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 do is put the music in the back of the space, so that way the sound is muffled and doesn't necessarily have an adverse to the sidewalk or anywhere else. i think there was a speaker who was removed prior -- so that will help alleviate some of those issues. he has some visits from the police department since the 25th of october. also visits from the entertainment commission. so those calls into the pd have been answered. they basically are visits unannounced and everything was in good order. so we have good understanding and right move at the right time is to sustain this business as a wine retail/wine tasting bar and wine bar. and move forward. so i urge you for your support on this. we can't afford to lose another

business. >> is there any additional public comment? okay. seeing none, the public comment portion is closed. commissioner borden? >> yes, to the zoning administrator, for noise ordinance, what are the requirements around noise and i know it's after a certain point in the evening. i have live near nightclubs, bars and all the rest and see this issue all the time, where most of san francisco businesss do not have air conditioning. it gets very warm and people open windows and obviously sound travels out, because even if you have people at your private home and your windows are open, your neighbors can hear that typically. what are the sound ordinance -- noise ordinance sort of rules around the sound travel for any business, i guess? >> i don't know all the details specifically.

it's enforced by -- it's enforced by several departments depending on the type of sound it is. in this case it's the entertainment commission and they have someone experienced in using the sound equipment. i believe it's a rating above ambient can be. if they are above that, they are in violation of the sound ordinance and unfortunately i don't know what decibel level that would be, but that is under the purview in this case the entertainment commission. >> i think we have heard from people testifying is more voices rather than music. would they be measuring general voice levels without [ music and enttainment? entertainment? >> i believe when you get to voices and there is no entertainment component, it's more of a police issue.

>> what i see is that unfortunately this is a common problem that we have when you have windows and open those and sound travels. if you have a party at your house and windows are open, people can hear and that is how they know where the parties are. i am familiar with this business and i know there are a lot of businesses on polk street that causes nuisances and i know this is not one of those businesses. there are businesses that cater to younger, full bar, noisier demographic. i would consider supporting this with conditions, with removal of the speaker and ask project sponsor to close the

windows when you have live music. do you have air conditioning? to the extent possible? what is it? 8:00 for noise ordinance isn't there time? >> i believe it's 10:00 p.m. when the decibel level changes. >> i recognize that people go to bed earlier, but the windows would never be open past 10:00 or whatever. i would defer to other people to make that call. , but 10:00 seems reasonable based upon the sound ordinance. so that is my motion. >> second. >> commissioner antonini? >> i agree with that. i think it's a good establishment and i did have correspondence from one person that they were serving hard alcohol and that is clearly not the case. it's beer and wine. it's not a bridge and tunnel

crowd, but a lot of locals from the neighborhood. so that sounds good to me, but i would go along with the conditions and what i hear is that the lighting on the outside -- the speaker on the outside has apparently already been corrected, but that is important that that stay that way and the light is minimized to the effect it's not interfering with anybody and the stage is moved to the rear. and windows closed at 10:00. and i don't know if there were any other conditions, commissioner? it's a step in the right direction? >> if i could clarify the conditions. currently no speakers are permitted on the exterior of the building and all windows closed during any performance of live entertainment and in addition to that, that all windows are closed period at 10:00 p.m.regardless of whether or not there is life

entertainment. thank you. >> commissioner wu. i'm supportive eh that motion. i think i would like to learn more about the role of entertainment commission and their ability to enforce, either next time there is a case that deals with noise. because i think they have more capacity than the planning commission. >> someone came from the entertainment commission and gave a presentation and so i am sure we could ask for them to come back. >> call for the question please. >> >> (roll call ) is moved, commissioners that motion

passes 6-1. >> commissioners, you have been sitting here since 10:30 in the morning and we have three more items and i ask if you want a 10-minute break or keep going here? >> 5-minute break. all right we're going request for conditional use authorization >> good afternoon commissioners to allow the conversion of a two-story dwelling unit for a child-care facility located at 281 harvard street the project sponsor currently operates the polka dot center in bernal heights. the proposed facility would open monday-through friday, and would be operated by three full-time employees. no physical expansion of the

