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tv   [untitled]    June 29, 2011 2:00pm-2:30pm PDT

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consider these larger issues, permits should not be issued that enable this type of raucous behavior to increase. you should consider the fact that the operators of this establishment have shown by their behavior during the building process that they have no respect for the rules of operation that applied to their situation. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> i am a little hoarse, thank you for listening to us. >> your name? >> iphone 1840 -- i own 1840 green, one block up. i am facing union street. it is a beautiful building.
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the my going to face the same problems, and i going to come to you and say, please keep the noise down? we do not need the noise. trhose -- those buildings were built in 19 a1916 and 1924. they do not have double pane windows and insulation. my tenants are pretty good and they told -- tell me they have noise but they have these kind of patio places and a big drinking place. it is the wrong area and if you want to keep the doors open at all, you're going to get a helluva lot of noise. as a man not in trouble right now, i hope you do something because it will be more and more and more. i appreciate your help. thank you very much.
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>> thank you. next speaker, please. >> line name is -- my name is sherri cram. it was an error to authorize the removal of the glass enclosed sunroom palm, opening a sports bar restaurant will create a wildly different ambiance to the neighborhood. within 100 feet of the building there are 46 residential apartments. removal of the front wall will turn the noise inside into a giant megaphone effect into the street, creating a constant carnival atmosphere especially on the weekend. i feel that that is degrading to my neighborhood and my environment. i am from taxexas and i know about public enthusiasm at
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football parties. all this should be kept inside the bar. it is -- is it now the public policy that any owner can tear off the front of a building without showing the impact on the surrounding neighborhood? i have read chapter one of the san francisco in firman code. the precautionary principles that the board of supervisors adopted as an ordinance in 2003. point no. 2 states that community has the right to know complete and accurate information on potential human health and environmental impacts associated with the selection of products, services, operations, or plan spread the burden to supply this information lies with the product, not the general public. one of the stated goals of the ordinance is to include citizens as equal partners in decisions affecting their health and environment. the brickyard has created a dramatic change in use. this new open air operation will impact the health and quality of life of the many long time nearby neighbors by disrupting
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sleep and the quiet enjoyment of their homes. the tables outside at rome burgers and others are quiet. perry's does not have an open front wall of the bar. there are -- not a stand up bar. the bar area is less than 500 feet. size does not matter. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi, good evening. can you hear me ok? i am benjamin stafford, a resident for seven years. i can assure you that this is nothing like that as far as noise go.
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what we're talking about is four tables for dining on the front patio at every other restaurant the seat -- the street has. motorcycles and cars and bus lines are much noisier. i live in a neighborhood and i am familiar. your point about having a liaison, being appointed an owner. i know the owners and they are very good and respectable and i think having an owner on call it anything comes up is the best part: in this case due to -- the best protocol in this case. i appreciate your time. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> i am here as a member of the community. i live at 221 buchanan street which is four weeks -- blocks away. i have three quick points.
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i have become acquainted with the owners and have found them to have strong integrity. good character and a lot of respect for the committee. i have participated -- have not participated in the proceedings of to this point. they have worked hard to do things correctly. if there were things that were overlooked, they work to correct them quickly. i have some experience and i cannot envision a megaphone effect that has been brought up. they can be complex and the only way to see what happens is to build it and see how it goes and i am sure the owners would be considerate if it does create a problem at any point in the future. i have been a patron of many establishments on long -- along union street a lot of which draw a large crowd. by far, the brickyard has been the most respectful and has done the best to operate efficiently
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and correctly in their proceedings, so i would fully support them having this patio. i know there will have a great -- to a great job in making sure and i would like to give them a chance to do that. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> i live at 1760 union street. i have lived there for nine years. i did not move to the marina because it was quiet. there are a lot of but -- businesses on a major bus line and it was a fun and vibrant place to live. we have seen rome and the brickyard move in and it has been a great thing. i do not have issues with the brickyard or this patio. i do not it will have issues after that either. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi, i am dina uppley, i am in here to speak in favor of
