speak now. next speaker, please. >> hello. i am a musician. a long time musician since 1999. i have played at waheed del -- mojito many times and i have eaten there many times. i was a little concerned about something written down about packaged food. yeah, no. they had some really good food there. tupelo has awesome food there, too. you should try the catfish and the po' boy, just sing that. as a musician i played there many times at various times of the day. during the afternoon and evening and up until 1 am or what ever,

1:30 a.m. it is a great, great and important venue at north beach dreadnought just because of the wonderful and awesome food they sell and offer credit provides entertainment and life and art and creativity to the neighborhood and it allows people like myself and like teague to have a place to express themselves and to allow people to come and be part of san francisco. having a lot of venue is being closed and shut down for various reasons just because none of them seem to be around the fact that people dislike having entertainment is very sad. i for one am looking forward to playing at tupelo. because yes, the fact is if the

supplement my income as well and i like to be creative and still eats improve. thank you. vice president hwang: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello. i am a mother and a property owner at bob kaufman alley, seven steps away from grand ave. we purchased our home in 2001. we fell in love with north beach because of the culture and history and the book p.m. -- bohemian-ness of the city. it was not until we bought our house, 2004 or 2003, our favorite noises from the savoy

was shut down. grant avenue was not the same after. businesses shut down. there was no -- the lower part of grant, the flavor and the field -- feeling of my neighborhood was not alive anymore. i come here today because as a mother and the culture and why i moved into the neighborhood and bought a home is too short of our special part of san francisco and the flavor, i do not want the flavor to go away. the sounds and the feeling of that grand avenue street and all the vitality it brings. for business owners, too, i strongly recommend the music still live. now at the savoy the only play music on sundays. that is quite sad. thank you for your time. vice president hwang: thank you.

>> i have no vested interest. i have lived 50 years in the city. i love live music. it is getting harder and harder to find it. i know plenty of musicians and none of them have any money to speak of. i have known him for 10 years. he is a stand-up guy. he gave up a very lucrative position at a sports bar. he has great food, the burgers are the best. i manage an apartment building. one thing that seems clear, all of the people who want to live in san francisco, they are born in the suburbs.

they want entertainment. they did not come here to relax. you can go to monterey and relax. north beach has always been the heart and soul of the city. one by one, those places are going by the wayside. i realize that it is not lucrative. the folks that want to provide music for us. i see no good reason -- by the way, this place is amplified. it is not allowed. you do not have to struggle to be heard. -- it is not loud. you do not have to struggle to be heard. the fact that it will be amplified does not mean that it will be glaring. -- blaring. i do not see any good reason to deny the appeal.

vice president hwang: next speaker, please. >> i am a resident of san francisco. you have heard a couple of people talk about the culture of the area. there is a lot -- the area has changed a lot. now we have strip bars. all the things on broadway, dilapidated. nothing is coming back. there is no class anymore. they came in to try to put in established -- a real establishment with some local talent. that is what this is all about. we went through the character of to these people are and how good they run a business. at the entertainment hearing in october. i do not understand why we are coming back to do this again.

they should be helping the city grow. thank you. vice president hwang: thank you, next speaker, please. >> thank you for your time. my name is kelly edwards. i am a 17-year resident of san francisco and have been doing parties and events for a long time. i have been to mosquitos many times. i have been there many times. it warms my heart when i think about tong sutupelos. i have to say, they have always been family oriented.

i would like to see this continue in san francisco. vice president hwang: thank you, next speaker. >> hello. i am a chef in the city. i have been in the city for eight years. i moved here from monterey because it was too relaxing. i moved here because, you know, but be, great music -- upbeat, great music, great food. four years ago or so when the bubble burst, business was down

15%. it resulted in a lot of lay offs. even though we are slowly recovering, there are thousands of unemployed. by denying tupelo full license to operate, you are denying the creation of more jobs. thank you. vice president hwang: thank you, next speaker. >> i am the executive director of the california music and culture association. we are representing a broad coalition of individuals and businesses. this issue seems to be about fairness. it appears to be an arbitrary technicality is used to provoke an entertainment license from tupelo. it makes it look like they are being targeted. our membership and all the small business owners in san francisco

need to have some sort of certainty that all rules are applied to everyone in the same way. we have recently seen the economic impact study of night life in san francisco and it shows that $4.2 billion in spending comes from the night life and entertainment and history. businesses like tupelo are in economic driver for the city and should be treated with the same fairness and respect that other industries in joya. we urge you to do the right thing. -- other industries enjoy. we urge you to do the right thing. vice president hwang: next speaker, please. >> my name is ian stewart. i am a native of san francisco. well, i have seen a lot of stuff in the city going on.