existing building is proposed. this project was originally scheduled november 15th but knew to neighbor concerns the project was continued until today to allow the project sponsor an opportunity to work with the neighbors to address concerns. a community meeting was held november 17th. this were 30 people in attendance. some issues raised were regarding parking and traffic and the necessity and desirable of a preschool in the neighborhood and commercial uses in the neighborhood. to address parking and traffic concerns from the neighbors, staff has added a condition of approval that the project sponsor shall apply for a white passenger loading zone. along the 50' street frontage in front of the entrance to the facility. this loading zone would be

activity during one-hour drop-off zone and one-hour pick up zone. the news is necessary use is necessary because there is a lack of services in the potrero neighborhood. the use is desirable because it will provide a prix school within walking distance of families living in the potrero neighborhood. additionally if the child-care facility moved the existing building could be easily converted back into a single-family dwelling. the approval of this project will in the result in the influx of commercial and retail uses in the neighborhood. and the rh-1 zoning distribute commercial and retail uses are not allowed and furthermore child-care facilities for 15 or fewer children are allowed and the condition use is only required for 15 or more

children. given the finings discussed staff recommends approval of the conditional use authorize ation. thank you i am available for questions. >> project sponsor, please. >> good evening commissioners my name is sarah steen. thank you for taking your time and lending your expertise for this project. i am certified by the state of california and i always knew i wanted to choose a profession

which was focused on making the world a better place. about five years ago my husband and my mother-in-law and myself started to search for a space to open a small preschool and we found out quickly that it wasn't going to be easy. most commercially zoned areas don't have a lot of yard. even many residential neighborhoods, many houses in san francisco just don't have appropriate yard sizes. over a year-ago we started to look at the potrero neighborhood for many reasons but one of the main reasons at preponderant we're roberted in bernal heights and this is the sister neighborhood. when i first walked into harvard street i could visualize the school. even our children are involved in everyday planning and we want to have a small school no more than 20 kids and a school

with small teacher-children ratios which reflects san francisco values. by teaching social responsibility and justice, inclusion, green living, bean a small locally run business while providing a curriculum that prepares children academically, socially and emotional for kindergarten. commissioners it was not our in[t-ebts/] to bulldoze into the neighbor and not include our new neighbors in the process. i have never done this before and if anything i have been a bit naive in the process. i thought everyone would be happy a small mom and pop school -- excuse me, especially since there are so many families living there.

excuse me. after i spoke with some of the neighbors i felt i had a better understanding why there were so many reservations. there was a bad experience with the halfway house and some of the community felt they had no input and there was rumors of a brothel. we heard a community meeting and provided a professional facilitator to provide an opportunity to meet face-to-face and answer questions especially many regards to parking, traffic, zoning, construction and noise. i feel confident we were able to address all of these issues and many of the neighbors left feeling more confident with our project. we even received two emails of support from two neighbors who live across the street and received support messages as well. we have support of the most of our direct neighbors, the two in front of us and both on

either side, the right and left. our intect intent is to make the smallest impact on the neighborhood. we want to be accessible and transparent as possible to our new community. in san francisco, an estimated 20,000 children under the age of 6 or over 50% of the children in that age group require some form of child-care. in this neighborhood there are about 2615 children [speaker not understood] it seems like everything is accelerated and kindergarten is the new first grade. so it's important to have a great foundation of child-care education.

>> you have 30 seconds. >> okay. i would like to speak to the difference between a licensed daycare facility and a licensed childhood center of preschool. many if not most home daycare providers have no social or educational programs for the children in their care. the polka dot preschool -- will be good neighbors, respectful. thank you. >> thank you, we may have questions for you. opening it up to public comment. i have a number of speaker cards. i will call them if you would line up on this side of the room. [ reading speakers' names ]

>> hello. my name is john golden. i live across the street from the proposed facility. when i moved to the potrero neighborhood 15 years ago there were bars on the windows on many of the houses and safety was a concern. my neighbors and i have worked very hard to build a home and sense of community in the potrero district and as a matter of fact we were awarded come back neighbor. the thought of increased parking plus the precedent of future commercial project is not a positive consideration. owners of the polka dot school are closing down their existing

business and doubling the size in their neighborhood at the expense of our community without regard to impact. 50 neighbors on the surrounding block have signed a petition or sent a letter, 50 neighbors requesting that this permit be denied. that is 90% of the area. almost all of those in favor are current residents of bernal heights neighborhood as their children attend that center. i understand the need for child-care and a family day-care center where someone lives and a better solution would be to keep the bernal heights location open. why much these people purchase the property? there are multiple locations available