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the brickyard. i am a homeowner and president. i live around the corner of tuition -- union and golf. i look forward to the day when the patio can get open. this is not an issue about or sitting. it is an issue of what noise may reach up side because there may be a door open but i wonder, would you -- that would not be any different if there was a window there and how can you deny an establishment to have a window that is open? in any case, just having fresh air flow through the place through a window, i think that whatever noise would escape. it will escape through any kind of al but that it has. i used to go to bayside as well and they had open windows and there were complaints. the neighbors said there were no complaints in the bayside days and i knew the honor and there were lots of complaints there. even with the enclosed glass, there were noise complaint so it is not an issue of changing the
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structure. also, the brickyard has done an excellent job of bringing people back to that block of union. it was a deadlock. i lived around the corner from it and if i was walking home at night, i would take a cab a few blocks because it wanted to avoid the block. it was dead. now, it is reviving again. and it is a much happier place. not everyone who lives in the bloc wants it to be quiet all the time. i live right there as well and i get subjected to whatever may come. i welcome it and so do a lot of other people. there are a lot of people who welcome the vibrancy of the street. i hope that you will allow the initial decision to stand. thank you. >> thank you, next speaker, please. > commissioner garcia: if any
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one else who intends to speak was not sworn in, will the please stand? >> do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? thank you. >> yes, good evening. i am joan wood, i live alon gside bimbo's nightclub. they are an example of a perfect night club. they are sound proof and i have never heard a sound come out of there. they do not have outside seating and the doors are open sometimes but they are a fine example of what a night club can be. i got interested in this issue because i was researching an application for a liquor license
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in my -- and my neighborhood is as well known for drinking and carousing and young people -- they seem to be having -- any noises from across the street. the bar was researching, the liquor license and i came across a member of this group, and she was never in the planning department and she was engaged in photocopying documents from the applicant's case. it is a legal thing to do. i was doing the same thing. she was stopped from doing this by the clerk and the clerk -- this was noshe was not protestid never engaged in this before. she was prevented from photostatting the documents.
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i do not know what that means. i notice the attorney did not address that idea which i hope you would have put that in your memory bank. she did not protest the awful sound that came out of that and she denied there had been any citations are violations. planning spoke at least two. it appears the sponsor did what they wanted and got the permit later. [bell] you are the court of last resort and i hope you'll come down on the side of the residence. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello, i'm melinda cardwell. my offices are located across the street. in answer to the question, i go up 12 steps and below me they go down one or two steps. outside, you can see they have
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four steps and another five inside. that makes them the nine steps up as opposed to 10. there on the second floor. there is no question. also, i want to tell you that the brickyard will tell you that the neighborhood is anti- business. we were looking forward to them opening and we look forward to rome opening. the brickyard claims that since they opened, there is one call to 911 the related to their business. in actual leak, there have been 22 calls to 911 and the police department. this is in 1 years. i have called for times regarding fights going on outside, one woman was passed out in the little planting area after she had thrown up and was lying in it. that was a sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. the brickyard claims that it is
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a hardship for them not to open their patio deck. i do not think the word tarja applies. they have been open and packed for one year. most bars and/or restaurants do not make it past the one your mark. they have been profitable enough to open the second place around the corner. i know one of the owners to quit his other job at a bank where he was my banker because it is more profitable than being a banker. we are requesting that the front of the building be reinstated and rebuilt. we do not need to hear the inside of the bar. many people support our ideas. [bell] they say they have been threatened. i was also threatened by them on march 26 when he came on to my deck and threatened to m me if d
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not stop messing with his business. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> i am jim conley, i live one block away from the brick yard. i have owned my home for 35 years and like my neighbors, it cheerfully coexist with commercial aspects of union strength. this is why shop, this is where i eat. this is the first time i have opposed aspects, business operation on the street. i will put it -- this is about noise and public policy, in my
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opinion. the property has been vacant for a number of years. this brickyard is a blight on the street. we're very happy about that. we do not want the brickyard closed. we think it is a good addition. two acoustic reports have been conducted allowing for a favorable outcome. the sound levels outside the building fell within the normal ranges. you heard a recording earlier. it was astounding to me to hear. there are many more of those and i hope they get a chance to be played. they're nothing compared to the racket that will ricochet off the second story offices and bedrooms in this community. no matter what the management promises to date concerning neighborhood considerations, the occupant is under no obligation to observe them.
