requirements in the planning code. >> from what i am hearing from you it's voluntary, because it's hard enough to park in some of the neighborhoods, but you saying most of the time you try to do it on the sidewalk if you can? >> we do it increasingly, there is so much demand for bicycle parking and sidewalks are narrow and there is a lot of other uses, that there is no room on the sidewalk and businesses are increasingly realizing what is important to them is to increase traffic and customers to their business. and that you get more people there by bicycle than by car . >> the other thing, i don't know if you can answer that, but i talked about some of the places -- i don't know if it's class 1 or class 2, but restaurants are often very small and very tight as it is. and i doubt there would be room inside many restaurants to be able to put a class 1 parking

space. and i also questioned medical offices. many medical offices are very small and they are within buildings that have a lot of offices there. how would you handle that? would you make the whole building do it or each individual owner of a medical office have to provide their own parking space? >> the requirements are for new projects. so for example, when there is a new restaurant, the class 1 requirement is for every 7500-square-feet of restaurant, there will be class 1 bicycle parking. if it's less than 7500, then class 1 won't be required. but class 2 will be in the public right-of-way, so they

don't have to use their own space for that. the same with other uses. if the space that is provided does not reach of the minimum amount of-square-footage that will trigger bicycle parking, they won't have to provide class 1. >> and existing facilities would not have to comply with this? >> existing facilities do not have to do that unless they are doing any update. >> the 20% increase? >> yes. >> and finally, you didn't talk too much about the lockers and showers, but i assume a fairly large company would provide that. what is the trigger for that, because that is an expensive proposition? >> we didn't change the requirement for showers and lockers, but aligned the use

times with the rest of the code. like it was defined commercial/industrial, when they go through major renovation or any new construction of commercial/industry and broke it down, restaurants, medical offices, et cetera. that is what we did, but requirements we kept the same at this point. so the same table, same requirements. they have been doing that since, i guess, those requirements were in place in the late 1990's or early 2000. so we haven't made any changes and that is why i did not address that. >> thank you, commissioner moore. >> i am very interested and very supportive of this particular legislation. what i would like to ask and perhaps you are already doing it, i see diagrams of bike racks, which reflect more of the traditional approach to bike racks and a

significant amount of theft, which is happening. i hope sfmta and yourself and the bicycle coalition will strongly investigate which types of bike racks and which types of locks provide the largest security? i just recently read an article where the police department themselves tried to recommend to bicyclists what to do. it's a question of staying in the dialogue of technology, new and improved bike racks, including the fact that people are starting to ride slightly more expensive bicycles than just the $10 rotterdam-type bicycle. with that, because it make thems feel more comfortable or safety people want assurance that those bicycle racks are safe. just like with your car, you

don't want it falling over when someone else pulls their bike out. that there is a little bit of understanding of what it takes to park a bike properly and safely and keep it from being stolen. >> miss rodgers? >> commissioner sugaya? >> thank you. this isn't on this subject, but since it's about bicycles, maybe the question is more directed towards mta or the bicycle coalition, but has there been any thinking and i don't though this. i asked this question the other day and they said there was also legislation, but is there any discussion about legislating bicycle licenses for individuals buying bicycles? when i was a young kid riding a bicycle, i had it take my bike to the police

department and get a license. it was put on there with a little metal plate and clamped on there. it wasn't screwed on or anything. i guess i could have pried it off, but i was a good little kid. so is there anything going on like that, especially since there is the statistics that we were just given and visiblely on the streets a lot more bicyclists? you know the paper carries storis about the bad parts about it, that that is i'm sure in the minority, but on the other hand i don't know is there any thinking going on about licensing bikes and having a mandatory training program or something? >> we get inquiries from the public, recommendations about once a year. somebody is interested in exploring licensing cyclists. and, in fact the sfmta board asked staff to look at that back in 2009, and i wrote a

