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tv   [untitled]    October 30, 2010 11:30am-12:00pm PST

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proposed by the san francisco police department for all entertainment permits. you want to report on that? >> yes. we had a meeting today at 4:00. it was attended by seven or eight different club representatives. vice chair joseph: it was continued. we're going to have another meeting. there are things that need to be discussed. it needs to be fine-tuned. so there's no real report. only that we're going to have another meeting and work out, there's a lot of conditions here, and work these out, and we're waiting for a report from the city attorney on the legalities of some of the issues. that concludes my report. president newlin: thank you. any can public comment or questions from the commission? seeing none, item number six. hearing and possible action regarding applications for permits under the jurisdiction
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of the entertainment commission. item a, caponi, regan, fillmore street, a place of entertainment. >> this applicant applied for a place of entertainment permit on april 24 to permit entertainment at the comet club. mr. caponi was required at his location to complete a conditional use authorization and his conditions of approval are attached to this memo dated september 16 of this year. i just highlighted some relevant conditions for your consideration. although -- not consideration, for your reference, really, as you know, all of the conditions automatically get put into our place of entertainment permit. so just for the sake of discussion, there is an
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allowance for entertainment from 6:00 p.m. until midnight, sunday through thursday, and 2:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m. on fridays and saturdays. in addition there is a condition not allowing patrons access to the rear patio. there is a condition, one i've not seen before, that says that outdoor tables and chairs may not remain on the sidewalk in the front during entertainment. and that after a six-month period from the date of the document the applicant may submit an application to planning to modify the conditions to allow him to have entertainment until 2:00 a.m. on thursdays additionally. northern station recommended approval with additional conditions that i've also attached. please note the conditions
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allowing entertainment -- the condition allowing entertainment only until 1:30 from northern station. this is a regular condition from them. it's more restrictive than the c.u. conditions and it's in front of you for your consideration. the applicant also submitted letters of report with his application, notably from the union street association and the union street enrichment association. the other thing i did want to point out was that the planning department has indicated that the applicant is in the midst of completing a building permit application that is relevant to the second and third-floor uses. i don't believe those are entertainment uses, so they're not really something you need to concern yourself with, but they are asking staff that we not issue the final permit until or unless that building permit process is considered complete. vice chair joseph: who's asking
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that? >> the planning department. i didn't mean to confuse you. it's not that complicated. but you may issue a conditional grant, i just wanted to be clear with you that there's an outstanding building permit. your conditional grant should be conditioned on the completion of that as well as any other conditions that you might want to impose. vice chair joseph: i'm sorry. forgive me, but why would we consider a building permit that has nothing to do with the place of entertain snment >> because the planning department asked that we do that. commissioner meko: because the planning department considers it related to the conditional use approval which must be in place before we can take any action on the place of entertainment approval. vice chair joseph: is that odd? do they always do that? >> they often try to get -- all
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departments will do that, to try to use other departments to make sure that everything that needs to get done gets done. meek t's crossed and i's -- commissioner meko: t's crossed and i's dotted. >> that's it. staff is asking approval inclusive of the conditions as well as the one that i just confused you about. vice chair joseph: ok, got it. president newlin: anybody here from the club -- anybody here from the club? >> good evening, commissioners. jeremy paul on behalf of regan caponi and the comet club. reagan has owned the comet club since the mid 1990's and he also has an entertainment license for club on the haig called milk. both of these clubs are very well run and have no police problems and are well-liked in the communities.
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it's very important to note that there are no changes proposed for the comet club. there has been amplified sound since at least the 1970's. there has been a long record of this location being a disco tech under various names which i won't bore you with, but they really speak to the times. that they were hope -- open. and the current situation, the current conditional use, arose from a complaint from a new tenant owner who doesn't live there, who is an owner of an apartment in the adjacent prorlt. they started -- property. they started the planning complaint which led to the request for the conditional use. we sought the conditional use. this person who had complained did not boggetter to show up at the planning commission hearing. the planning commission granted
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the conditional use. they wanted to -- because there was new interest in the neighborhood as a result of this notification that went out with the conditional use, they did get some comments from the neighborhood that were reflective of an opinion that something was going to change. that there was going to be an increase of intensity of use, there would be a new amplified sound system, that's not the case. it's an existing sound system. within the past year it's been modified and upgraded, working with c.m. salter, to make sure that there are no problems related to it but there is no increase in the sound output or in the activity. there was a request with the conditional use authorization for us to have live comedy shows earlier in the evening. which was approved. but that would be the only functional change that the comet club would really experience going back to probably the early 197s to.