then that life is to be vibrant, wild and crazy, but under control. he is a stand-up guy. coming to north beach with this character and the people people bring with them is an under control facility. it is a raw deal that he is getting. if i was in his position, i do not know if i would be able to handle it. he bought a business with a certain understanding. he is going to be a great addition to the north beach area. it will be the right thing to do. it will be good for the town. otherwise, it is just another nail in the coffin. thank you. vice president hwang: next speaker, please. >> commissioners, good evening.

my name is terrance allen. i was the unlikely person to found the san francisco entertainment commission. i am now retired and i can speak to you as a retired citizen of san francisco. i was pretty in the south of market to a meeting held in the restaurant above the restaurant in the corner of south of market or there was no visible entertainment going on. at that meeting, several folks sat around the table and decided that there had been a history of entertainment, a mexican entertainment, other performers plank out that the venue -- playing at that venue even though they did not have a permit. that fact was enough for the planner to make a decision that the request for an entertainment permit should be granted based

on the historical nature of the use of that space. here we have one of those same buildings. we have the building with a historical use as entertainment that goes far beyond my life. the second thing i would like to say is that i am part of the broadway study group that is working to try to figure out how to make a broadway renaissance happen. how to bring the correct mix of businesses to broadway. i will tell you the one thing the group is begging for it is live music. to force this live music venue out is working against that entire effort to -- the entire group's effort. thank you for your time. vice president hwang: thank you, next speaker, please. >> i am a longtime resident of north beach.

currently the owner of -- formerly comment the executive director of the north beach chamber of commerce. however, i want to be perfectly transparent. i am a paid consultant to tupelo. i do not know what category that puts me in. vice president hwang: you should speak during the time allotted to them as a party. >> hello. i am a resident of san francisco. the location on grant street is familiar to me and my mother when it was called la bodega. the whole entertainment aspect means a lot to me at that location.

i just want to let you guys know that i support the live music there. we will continue to support everything that san francisco needs us to. thank you carrie. vice president hwang: thank you, next speaker. >> good evening. i am speaking to you today as a long-term resident of north beach. i live that union and paul streets. i was drawn to north beach 26 years ago by the historical entertainment that was going on. particularly on grant street and broadway. we have been seeing, over the years, a cessation of live entertainment. we have seen many clubs close.

but also the larger festivals, including the oyster fest, the jazz fest. i am most concerned about the changing dynamics of the fabric of north beach. it has changed dramatically and it leaves the influence of broadway. it changes the very nature. i believe the planning commission should be fighting for entertainment, live entertainment, in north beach. to the greatest extent possible, to help balance the historical live music entertainment status, i guess. that is it, thank you very much. vice president hwang: next speaker. i would ask that you make yourself into a nice line. >> my name is samantha davis.

>> move a little bit closer to the microphone. >> 1337 grant has been a place of live entertainment for more than 40 years. many artists have gotten there start there. many artists have played there, including a grammy winning artist. i just hope that you guys take that into consideration. keep the permit. i also wanted to submit a current menu from tupelo that includes some plates that are $15 each, all made from scratch. the only thing not made from scratch is the french fries. thank you. vice president hwang: is there any other speaker? please step forward. >sir, you can speak first and

fill that out later. >> my name is michael mcdonald. i am a north beach restaurant. i want to read a planning and zoning report. formerly occupy by a mosquito, the storefront has taken over by tupelo. under existing zoning controls, the premises are required to be operated as a full-service restaurant. not as a nightclub and barred. past violations went unchecked, at this location current reputation of late night fights and of violence. the police department, the new owner applied for the entertainment commission granted. seven nights a week until 1:00 on weeknights and 1: 30 on

weekends. the planning department inform the and the dam it commission that the approval conflicts -- informed the commission that the approval conflicts. tupelo is a full-service restaurant. thank you for your time. >> what were you reading from? >> what is that? >> i cannot see it. [laughter] >> do you care to share with the board what that document is that you were reading from? you do not have to. >> the question is, what is the document in your hand? >> oh.