staff report at that time and it's up on the mta bike website. so i can send the link to that report and send it out to the commission. i will just say, in brief, you need to distinguish between "licensing of bicycles," and "licensing of cyclists." licensing of bicycles is what you did as a young man and that is different from getting a driver's license. and bicycle licensing is something that is really largely only aids in recovering a bicycle that has been stolen. and it used to be something that was done widespread in san francisco it was taken care of by the fire department. it's largely out of favor because one, the fees are set at the state that is too low to even make it pay for itself and there are third party bicycle registrations online type of

services that are just as effective if not more effective because they go outside of san francisco proper. berkeley has stopped it and i think davis is one of the few communities that does that anymore. licensing of bicyclists is something that would be preempting state law. we cannot license bicyclists at the local level without making changes to the state code. and aside from that, i like i said, i will make sure that the staff report finds it. there are a number of other challenges, but that is primarily the main one that legally it can't be done. >> is portland still doing it? >> to my knowledge nobody in the country has a program whereby bicyclists are licensed. with the san francisco bicycle coalition and we get funding from the county transportation

authority and we offer these classes free. so there is lots of education going on out there. >> thank you. commissioner borden, following up on commissioner sugaya's tangent, because i have had my bike stolen in last year and in the business below me, someone broke the window and took the bicycle out in the middle of the nightist would recommend -- obviously not licensing, but some sort of registry process because every person i know pretty much who owns a bike has had it in their building in the proper bicycle storage, in the garage and has had their bicycle stolen. i know it's different than what you guys are looking at, but the one thing i would think about with the visible bicycle parking is kind of fact for thieves it gives them a place to target. and have been been woken up in the middle of the night by someone throwing a large cinder block basically through a very thick glass window to get to

two bicycles in the window really gives me pause. i'm not saying this isn't the right approach , but something to be required. if your building or restaurant doesn't have a parking requirement and you are not seek parking you don't have bicycle parking >> you mean car parking? >> yes. for example, i live in a building with a garage. >> that is for residential units. if there is no off-street car parking on-site, they are not required to do that. for other uses, i think that is different. >> i was confused because i thought at one point you said 2500-square-feet and another time you said 7500-square-feet? >> 2500-square-feet was an example of an restaurant that

will not have class 1 requirements? >> okay, that makes sense. thanks. i'm very supportive of the registration, but i know that the bike theft issue is a large one, actually. >> i thank you for the presentation. i am highly supportive and along the way with bicycle parking i think we have a long way to go in san francisco before we have too much bicycle parking so i am looking for having this item back to vote on it. thank you. >> thank you. >> commissioners that will place you to item 14 and 1327 polk street a request for conditional use authorizations. please note on october 25, 2012 following public testimony the commission continued the matter to december 13th. the public hearing remains open. >> good afternoon, president fong and commissioners, i am rick crawford of the department staff. this case is to clarify the continuation of a wine store, tasting room and bar at 1327

polk street within the polk street ncd. the business remains a combination of retail wine sales, wine tasting with a bar aabc licensing. these changes are recommended as conditions of approval. in october of the planning commission continued the hearing due to misunderstandings regarding the nature and legality of the use and because of noise complaints. since that hearing staff has met about sponsor and representatives of the lower polk neighborhoods, communicating with the police department and the entertainment commission and on the close reading of the conditional use authorization, motion indicateds that the present operation of the business has a combination of retail wine sales, wine tallesting and bar is consistent with the 2005

authorization. lack of clarity regarding what had been approve can be seen in the fact that six months after the 2005 approval, the zoning administrator revised the interpretation that that authorization had relied upon to explain the differences between the -- between a business with tastings and a bar and to improse conditions limiting alcohol sales. the predict as a continuation of the status quo with improvements related to noise and live entertainment is now supported by the police department and lower polk neighbors. since the october hearing the department has received three additional letters of support from neighborhood residents and from mercy housing, the property sister. center. the department has received letters of support from the project from 46 area residents and 49 businesss in the petition and support of the project with 96 signatures.