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and it certainly won't become more of a problem, they're not changing their format or reaching out to a different community. as i said, there is no history of police problems at this location. there have been very few complaints over the many years that mr. caponi has owned the place and he always responds to people directly. he's well liked in the community. officer gallagher, the permit officer in northern station, said that he is personally ok with 2:00 a.m. but that it is their policy to recommend 1:30 on all of these applications. so i hope that you will take that into consideration and allow comet club to continue operating as it always has. this is a really good neighborhood, little venue, it doesn't create a lot of commotion, it doesn't make a lot of noise. it's just a good place to hang out. there's a little tiny dance floor, that's not going to
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change. it's going to stay the same. we didn't include these in your file, but i've got all these letters of support from the neighborhood historic association and all the businesses of the union street merchants' association and all the individual letters from the surrounding community. it's a well-liked place. and i don't think there's a cause for concern with these changes. as i said, the only people who made any comment to city planning were under the impression that somehow there was a major change in the operation being proposed. just to clarify on the building permit application, because i filed it, they were trying to document the office uses in the upper floors. and commissioner meko is exactly right in his statement
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of it that city planning included that the -- those other uses in the building should be properly documented before the conditional use is implemented. that's all they're trying to do. thank you very much and i hope you'll approve the comet club for 2:00 a.m. use on friday and saturday and will not require us to come back before you to get thursday when city planning approves that in six months. thank you so much. president newlin: commissioners, questions? commissioner meko: mr. paul, just to confirm, this is an 80-occupancy place? >> i think it is less than 80. commissioner meko: the paperwork says 80. not a very big place. the conditions that are reced by the -- recommended by the northern station here, the first three, soundproofed, sound not audible outside and all doors and windows be kept closed, are already included in
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our good neighbor policies, so they would all automatically be imposed. the fourth -- no, number four as well, security at all times, entertainment. number five is the change to -- no entertainment after 1:30. you object to that, correct? >> we would like to be able to continue until 2:00 a.m. commissioner meko: and how do you feel about number six, shall install surveillance cameras? >> the cameras are in. and have been in for some time. commissioner meko: ok. so your only objection would be number five? >> that's correct. commissioner meko: thanks. vice chair joseph: so, your security guard would be in-house? are they going to be lead trained? >> yes, they will. >> i have documenting. vice chair joseph: ok. and it says, what is your plan to protect patrons in case of an emergency?
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you say, the bartender or security guard will point out the exit. does the venue have an emergency fire alarm system? or something that also light u.p.s. the exits? -- lights up the exits? >> yes, it does. vice chair joseph: on number anyone it says, what are your bag policies? bag checks and i.d. checks. overintoxicated people check. what does that mean? >> i can't really speak to what that means but i can speak to the nature of this particular venue and say that -- vice chair joseph: you have to speak to what's on the application. what does that mean? >> owner was going to address that issue. vice chair joseph: you can tell me what you mean by that? >> hi, my name is regan caponi. that means if somebody's coming in intoxicated, we will size the situation up and we will not allow him to enter. it could be problematic. vice chair joseph: thank you.