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to my knowledge, it is no other second story restaurant bar in the city and exposing neighbors to its new ways. if i am incorrect, i would appreciate being corrected. i am in favor of the table, the seating on the sidewalk if they choose to do that, but not on the second deck. this will give you a graphic of the elevation of this debck. it is not the first story deck. >> i have lived and owned my
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home there for 35 years. to me the issue is simple. eight days the -- it is a violation of due process. despite the fact that they said the applicant who was specifically and bias but such removal and the creation of an outdoor area would be a violation. the brickyard wants to make a lot of slack about confusing everything the house to do with the sun room windows. the reality is there was a letter saying they should suspend a permit because they
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exceeded the scope of the work, and they will tell you it was later filed, and they do not want to acknowledge the inconvenient truth about was done after the demolition. i want to make something clear. we are not a bunch of spoilsports. there were over 100 letters and petitions within of block and a half. these are residents to know what they were looking at as soon as they saw it. this store, which is basically over all, all this noise is advertising. it is going to take the party out onto the street, and the
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neighbors are very unhappy. >> i moved into the area of about two years ago. i am from a small neighborhood, and im and an insomniac. i go to bed at 7:00 and wake up at 6:00 every morning, and i have never had a problem which noise from the brickyard. i find it to be a highlight of the neighborhood. it is a place to bring my family and friends. >> next speaker please.
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>> i was asked to mediate this, and i've failed. the big issue is the decisions are supposed to keep the doors close, except if you are using the 12 seats. i believed a compromise if you do not allow it to be both direct -- built back. i have worked in restaurants. it is called a swinging door that can block. waitresses' go in and out all the time. it is no problem to have a swinging door. the other thing is the liaison during good -- the liaison.
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you are right. you get put on hold, and you do not hear back. it happened to me three times. there has to be an outside liaison, somebody who is neutral. i agree with you. this has to stop or it will go to court. i respect all of you, and that is where i am standing. there to ways to go through this. to give them the deck, with the 12 seats. they have to be dining with the door permanently close and with the swinging door interior --
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swinging door. my fear is someone is going to get her if something does not happen -- going to get hurt if someone does not do something. >> let's move to about 0. -- to rebuttal. each party has three minutes. >> i am the owner and manager of the area directly across from the brickyard. i want you to imagine where you slept last night and whether or not you were able to enjoy it as a peaceful and quiet of your bedroom.
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she is not allowed that right now. i am responsible for about. i care for meghan, and she is very upset. she is scared and worried. she has lost the enjoyment of her home. i beseech you to consider her feelings and her right to have a peaceful enjoyment of her home. >> i think we have discussed pretty much everything. i think the big issue is no ways. we are not against the brickyard. -- the big issue is noise. we are not against of procured. it is a sounds tunnel, and
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people on the deck are going to be a significant amount of sound. the tests do not reflect the conditions of the project. one test was taken with the door shut. one test was taken with it open. think about when you are in a play. you do not hear things in the orchestra pit. you hear things from the balcony. we went 40 years with it and close. i think that is the best solution for everybody. i think this is a recipe for disaster. i have lived there long enough to know this is what is going on. you have to understand these stores have been closed since last year.
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i know i played you one recording, but i want to leave you with this because i think it is extremely powerful. basically shows the issues we are dealing with your your -- dealing with a. this is with one door open. the current conditions allowed three doors to be open. one door does not network. -- not work. >> the first recording, when does that take place? >> that took place on june 26. >> what time of day?
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>> kennecott three -- 10:03. the doors have been closed since the summer of 2010. >> thank you for clarifying. what time of day was that? >> than in the morning. -- ten in the morning. >> the second recording? >> june 16. >> where were you when you took that recording? >> i was in my residence in my bedroom. >> earlier we heard from the zoning administrator who framed the issue for our purposes, and from his perspective the issue is not whether you seek to have
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the board now revoke the permit but to address the issue. does the seem fair? >> let's be honest. i have lived there long enough to know that the nature of the business is probably not going to work. i think having 12 people on the deck is going to be very loud, but we will take what we can get. the major issue is noise from a 3400 sq. ft. restaurant that would make it impossible to live in our homes. >> what did you think about the mediator's recommendations? the last public speaker who said she failed to mediate?
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>> i listened to so many people. i think she proposed seating on the deck with a swinging door. that would not be my first option. there was a safety issue due to elevation, and i think no laces going to be an issue. -- noise is going to be an issue. we are at a court of last resort here. >> thank you very much. first, i do not believe anybody ask you to be a mediator between the neighbors and my clients.