the department recommends approval. it complies with the planning code and advances the objectives and polices of the plan. i would be happy to answer your questions. thank you very much. >> project sponsor, please. >> dear commissioners, i come before you today as the clarification on my cu that was approved in 2005. >> i apologize, could you please state your name for the record? >> my name is william bigelow, owner of the pour house. as rick stated nothing will be changing in the operation of our business. i met with supervisor chu and senior

planning staff and lower polk neighbors and have resolved all the issues at-hand. commissioners i'm a small business owner here? san francisco. this business is my life. it sustains me and puts food on my table. during my years on polk street i believe we have revitalized polk street and in addition, i have been a resident of the neighborhood for 25 years. we also enjoy the support from our landlord mercy housing and the upstairs residential neighbors directly upstairs from our facility. i meet with the building staff steven and henry on-site to keep a good communication line open. i joined lower polk neighbors in 2005 and i am an active member. we do have letters of support from them as well. during my outreach progress, and out of respect to the neighbors from across the street that were here at the last hearing we have reevaluated our background

music and sound mitigation. with communication and input from the planning staff we have done noise mitigation to stop the issues of noise. again we have support from our local neighborhood groups and i urge to you to help clarify my cu and allow my business and my eight employees to continue to serve the community and our guests. thank you for your consideration. >> thank you. >> i am here on behalf of the project sponsor, and i think everything really has been said. we're not talking about the distilled alcohol, but wine. lower polk has now much improved. and if this business is not allowed to continue in its

present state, there will be a vacancy and we certainly don't want that. that provides employment for local residents, and it's a great addition to the area. thank you. >> i will call a couple of public comment speaker cards. [ reading speakers' names ]. >> if i have called your name, you can come up. >> good afternoon, mr. president and commission. i live at a senior housing of 32 people who reside there. what has been happening is pour house has been leaving they are windows open, which the noise -- we can hear the noise in the building.

i have spoken to inspector cole who told me that the windows were to remain closed. what is happening sometimes some of the patrons are congregating outside of the bar and making noise. i retired in 2005 and i just bought this place in 2007, because i wanted a better environment to live for the rest of my life. and it's my understanding that if there are conditions for this pour house, that one of the conditions from mr. crawford was that they were supposed to keep the windows closed and the windows have not been closed, i would say 99.99% of the time and most recently on november 29,i called the pour house at 9:00 to tell them if they would please close the windows. no one had answered. i called the police at 9:05 and the police came at 9:20. i had previously before

contacted the northern station, joel boyle who handles noise complaints to complain about this. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> hi. my name is ling choand i was here last time speaking to you. your recommendation on october 25th was that for the pour house to approach my building, which is 1314 polk, senior building, to basically work out the conditions of the noise complaints and so on and so forth. we have not been approved. okay? it's been -- i don't know how many days now, how many weeks, we have not been approached by them. we do not support the noise. the noise is very irritating. every night i look out my window between 4-5, the windows are closed and hallelujah i can

have peace. the windows are open and i speed dial to the noise complaint to call. please, i'm retired. i would like peace and quiet. i would like to be able to watch tv and talk to my pals on the phone without having to say what? what did you say? repeat that. i'm not deaf. i'm not hard-of-hearing. i can hear the noise. what about the folks that live above them? are their ceilings insulated? these are seniors living there, maybe with heart conditions, all of that noise can aggravate. so thank you for listening to my compliants again and should there be another hearing, i will be hear again. thank you and good night. >> linda chapman. i went through the file and find the report that you got to

be pretty dishonest. among other things stating that they had received no letters of complaint and so forth. i had sent -- the reason he filed to legalize this is that i had sent maybe six complaints. because of what i have heard not from these two ladies, but another lady in that building and from what i have observed and what i heard from ron case. i found by checking with justin gen and abc that there is a place for retail wine shop and it didn't say they wanted to be retail wine shop. they said we want to be a wine-tasting bar, either written in by them or abc, because that was the intent. here they were given a clear conditional use that said repeatedly in order to avoid confusion, it will not be a bar. the noise problem was brought to my attention, apart from the fact that i hear it when i go

by there with the windows and doors open by many people and certainly by the managers in the building; when i went there on a different purpose that the elders there really suffer. i brought you some of the statements of support, okay? there is a petition, signed by people all over the city, and? in the greater nob hill area and nobody nearby within a block or two blocks except one i see on the page. statements on the black, i want to change the verbiage from wine-tasting to wine bar. now you can say it doesn't add a bar, but it does really. he added a bar that wasn't supposed to be there. the police and abc objected to him having a later time on. it anyway, let me give you this.