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that's the right answer. i appreciate it. thank you very much. president newlin: commission, he -- commissioners, any more questions? commissioner roja: do we know why the police is request -- commissioner perez: do we know why the police are requesting no entertainment? president newlin: thank you very much. public comment? >> hi. my name is virgil skipton. i was a neighbor. i didn't know there was such a thing as this new good neighborhood policy. i'm surprised there hasn't been applied to my neighborhood. i live just like half a block up from the comet club. you know the neighborhood. and from thursday until sunday
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it's nothing but drunk kids running around and screaming until 3:00, 4:00 in the morning. so when i heard about this change of the comet club, how it was put out in the neighborhood was that they were requesting -- they wanted to get a permit to do amplified live music and so my concern is that, you know, we just -- to me it's just more noise in the neighborhood and another magnet for that sort of drunken behavior that seems to be supported by the city, oddly, in that neighborhood. i walk by the comet club every day, i live in the neighborhood . the matrix doors are wide open, the comet club's doors are wide
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open. no one ever has doors close. you can hear music. it's blasting. the crowds are out of control. i'm just concerned so i thought i'd show up. i'm sure there's not much i can do to stop any of this, but it's really getting difficult for the people who live in the neighborhood to put up with this. and i know there was an individual who came around when this first came up and was trying to get the neighbors involved and i'm surprised that none of them are here. that's all i have to say, i guess. so, the police officer at the north station has no problem until 2:00 but he doesn't live in the neighborhood, i'm sure. that's all i've got. thanks. president newlin: thank you. any other public comment? >> my name is city ofen and i came here as -- stefan and i
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came here as a friend to regularen caponey. he has a long history in the area. he also -- the area -- caponi. he has a long history in the area. he's a good operator and his history proves that but in addition to that the area is conducive and the area is what it is. it has been for a long time. pertaining to his particular venue, it's not a problematic venue. i understand the concerns that the neighbor has and it's just something that we have to pay attention to. but i will support the 2:00 and if there are issues in the future or fear of issues in the future, then we can address those in the future. but i want to give him full support and think you should support the 2:00. thank you. president newlin: thank you. any other public comment? seeing none, commissioners, discussion? no? commissioner perez: i was wondering if maybe the staff can let us know why is the
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police department asking for a 1:30 restriction? >> commissioners, this is a condition put on every single permit, application that goes through there their precinct. you've seen it ever single time. commissioner meko: a couple issues that have been raised. the general mayhem in the area, the fact that other clubs are operating with entertainment ongoing, with doors wide open. and that there's a lot of overflow, nuance with kids hanging around, causing general nuance as kids are. now, i represent the neighborhood so this is kind of a tough one. i don't want to close down any clubs, but if they're operating with entertainment present, with their doors open, call
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vaj. he'll write a citation. it will cost them money from now on. and that's always been the case. any time entertainment is offered they have to have their doors and windows closed, every club must have their doors and windows closed. so this is not new. it's just that we have more teeth. with regard to stopping the entertainment at 1:30 or 2:00, that's kind of a minor issue. the club has got to be empty by 2:00 so if they're going to run their entertainment at full volume right up until 1:59 and 59 seconds, i think they're going to have a hard time getting people out the door, so i'm really not going to argue one way or another on that point. i would trust the wisdom of the planning commission, if they say they can operate entertainment until 2:00, that's fine with me.
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vice chair joseph: i move to approve. with 2:00. commissioner meko: second. commissioner cavellini: aye. vice chair joseph: aye. commissioner meko: aye. commissioner perez: aye. president newlin: aye. thank you. good luck. >> can i request a clarification on that one? president newlin: a short one. >> that the condition applying to six-month -- in six month wes can request thursday night, will we come back to the entertainment commission for thursday night? or is that something that the planning commission -- president newlin: i got the sense from the commission that their intent is to provide you with the hours that you have now, right? >> right. president newlin: bha what is your current thursday schedule?
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>> well, the planning commission motion limited us until 12:30, i believe, was it 12:30, on thursday night. and in six months we're able to ask for an extension until 2:00 on thursday nights. i would simply suggest that the entertainment commission motion would follow the planning commission. vice chair joseph: you have to come back for an amendment, is that right? commissioner meko: condition of the conditional use, not the place of entertainment permit. vice chair joseph: so they have to come back for an amendment, don't they? president newlin: if we approve it. but you have to stand aside the conditional use permit. commissioner meko: we're accepting whatever it is. president newlin: unless you want to come back. vice chair joseph: come and visit. come and visit. president newlin: very good.
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thank you and good luck. >> good night, commissioners. president newlin: item 6-b. miles, john, the fishbowl. mechanical music device. >> hang on. this is really a no-brainer. the applicant applies for a permit for one video game, the buck hunter, it's called. at this neighborhood bar on divisadero pine street. they're only until 2:00 a.m. seven days a week. there is no entertainment. they serve some light food. the planning department, i attached, what indicated this is a permitted use on the ground for only and if they want to add more buck hunters they have to go to the planning commission. so they're waiting for their electrical inspection. he response from richmond
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station, no objections from richmond station as long as the following situations are met. no gambling, no online capability. i don't know what that means. not to be operated by minors during school hours and only the aforementioned game is to be installed. those are the recommended conditions from richmond station. what? and -- oh, this is wrong. my memo is wrong. sorry. staff recommendation is certainly to issue a conditional grant. but again i apologize, we got this recommendation really late in the day and wasn't able to call richmond to clarify what no online capability means. online gambling. i think mr. miles can tell you that you can play buck hunter with other people online at the same time in other bars.
