i have been to the blackthorn and i have seen chris and the whole crew in action. they are very responsible. they work hard to keep and maintain control of the crowd. they usually even don't have issues with the crowd at all but >> very conscientious in dealing and addressing anything that comes up. and as for the music, you know, the one thing that i've seen, now, i don't have a history with them because i haven't been here but i've only heard from a lot of people about the transformation in the bar, what they're doing, how proactive they are in trying to meet what the community needs and doing outreach. they offer different things and different activities on different nights so they're getting different amount of people in, different type of people in, trivia night, and i think the expansion into music and entertainment is a key component that will not only make them successful but think they will continue to be the type of owners that, you know, san francisco would be proud

of. being a new resident in the area, all i can say is that when i take a look, san francisco is now my favorite home. i've lived in a lot of different places, atlanta, los angeles, but i will tell you that their establishment and how they operate is probably one of the best bars, one of the best areas i've seen, and i'm just here supporting them because i know that they will do right, if there's any issues anybody needs to address, they will work to address those issues. but i fully support them and know that they will treat the community well and know that they are trying to be a part of this community in a positive way. >> thank you. next speaker. >> hello, my name is larry damon. i'm very active in the pool shooting community all over san francisco here. and since the new ownership at the black thorn took over, they've been very supportive with us, anything we've needed

like you've been hearing tonight, the transformation has been great. i've lived in the inner sun set since 2008 and i started going to the blackthorn when the new ownership took over. i went there a couple times before and it's really been impressive, like they have put a lot of money into just every time i go in there, once a week it seems, there's always something new like they got all new stools, it's always improving. and the owners are great. one other thing is the tv on the patio, the first speaker said was a fire hazard, it's mounted up high. i don't see how that could be any kind of hazard. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good evening. my name is courtney james. i myself am a new transplant to

san francisco and to the sun set as well. and have recently started patronizing the blackthorn. i myself am a former restaurant manager and have worked in the food service industry for a number of years. and know good management and bad management when i see it. they have been nothing but proactive. i was incredibly impressed when i met joe and i spoke with them about what they were trying to do to get their license back, be able to have this permit. they not only make sure that they are doing policing of the patrons themselves, but we have actually come to be so concerned about them getting this back that we self-police while we're back there. we hear anybody swearing loudly or doing anything inappropriate we will tell them as patrons not to do those kind of things because we even have that much respect for what they're trying to do because they care that much about their community and being respectful to the people around them. like i said, i've been nothing but impressed.

as far as anybody going outside and urinating or breaking bottles, i have never, ever once witnessed anything of such nature. nothing leaves the building. there is no glass that walks out front. like i said, they've done nothing but try to be as proactive and polite as their community as possible. thank you. >> thank you very much. next speaker. >> good evening, commissioners. this is really hard for me because i have horrible stage fright so forgive me. >> just think that you're in your living room and we're just hanging out and we're family. it's all cool. >> that's even more stressful. >> it's all good. >> my name is ken -- [inaudible] local resident of the inner sun set and employee of the japanese restaurant around the corner from blackthorn restaurant on 9th and irving. i've been here seven years in san francisco. by far my favorite neighborhood

i've lived in has been the inner sun set and the main, big reason why is the blackthorn tavern. i've come to consider joe, chris, adam, unfortunately dave is not here tonight, to be really good friend of mine and not just because we hang out at a bar, but the way they carry themselves, i'm shaking right now, trembling. >> it's ok. really, it is. him >> i need a drink. i apologize. [laughter] anyways, having an entertainment license for them, to have live music, in my opinion would not only help the bar, i think it's going to help the neighborhood. i know when i work, i speak

highly of the blackthorn tavern, not just blackthorn but all the merchants in the neighborhood and blackthorn is the only bar, only establishment in the city that has -- they used to have live music, they have karaoke which i'm sure this gentleman will tell you about, trivia monday nights. i want to bat for my friend -- [inaudible] get it out, get it out. like i said, especially having live music in the blackthorn i think would be tremendous for the community, the neighborhood, not just for the blackthorn but other businesses in the neighborhood. thank you. >> thank you. you did very well. [applause] >> next speaker, please. >> i just wanted to say, ken, sorry i made you go first.