it is from the newsletter. >> the telegraph. telegraph hill dwellers. >> that is a document from the telegraph hill dwellers out one in their position against tupelo. -- outlining their position against tupelo. >> i am the former owner of mosquito. i am -- that is a document from the telegraph hill dwellers neighborhood association, at a piece of misinformation that misrepresent the venue. let's be very clear, and live music, live entertainment until 2:00 was discussed with everyone involved when we went through the permit process. with the planning administrator, with the planning department, with the entertainment

commission, and the commissioner's office. and the captain of central station at the time as well as several other neighborhood representatives. it was discussed at length, and there were no objections. nobody had any problems with us doing doing -- us doing music until 2:00. it was considered a non issue to everyone involved, including the planning commissioner. the issue was hard liquor. to have that, but we agreed to several conditions, which are in that 2005 planning document. we went back to the entertainment commitment -- commission, pledged during that time, we produced 1800 nights of live music. 1800's nights. six complete police reports. two of substantiated noise

complaints, two zero punches to run, and -- two punches thrown. every year, we went to get our permit, we ever given a legal permit. what are we having to come back here again to another public body, wasting your time, wasting the time of the city? these people should be get to work doing what this venue has always had for 40 years. live entertainment until 2:00. or 1:00. there is no point to this argument. we should just be getting back to work, and so should you. >> i think your time is up. vice president hwang: any other public comment? step forward, please.

>> good evening. we are not employees or investors see there. vice president hwang: good to know. >> i am lieutenant stephen ford with central police station. we are here on behalf of our capt.. the captain has made it clear that he supports the zoning administrator in his decision. this is based upon policing concerns that we have. i am the night watch commander on the weekend primarily. i am very in tune with the activity in and around broadway and grant street and the surrounding areas. some of our main policing concerns are things like -- >> i am sorry. >> the congested, in particular, which has byproducts such as fights and battery and noise complaints and theft. assaults, drinking in public comment urinating in public.

we have confiscated 10 tons in and around the broadway area in the last eight months -- 0 guns. -- 10 guns. we understand the position of the other party. from a policing standpoint, our main thing is to maintain public safety. we want to make sure the people who lived in the area and visit the area are safe. that is our main position with respect to our presence here. my current -- my officer would like to give you some statistics. >> good evening. i will give you a quick snapshot of a six-month period ithat came from that location, not down the street. we got 14 calls for service and

a six-month period. three fights, one battery, one fact, four noise complaints, when citizens requesting an interview, one kidnapping, but that ended up not having any merit whatsoever. that was somebody that was locked downstairs. that was rectified. those are some of the different calls. those are tied to the establishment. that is not including a call that could be 20 feet away that is associated with that. i will only bring up the incidents that we can correlate right to the establishment. >> in closing, i would also like to make it clear that with respect to the activity from the corridor, things are so severe that we add central station have put together an operations order. runs every weekend. we are spending money, paying

overtime purposely to man what we consider an event every weekend. it is an actual event. what we have allocated are six officers at the direction of our commander, a lieutenant has to stay until 4:00 in the morning. we have a permit officer and another officer from our abc unit. we have anywhere from four to six motorcycle units. we have for wagons for transportation. we have barred by introduction team. it is a -- eight violence reduction team. we allocate about eight to 20 of them specifically for broadway. the broadway corridor is a major undertaking every single weekend. it is not something we take lightly. that is the reason we are here this evening.

>> you feel that if the -- if they were allowed to operate until 1:00, the problems in that broadway corridor would be worse? " we feel that would be magnified because of the spillover when the establishment clause is, yes. anywhere from 200 to 400 more people. >> they are able to stay open until 2:00? the question of whether they're able to have live music, or am i mistaken? they can stay open until 2:00. the issue before us is how late they can have live music. the thing that has any bearing to the incidence of crime? -- do you think that has any bearing to the incidence of crime? >> the main thing is the closure time. live music is live music.

certain music attract certain people. i do not want to say the music is the issue. it is a combination of the two. >> [inaudible] >> please do not do that. no matter what we did tonight, the day will be able to be open until 2:00. the issue only has to do with live music. >> that is true. >> do you have any thoughts on that? my son is in central come up for full disclosure. -- central, and for full disclosure. >> he is one of my favorites, for the record. the music itself should not add to any issues or problems. the music in and of itself. in totality, you know, it could. when you start to factor in all

the variables, the time, the music, the patrons. adding to the already -- is a very congested area. i do not know if you have been out there in the evenings on fridays and saturdays between 8:00 and 2:00, it is quite a scene. >> thank you very much. >> i have a question for the officer. you said you provided us with statistics from a six-month snapshot. >> this was from 1/28/11 -- >> last year? >> there were 14 incidents. all but two occurred after 11:00. the vast majority are between -- after 11:00. the bulletin hour. any call for