while he was adding entertainment and extending the time that i asked to have it investigated. christine hall responded this is the investigation of the violations and it doesn't sound like that to me. also, all of these reports of support, you know, i looked in the file. in there is something saying that she opposed it from the very beginning. the police at that time opposed it. i don't know whether they do now or not. what do you do -- he investigated me instead of the investigating the bar. he contacts the police and say do you know who these complaints were filed from? mostly i'm interested to see if they come from linda chapman and the residents of senior housing. you mean we wouldn't have a right to complain? >> thank you, miss chapman.

is there any additional public comment on this item? >> hello, my name is gary netherland and i have known liam for 20 years and could testify to his integrity what a fabulous guy he is and i'm surprised that people are ready to call as soon as they hear a little bitty noise. i live near a bar and when i moved there, i knew there was going to be some noise and i don't know anybody who would go to more trouble to make people happy than liam and that place is a small little place. i don't know if you have ever been there, but it's more like the cheer's place, where everybody know yours name. you walk in this and you see the same faces over and over. and i have never seen a quieter bar than that one of the .

it's not even a bar. if i want to buy a gift for somebody, i can can go from the day it opened, there has always been a place where the wines are laid out for you. can you can buy it right there and leave. when i first moved to the city, i could see lower polk and most probably because the input liam has had, you should support that type of establishment. if people think it's noisy know, what about if it's a real bar where people are drinking hard liquor and getting drunk?

i have never seen a drunk person in liam's place in seven years. thank you. >> thank you. >> hi commissioners, my name is derrick murphy and i'm a local neighbor on polk street. and i have known liam for about a year. i made friends with him the first day i went in the bar and he has taught me about wine via tasting and his bar and just being a culture. customer. and just in the last year i have gone from knowing nothing to knowing about all kinds of different wines, pinot, chardonnay, you know? it's made my life happier, but aside from that it's a nice, lounge-type

environment that reads a friendly atmosphere. thank you. >> thank you. >> hello. my name is vincent and i work for liam at the pour house on polk. i just wanted to say that i really, really enjoy working at this place. it's a quaint little spot and i feel that people come in here to decompress, you know? in the evening. we're not open very late. people like to learn about wines from around the world and it's a place you can lounge out, with the company and conversation with the people that you are with there and it's a very enjoyable atmosphere. i think people who choose to come in here, versus some of the other bars on polk because of the difference of noise level versus some of the other bars. there are a lot of bars on polk where you can purchase wine as well.

i just bought a bottle for my family as well for the holiday season. so working with liam has been great. it's a clean place. it's very mellow and enjoyable for me because people enjoy coming in here. i thought it was worth coming in here and explaining to you. so i do appreciate you hearing me out here. >> good evening commissioners, pretty soon it's going to be good night. we have been here a long time and i want to thank you for being here. we're all troopers today. i worked with liam, along with community outreach to the community. i just want to emphasize when this was continued, what was done since the continuance is you have to go back to the drawing board. what liam did was he contacted the supervisor in the district. he contacted ron case, representing the lower polk

neighborhood association. he had sit-downs with the permit officer and police captain and basically went in and tried to get to the root of the ambiguity. how this was resolved you have a business that has been there for almost eight years that the community over 45 letters from residents, over 45 businesses in the immediate area have said it's necessary, desirable and compatible. there were a few issues brought up today and out of respect to those people because they are neighbors, i would ask liam if he has limited entertainment to close the windows during the time he does have that. it's probably not all that often, but to accommodate and respect the neighbors' wishes. the reason why he probably has the windows open is for better ventlation, so people can breathe a little more easily. what he could