>> is that the total of your comment? >> no. my name is ken ith hill faith jr., i'm a karaoke host. some people in the neighborhood know me as j.k. kendo. i'm here to talk about blackthorn and acknowledge that blackthorn throughout the many years i've been hosting karaoke witnessing the staff and how they handle their conduct with their customers and how they professionally maintain a safe and healthy environment, blackthorn is a place where you would go. i've been with them for about a year hosting karaokes on their tuesdays. the bar staff is very professional about maintaining a clean, safe environment. the bar staff usually holds about two people, i see what they do regularly.

joe, the bar manager, he's always there and maintaining the peace, the quiet -- peace and quiet, but -- i feel like him right now. i've never worked with a staff as wonderful, as family oriented and as neighborhood friendly in my entire career as a k.j. and that's all i need to say. >> thank you very much. next speaker, please. the hour is getting late. let's go, folks. >> hello, commissioners, my name is henry granato, try to keep it as short as possible. >> we appreciate that. >> so i used to work in a club

promotions, i've seen good to bad to absolutely worse. and i rarely go out. i used to work in clubs with my friend and whatnot and help promote their events and whatnot, so i one time getting off of work, a very stressful day and am actually going to be late now but what is it, i decided to come to the blackthorn one time and i met the staff over there, particularly bartender in the back over there, his name is tommy, and very friendly environment, the whole entire -- the whole time, ever since then i've been coming back there and actually real quick, i did go there prior to the ownership about a year and a half or two years prior, and i would say it wasn't a very happy environment. i felt hostile, i just had to

leave. so i've been coming there about a year now i have -- and i have seen nothing but great staff, great energy, positive vibe, and positive not just to their own needs or anything, but to the community. they try to sponsor events. i actually played on their softball team and tried to do as much as i can, just have fun there. it does get loud from time to time. of course there's friday nights and something like that, it happens. so keep it short, i just want to say that environment reminds me of cheers. that's my cheers. we want to try and keep the environment hopefully with live music and with respect to their neighbors which we've personally seen multiple times

and their attempts to do whatever they can. i just would love to see them have that type of capability, to have live music with, of course constraints that are put under them. >> thank you. all right. i want to ask how many more people want to speak for blackthorn, please raise your hand. promise not to repeat what anyone said before you? all right. come on up. next speaker. >> hello, my name is brenna and am a patron of the bar and i live one block away. i want to say that i have seen people pee in front of my house. it happens. it is not solely the blackthorn. it is a combination of bars in the neighborhood. that's what happens when you live in a popular neighborhood. we're not here to talk about people urinating in public. we're not here to talk about broken glass. we're here to talk about the sound. i went to the blackthorn once prior before the new ownership

and it was loud and it was dirty. since the new ownership, the interior has been cleaned up, the deejay booth in the back has been removed. there is no nor deejay booth. they don't use the back speakers, they only use the front speakers, they have shut down the patio. i'm there frequently. joe has come in and brenna, i love you but you're a little loud, you know. do come out and police the back patio. i'll tell people quiet down, too, as other people have said we want to keep this bar going and we love the way it's going, so we try to police each other. and the tv outside does not make any sound neither do the tv's inside unless there is a game on. i guess that's it. >> thank you. >> my name is back popadashia

and am here as a patron of the bar and student of san francisco state. i go there after midnight to go over my notes and drink there. it's one of the few places i take my parents to in all of san francisco. they're very conservative, needless to say so if i went to any other bar, i know there's something crazy that might happen, i can always guarantee i show up there, nothing crazy would happen. and the noise level, after about midnight, i'm actually there reviewing notes, having my one glass of scotch before i go to bed, and that's -- i mean, anything else i say would be a repeat of what everybody else said. the consensus is we love this place and we hate to see anything bad happen to it. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. any other public comment? >> good evening, commissioners, it's getting late so i'll try to make this brief. i'm an outreach specialist that was hired so i did talk to

mohammed over at his health food store and he was kind enough to welcome me in, sit me down and tell me about the concerns and issues that he had because he's lived there a long time. so i think a lot of what this man's gone through is from prior ownership and some of the behavior issues. however, i took down notes and i told him that a lot of the issues that he had were not necessarily related to entertainment permit. at the same time i went back to the owners and said look, in order to be a good neighbor, a good -- i'm going to leave after this thing and you guys are going to have to live with each other so the best thing to do is to address these issues, work towards a positive solution. you're going to be neighbors and there are inherent issues when you have commercial usage and residential people living and everything. so we typed up a bunch of concessions and conditions and offered them double-pane window and offered to remove the signage in the back because of

aesthetics. those were things that were important tom. some of the other issues we told him we'd address but weren't necessarily related to this commission or the jurisdiction of this commission. another neighbor, do, larry resnick and spoke to larry who also lives back there. larry just basically went over a lot of the same issues mohammed had. he also told me if, you know, he'd like double-paned window, too, if mohammed didn't like the window but we put it in writing, so in other words if mohammed wants that, the owners are going to make a financial commitment to him to try to alleviate any issues. most -- the sore issues for music is not necessarily coming from the bar. it's people that go out to the patio and sometimes if they're talking, you know, he lives right next to it and there's no -- whether you have a tent or a fence, there's really no soundproofing and the back yard is on the table. in regards to the police department, i spoke to officer

