owner. they attacked us. they beat us. they wanted to destroy evidence of what was going on in this area. i am very sorry. because of my work schedule, i have to do my laundry at night. it was very convenient to me. i frequently seek customers drunk and smoking. one time i saw the drunk couple having sex. drug customers that were smoking in front of the laundromat were blocking my way and were making jokes about me in russian.

i could not understand what they were saying. they harassed me by yelling at me not to report this to the police. another day, i walked around the neighborhood. sergei followed me taking pictures with his camera. a large number of our neighbors -- >> thank you, ma'am. are there any additional speakers in support of the d.r. request third? seeing none, a project sponsore? >> victor on behalf of bistro gambrinus. the permits seeks to change from

a small service restaurant to a full-service restaurant of the eastern european cuisine and beer and wine. there is something i across the street from my place that is not that different. i enjoy a nice meal. it is very appropriate that this is coming after the mirkarimi legislation earlier today. it is in line with that type of small, international cuisine. it was smart -- started by a young immigrant couple from eastern europe. i have been there a number of times. it is clean, well lit, entered generational in terms of clientele. i have seen families, i have

seen students, i have seen a diversity amount of people. this is not a motley crew. this is an intergenerational family pressure not that happens to serve beer and wine to go along with meals. there is no hard liquor being served. the owners do not have any intent of pursuing a full liquor license. the d.r. applicants make representations as sympathetic as i am to some of the allegations they are making, it is not within the purview of these allegations. we disagree with those allegations. i will address a couple of those in response to the allegations. you look at the photo that was submitted. it was someone saying, please do

not take a photo of me. it showed the individual taking the photographs being the aggressor, not the individuals being the aggressors. i did it asked my client to take photos of the area. as he was taking photos, one of the neighbors did come out. he thought that maybe he was pursuing her. he was following my instruction to take photographs. it is a 950-square-foot establishment. there is nowhere to grow. the only sign that is there on the premises within the square footage of the restaurant. they are adding to the safety of the neighborhood. this is a very diverse intersection. and has a liquor store, and has a bus stop, folks congregate there. there are a lot of delivery

trucks that go in and out of the liquor store. my clients have tailored their delivery to one day a week for about 15-20 minutes. i am going to pause. they have limited their delivery hours to accommodate the neighbors. neighbors from the hague wandered down. it is a very busy intersection. that being said, ever since the allegations of this incident, they have installed two cameras. they have a security person in the evening. it during the night hours,

somebody is designated to take security. they have literally hundreds of supporters. you are going to hear from the neighbor that lives in the same building. you also have over 125 letters of support, both from the local neighborhood as well as from patrons around the city. it is a destination because it serves a unique menu. a contributing member of our business community that provide seven full-time jobs. it is an immigrant business that has been very successful. we are happy with the staff recommendation of the conditions that are being proposed. they are normal for any other restaurant. we appreciate your support and for the d.r. application to be

denied. >> we have several speaker cards. we would ask if people would rather stand up to support the project sponsor, that is acceptable. >> i wanted to ask, we do have a lot of speakers. i wanted to ask if the speakers could stand up so that you could have all of the supporters of the restaurant. if you could try to limit your comments to one minute. i know you have more than one minute, but try to be brief. >> at this point, i will say that anyone who would like to make a public comment can start coming up to the mic at this time. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i am a patron. mark. and i know the owners.

they started this business in 2009 at the depth of the recession when businesses and restaurants were going out of business all over town. they put their hearts and souls into this business. the neighbor who has bought the building next door in new that he was buying next to a restaurant. knew full well. and probably was able to buy at a lesser price, knowing it was next to a restaurant as opposed to next to a house. now that he has his discount, he has cause significant hardship on ready to not only the patrons and the owners, but to the city. i would like you to confirm that he has filed three complaints to the health department, one to

the fire department, five complaints to the abc, 3 to the planning commission, and three or four to the police. every single complaint has been unfounded and abated. it is a sham. it is a sham on the city, spending your resources for unsubstantiated claims. then he goes on and talks about people urinating in front and throwing up in front. if you are in a restaurant and you have to use a restroom, are you going to go out front and pee or use the restroom? if you have to throw up, where you go outside or will you use the restroom? it is a sham. they are shamming you. he is causing more harm by going

