stays open later

now and, you know, that really helps. i do remember this a couple years ago, in fact, the same issues came up and i believe i made the motion to make the hours somewhat shorter but i think, you know, i think there is room for everybody there and i think that it's appropriate. the only changes they're asking for are the two that they'd asked for before and that was later hours and more seats. so i think it is appropriate at this time. i'm confident that, you know, we'll get some more activities in the evening and i hope we can become more or less like a sacramento street or part of filmore where, you know, it isn't a rowdy street but there's activity for those of us who might get home at, who knows, 10:00 tonight, maybe? maybe 10:30, probably 11. and there will be a place to eat and a place to have a glass of wine. i'm in favor. >> missioners, the motion on the floor is for approval. commissioner antonini: aye. commissioner borden: aye. commissioner lee: aye. commissioner moore: aye. commissioner sugaya: aye.

vice president olague: aye. president miguel: aye. >> thank you, commissioners. that's an unanimous vote for approval. commissioners, you're now on a item number 17. president miguel: before you begin, i can get -- i have a potential conflict. i need to ask a question against who the project sponsor -- i guess to the project sponsor. we have a letter here from brett gladstone and i'd like to know, are you guys still continuing to be involved? >> hi. i'm suzanne kelly. >> you're still involved in the project at this point? >> we are involved in the project. >> thank you. i've talked to the city attorney's office about a potential conflict because we are -- it's kind of an unusual -- not unusual situation or maybe it is. mr. gladstone's office is

representing another client on a different property. we are under contract to that client. not directly to mr. gladstone. but they are the attorneys for that client. in this case the same situation -- the attorneys for this project sponsor, so there is a kind of financial involvement with the attorney. not either client. not this client. if you get my drift. the city attorney says there isn't a direct legal issue but there is an appearance question. president miguel: i don't think it's up to me to render opinion but i will render my personal opinion. the city attorney is right that there is the possible indication of the appearance of

a conflict. it's also my opinion that airing it in this manner does away with that because it makes it known publicly and makes circumstances known publicly. there is certainly no financial conflict which would cause you to be refused. i myself do not believe you have to. any of the other commissioners can voice their opinion. commissioner antonini: i agree with you. i don't see -- there may be many, many, you know, clients from mr. gladstone's firm and there are many clients for your firm. so, i don't think there's a direct connection here. >> let alone, if i may mention this, you may be involved, your firm may be involved with certain clients and not even know mr. gladstone's involved. or other attorneys, land use attorneys that appear before

us. suing sugg that's true. i'm only sensitive about it because of my reappointment. >> i was there. i understand your sensitivity. >> good evening, president miguel, and members of the commission. department staff. the project before you is a discussionary review filed on the new construction of one single family dwelling at 203 los palmos drive. this is parts of a larger project proposing construction of three new single family dweltings on an approximately 9,300 square foot property that will be subdivided into four new lots. each lot will be 25 feet in width. the fourth lot located on the corner of los palmos and forester street will contain the single existing family dwelling and will remain unaltered. on each of the vacant lots, one new single family dwelling will be constructed. the property is located at this house -- at the southwest corner of forester street in

the rh-1 zoning district. the requester is the owner ever 785 forester street which is perpindicular to the subject property. her concerns include the legality of the size of the subdivided lot, the destabilization of the hill side that would result -- that would be caused by the project, the loss of property value and privacy resulting from the new construction and the destruction of the existing tree cover on the properties that would be caused by the project. since the case report was prepared, the department has received correspondent from 36 people in the form of one petition and two letters in response to the project. the petition states that the undersigned would not oppose the construction of one new single family dwelling but that the subdivision and construction of three new ones have concerns about density, parking, loss of green space, lot size and property values. the department has also received a petition with 15 signatures in support of the project. although there is substantial opposition to the project, the department finds the full p