manix and he said he would like 10:00. i said well we're going to ask for 12:00 and i think part of the solution here is to maybe condition the owners to maybe have one of their staff back in the patio from 10:00 to 12:00. sometimes signage may not be enough to be quiet to be mindful and respectful but having a staff member back there should solve that issue so 12:00 is i think where it needs to be. >> excuse me. i just have one point of information from you. you said you dealt with mohammed. >> yes. >> can he see into the bar from his home? >> can he see into the bar? >> from his home. because i might have misunderstood him. i thought he said his children can see into the bar and see people drinking or is he talking about the patio? >> he's -- he told me that he wasn't happy with the signage on the fence or something, let's say maybe a logo of a beer company or something of that nature, and those signs were removed. >> and -- they were removed?

>> removed. >> did you have a conversation and did you install double-pane window in his house? >> we put that offer on the table and the offer stan. if he wants them, they'll commit up to, i think $1,500 to $2,000, whatever is in the offer sheet to him. and the offer was emailed, also, to larry, so he saw the conditions. >> can he see into the bar if the door is closed from his windows is my question? >> i don't know. you probably should ask him. >> thank you. seeing no more public comment, public comment is closed. ms. kane, i have one question for you. a tv on the patio, is our -- is that our purview? do we do anything with tv's? >> commissioner, current amplified sound from almost any device that can amplify sound but it's not part of the permit

in front of you tonight. >> so if they had a tv on the patio and they turned the sound on they would be in vials of their permit? >> no, they would be -- they could be cited for not having the proper permit. >> ok, again, thank you. i have one -- ok. commissioners, discussion? motion? >> can i ask a question to the applicant? >> shoot. >> so part of the permit you're asking us, the good neighbor policy, you guys understand that, right? >> yes. >> here it says that you understand it says permit holder shall provide a cell phone number to all interested neighbors that will be answered at all times by a manager or other responsible person who has the authority to adjust volume and respond to other complaints whenever entertainment is provided. >> actually, i have given them

my business card with my phone number to any neighbor that asked for it and that is not a problem. >> including the folks here today? >> exactly. >> i would offer -- i mean, mr. mohammed has been in the bar and talked with the owners previously as well. >> ok. thank you. >> excuse me, commissioners, i don't have a -- i want to make sure you have the right facts while you decide. while you have the applicants up there, you might want to ask them about your questioning and about outreach because i think the first speaker might have misspoke about saying there was no outreach. >> there was outreach. >> was that on your part or his part? >> what i'm saying is i've spoken with that person several times over the last couple months. there has been outreach. >> so when he says there was no outreach that was incorrect? >> there actually was outreach. we'd made attempts to contact him at the vitamin store. i went over there and spoke with his wife, asked him to give me a call, it was never returned, and i have spoken

with mr. resnick as well. i've attempted to alleviate any problem. we really do try to reach out for our neighbors, if there is an issue, i want to squash it. i don't want it to continue to fester. i want it to resolve itself. we have been making great strides in that effort. >> they're here now so you might want to -- >> i'll give him my card. that is not a problem. >> thank you. >> i have a question, too. >> go ahead. >> we had a thing in our bind they're says blackthorn's application. it shows i think some agreements between mr. mohammed and yourself. were those implemented or is this just a proposal? it looks like -- >> that's an offer to them. >> it's an offer? >> it's an offer. >> he has it in his hand? >> they haven't accepted it but we'd like him to look at it and would put those as part of the conditions if it applied, if

applicable. it's a good faith offer. the beer signs and stuff like that have already been removed. we've already made -- >> like the double paining of the window. >> that offer has been made. >> ok, thank you very much. commissioners, under the police conditions, item number 11 says this permit shall be void immediately if used in conjunction with any illegal activity or an unlawful assembly. ms. kane, correct me if i'm wrong, police do not have that power, so that condition needs to be struck. and so commissioners, whoever makes the motion, you have to decide whether or not to keep all of the police conditions as they stand. some of them don't apply to us. like the awning, number nine.

it doesn't apply to us. locking the backdoor is not in our purview. i'd like to entertain a motion for this permit, please. somebody? >> i motion for this permit only because it shows that the new owners seem to be a lot more responsible than the previous, taking more steps to work with the neighbors, and that's very important. so i make a motion to -- >> you want to adopt the police conditions? >> actually, i like the police conditions, obviously the ones that are not in their jurisdiction. >> so can you -- is your motion that you move to approve, including the police conditions except for number four, nine, and 11? >> exactly. >> ok. that's the motion. is there a second?