on and talking about this -- do not let a few disgruntled neighbors cause unnecessary hardship and pain to the owners and patrons and the city of san francisco. i will say this, those people generate revenue for the people of san francisco. the neighbor is not. he wants to put them out of business. they operate on a shoestring budget and this might break them. >> are there any additional speakers in support of the project sponsored? >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is jack. i am a friend of the owners. i know them to be very hard- working, well-respected, and

contributing members of the community. i also have a small business. i frequently eat out. bistro gambrinus is one of the restaurants i like to go to. i go with a friend of mine that is 88 years old. it is operating as a full- service restaurant. i also a frequent eastern european food restaurants that primarily serve beer. i believe that most of the comments thta the d.r. people are making are not something that i have experienced at bambrinus. i do not live directly in the neighborhood. i live on knob hill and travel

because that is where i like to eat. i believe the restaurant and the owners are run a very well- respected business. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i live at 1833 fulton street. i have lived there for about three years. i know everything about the bistro gambrinus restaurant. there is no negligence regarding this restaurant, regarding drunken patrons and peeing or whatever you want to call it on that street. there are a lot of college students and homeless people around the neighborhood. you cannot combine the community over the restaurant's saying it

is the restaurant's fault for what is going on on the streets. safety and health-wise, it is a very safe environment. i was there on august 26. if the issue is going to continue, i saw what happened. it had nothing to do with the restaurant. >> i am charles. my wife and i, we are some of the neighbors that do not live in the area. we go there to eat. the food is absolutely outstanding. i recommend it to all of you. it is a neighborhood type of restaurant. i have never seen any -- we go

there quite frequently, at least twice a month. i have never seen any of the activity described by the individuals that are complaining about this restaurant. it is a fine facility. it is a wonderful american example of a couple coming and building an american dream. i am very proud of them for doing best. the food is outstanding. thank you. >> hello. i have been to the restaurant quite a fewi times. am not a beer drinker, but i drink beer every once in awhile. they have good beer there. i go there for the football

game. the food is good. very gracious hosts. good service. i have never noticed any things mentioned by the other people. i admire the owners. they came to this country and they work very hard and they do a good job at this. they are lucky to have a restaurant like this. it proves that you can come to this country and make it a success if you work as hard as they do. >> i am brian. i live right across the street. i did not know there was a petition. i did not sign it. i did want to come and voice my

support. bistro gambrinus is one of the things i really like about my neighborhood. i have never seen anything on the street. it has got great food and great beer. i can see by the people here supporting it, it brings together all kinds of people. it is a unique place in the city. urination and vomiting, i have not seen any of those things in front. i walk by all the time. my apartment is 100 yards away. that is all that i have to say. thank you. >> good afternoon. i live right around the corner.

i have lived there for 26 years. i have seen that neighborhood to go from a frightening place. since i have moved here, the neighborhood has just gotten better. the people that own this are fantastic. the ethnic diversity of the merchants in the neighborhood is evident. they just opened a french restaurant on my corner. it is a wonderful neighborhood. it has long been a wonderful their bread. i have not seen any of the things that have been alleged. i have never seen it too crowded. i have not seen anybody drunk. the people i know that go there

regularly note not to have people to close to the door. it is a busy intersection. it is a great neighborhood. these people are wonderful addition to the neighborhood. >> thank you, my name is mark. i have been to the restaurant many, many times. i think it is fantastic and clean. my concern is that if they left, most likely, there would be another restaurant and we would be in the sense of situation again. what i'm most like about clair, you may not know that she is a

physician, she is obviously a very compassionate person. you would have to be somewhat reasonable to have that position. sergei and claire are willing to work with these people. they are not vindictive. they want to make sure that the restaurant prospers. you want the whole neighborhood to enjoy it. i live right across the street. it is very loud. it is noisy. what i have noticed is that you want to move to this very quiet neighborhood. around 2:00 a.m. it is very quiet and somebody will be walk around on your cell phone and it will sound like it is in your home, literally. sometimes what is going on during the day with the noise can be a blessing. i recommend that we support this

great restaurant. thank you. >> hello. i am a patron if this restaurant along with my husband who is a test generation american and a retired professor. when we come to the restaurant, we come to eat there. my husband likes to strike a conversation with the students who are also patrons of this restaurant that come after classis to this restaurant to eat delicious foods that are inexpensive and wholesome. occasionally, we have a class of -- glass of beer. it is clean, it is friendly.