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do you know this? i would love to play. but i want to clarify -- vice chair joseph: it's like a trivia game. you can compete against other bars. >> i just wanted to bring it to your attention for discussion. i think just so we don't get out of order. why don't we ask mr. miles if he has anything to say and then we can go into that discussion. >> i've been in front of you guys for a lot more complex things. this is kind of an easy one. we have a video game and we need a permit. any questions, i'll entertain any questions. vice chair joseph: i want to make sure that i'm clear. you give your customers a con sole, you have screens up there and they play on the console onto the screen -- >> no, it's like a pac man. you go up, put the quarters in and just -- vice chair joseph: this he can play against people in ohio?
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>> typically people don't go up and play it. it's just a video game. vice chair joseph: but you intend to be online? >> it's online, yeah. vice chair joseph: so what happens is if i score two million and they'll say, high score, second highest score is jones from ohio or something. >> yeah. vice chair joseph: that's what i thought. >> my name is kevin. i'm the partner of the fishbowl. with the computer games as they are now, they have a hard drive which certain pads or whatever and then there's also an online component which you can download moran mals. so we do do the online component because it has more diversification in terms what have our customers want to hunt. that's pretty much it. i don't know of anybody who is playing anybody in south dakota. it's just what we download. it's a new game that they can
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issue. president newlin: any other questions from the commission? ok. i hear a motion? public comment? no? ok. vice chair joseph: if i could ask for clarification -- >> if i could ask for clarification. do you have to be online. so it would be helpful for staff if when the motion is made you address whether this is a condition you want to keep in the permit or not. president newlin: ok. thank you. >> i just wanted to give you guys the heads up. vice chair joseph: don't go there. president newlin: do we have a motion? vice chair joseph: i move to approve with the internet. this is 2010 going into 2011. president newlin: ok.
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do we have a second? commissioner cavellini: i'll second with the worldwide web. commissioner cavellini: aye. vice chair joseph: aye. commissioner meko: aye. commissioner perez: aye. president newlin: aye. >> thank you. president newlin: good luck. item number seven. president newlin: aye. commissioner joseph: good luck the president newlin: i just had a question. what is the boundary? the cross street with richmond? they changed the boundaries. all right. item 7, police department comments and questions. >> good evening, commissioners and staff. i attended the halloween work
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shop and i thought they had a lot of good information there. i like the dialogue, the back and forth. i look forward to working with them in the future for either best practices or other safety areas. as far as issues that have been going on in the district, a couple things they had mentioned. one is on october 10 at 424 clay street, the bar, this is kind of an example where you see one of the establishments really doing something good, responding appropriately. a guy went in there, ored three beers one at a time and they gave him the bill, the big bill of $12 and he got ire at and he wanted to get out and he threw, they said, a large metal fish. it's obviously heavy. at that point the manager and a
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customer held him down until the police came. so they acted appropriately. a lot of times when we're up here we talk about what the clubs are doing bad but this is something they did right. and in front of the club on broadway, two people were stabbed. nonlife threatening. the victims whether -- were not exactly cooperating with the police. so they were released. i would like the super -- center fold, i would like to see them out in toronto -- front managing the crowds a little better. and aggravated force at post and grant. victim said he got into a verbal fight just after he left a night club. i don't have the name of the night club. i could speculate but i don't think that's appropriate. we're looking into that to see exactly what the name of the
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club was. october 17 at the parlor, 2801 leavenworth, a suspect, or actually one of the patrons, a lady was dancing on the dance floor, somebody knocked into her. spilled her drink, and came back with a new drink and then she felt like it had been drugged so she was wondering when the person went to go get the drink that they put something m it. so they made a report on that. and the incident at 561 gary street as far as a female patron felt like somebody approximate had -- had put something in her drink as well. and at show girls a patron got into a verbal fight with the doorman. the doorman went inside and all of a sudden somebody came from the inside and got in a fight and weat -- beat him up. i don't know if there is any correlation between the doorman