>> second. >> we have a motion and a second. >> commissioner tan? >> aye. >> commissioner perez? >> aye. >> commissioner lee? >> aye. >> commissioner cavallini? >> aye. >> president joseph? >> aye. good luck. be good neighbors. no applause. exit quietly. thank you. ite 7-b, malik aslam, doing business as jack in the box, 4649 geary, please be quiet on your way out. thank you. ms. kane. i'm sorry, mr. kane. >> suggest at the start the meeting the applicant handed me some additional information for the file and you're seeing that now. it's just feet as of signage that was -- i'm not sure honestly if it was recently installed or already installed. i'll let them speak to that. those are going around. since we have a new commissioner for the first time tonight and only the second

seating of another commissioner, i'll start from the beginning and explain how we got here. i'm sure you all know jack in the box. it's a fast food service restaurant and this is an application to offer it between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. this item was continued from our january 10, 2012 hearing at the request of the applicant in conjunction with neighbors and supervisor eric mars' office. the stated reason was to give the management opportunity to attend a community meeting with neighbors, and that meeting did happen last week at richmond station. the politic -- the applicant was present and supervisor mars. until recently jack in the box was a 24-hour restaurant at 26 -- 4949 geary and have been there sense the 1980's, probably longer. to date the applicant has had several inspections that have already been completed,

including talking with s.f.p.d., inspections by the fire department, the department of health and a signoff from planning to say that the use is permissible. sfpd has proposed specific conditions designed to address concerns, in this case the recommendations are, number one, at least one security guard with a guard car shall work between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. every day. number two, employees shall pick up and dispose of litter left by patrons including in the parking lot and at on adjacent sidewalks. number three, provide light to illuminate the street, parking lot and adjacent sidewalks. number four, the permitee shall provide sufficient toilet facilities that will be made available to patrons at all times that is open within the establishment. they also will make sure the adjacent sidewalks are not blocked or unnecessarily affected by patrons or employees and shall provide

security whenever patrons gather outdoors. this also is a requirement for installing security cameras and actually think are already there, maintaining security cameras indoors and outdoors, adhering to the posted occupancy. i believe fire has arrested 49 persons total. that's for the staff and patrons. i think there are 18 seats indoors. jack in the box find these conditions acceptable. i'll let them tell you if i've misspoken on that and in fact they've adopted many of them prior to coming to the entertainment commission. as you know, the conditions that you add are most useful and effective when the complaints are specific and when there's a nexus between some negative behavior and the operation of the business. in this case, not that many of

the complaints have been specific and related to the business operation between 2:00 and 6:00. so far our concerns expressed include, quote, nuisance, noise, litter, and crimes that drain police resources, quote. of course these are valid concerns for the entire neighborhood in general and residents do have legitimate concerns of our neighborhood safety and many expressed the neighborhood has too many bars, too few police, and too much noise. but it's difficult to see how these concerns are spesket to the 2-6 hours operation of this business nor have been been supported by evidence. even when the complaints are supported, as you know your practice is to mitigate the issues, not deny the permit. i say this because you have a hick stack of signatures for anyone asking you for denial of this permit. just a few more things before i conclude.

some facts you might want to consider is, again, of course everyone in the world has a right to comment on this proceeding. but many of the signers to the petition, it's unclear where they reside. many are around the venue but many are also around glenn park, pacific heights, diamond heights, san mateo, walnut creek, the addresses are from all over the place. the venue has 18 seats. and s.f. fire has approved it for an assembly of 49 persons including staff. the proposed condition as requiring one city guard which would lead to a ratio of about one guard per 18 or 20 people. just for everyone's knowledge, for nightclubs, our requirement is one guard for 100 patrons and when we have concerns about a venue, sometimes we raise the ratio and say we require one

guard for 50 patrons at bars and nightclubs. the proposed operation of this business complies with the health, zoning, fire and safety requirements of the city. nothing suggests the proposed business can't adequately accommodate anticipated vehicle and pedestrian traffic. no evidence indicates the operation we'll mitt noise, dust and odor that will interfere with the peace and enjoyment of the neighboring properties. and the proposed conditions and security plans adequately address the safety of persons and property and provide for the orderly disbursal of individuals in traffic. and finally, no unresolved citations for this venue and for those reasons rerecommend approval. >> thank you. because of the hour and can i have a show of hands of how many people are here to speak on jack in the box? ok. i'm going to limit, including the presentation by the applicant.