sometimes, my husband sits and talks with the students until 10:00 when the restaurant closes. i must say that this would be a great misfortune for the students and the neighborhood if this restaurant did not exist. >> hello. i own a home health agency 2.5 blocks away. we have the employees. most of them are medical professionals. we visit the pressure on beggarly. we mostly go there for meetings. if it was a loud sports bar, we would not be interviewing people there. last year, we had a christmas party there. it has a great food and great service. our office is a big open space.

this is the closest, nicest place we can meet. i bring my son there regularly. we go there all the time. if we go there tonight at 7:00, the parents from my fourth grade class are going to be there. they meet their once a month to discuss. if it was a loud, obnoxious barr, the parents would not choose that as a place to meet. many people do drive there because the food is unique and they have a great selection of beer. i rarely have it, but it is there. it is a place to go and have lunch or dinner. when i first heard about it, i laughed.

these people are either vindictive or have another agenda. maybe they want to own their own restaurant. i would never take my son or my employees to a place where people are drunk and throwing up. i have never seen groups of young people there. it is usually at an average of 40-60 and then students during the day. i do not see them there during the evening. it is mostly older visiting the place. it is a nightmare to have these sorts of accusations that are unfounded. thank you. >> hi, commissioners. i am a patron of bistro gambrinus. i have gone there once or twice a week since its inception.

we go there for a family dinner. i brought my grandparents therefore their birthdays. it is a very friendly place. we go there because of the food. i think it is the single best, i would call it russian restaurant in the city. it is on rival. i am very happy to go there to eat. i do indulge in the occasional beer. i do not go there for the purpose of getting drunk off of liquor. there are tepee -- tv's. the sound is muted. there is quiet music in the background. there may be a few games or cnn on the tv, just like any

restaurant. one and a half pages of beers and a half a page of food. i think there are six pages of food. there are salads, soups, i do not know how you fit that on two-thirds of a page. this is a full-service restaurant. gaiters to all kinds of different people. they come there to eat and have a good time. there are too many things that just do not add up. >> good afternoon. i am the person who is working there. a few small things. like someone said before, we are not trying to find a conflict.

we always try to talk to these young men and explain what kind of problems we have. he never even wanted to talk to us. he's just ignoring us. if something is going wrong, he should tell us and we can fix it right away. for me, there is no reason to come here because there are no big issues. it is a restaurant. some of the activities going on, people go in and out. that is normal. i am pretty sure it is possible

to find the right way. there is no reason to have a conflict. the people who are not finding the conflict. i am sure it is possible to find the right way to negotiate the problem. that is my personal opinion. thank you. >> good day, commissioners. i am actually a manager at bistro gambrinus. i have been there since day 1. i helped do the menu including food and beer. i am also of the eastern european descent.

i am a patron of other restaurants. i do go out. i like food , like likedbeer. it is one of my passions. it is a very neat place. we have a huge beer menu. we also have a huge food menu. it is not a sports bar. there are only a couple of places in the city that have similar food. we are one of them. i think we add to the neighborhood. some of the problems they described, we disagree with, but we cannot be held responsible for everything going on in the neighborhood that contains a

liquor store and a bus stop and so on. >> are there additional speakers for the project sponsored? >> i am the owner of the restaurant. i want to thank you and the planning commissioners. and my supporters who came to support. that is great. we are working very hard. my goal is to keep the peace and understanding between the neighbors. not a single time to the request your of the d.r. come to me and say here is the problem, let's talk. our goal is to be as we are. a full-service, eastern european restaurant. we would like