june 1st. >> any other questions? okay. well thank you all very much. i hope we'll see you many many times in our press conferences and our dealings with our new director and the great success that i'm sure he will bring for the success here at the fine arts museums. thank you. [ applause ] morning. if i c have everyone's attention.

good morning and welcome to the meeting of may 16, 2013, the board of supervisors neighborhood services and safety committee. i am joined by committee member supervisor norman yee, eric mar is unavailable so we can have a motion to excuse mar. we have a motion without objection. we want to thank or clerk, derrick evans and the members of sfgtv who are covered the meeting today. we want to thank or city attorney. mr. clerk, do you have any announcements? >> please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices. items acted upon today will appear on the may 28

supervisor's agenda. >> can you please call item number one. >> item number one is a hearing to consider the transfer of a type 48 on sale public premises license from 493 broadway street to post street in district three doing business as cafe royal. >> if we can hear from the applicants, if you could come up and give us a brief presentation of what exactly you're requesting and tell us a little bit about your business. >> absolutely. >> if you can speak into the mic please so it can be heard. >> i'd like to say thank you for having us here today. we've been looking forward to this day for a very long time. to be standing here before you is an honor. thank you very

much. good morning, my name is will, my partner is jimmy. we represent 800 post street or cafe royal. it has established itself as a one of a kind gathering place for artists, musicians and lower knobb hill. it's a throw back to a by gone area. it's a place for live entertainment and arts and provides a diverse calendar of events showcasing local musicians, theater groups and other performance arts. we

host fundraisers, wedding receptions, thanksgiving pot luck dinner for everyone in the neighborhood. we have live opera in the bar and some of the best jazz band and rhythm sections from all around the bay area. and every one of our events is free to the public. we are the only place in the neighborhood offering these types of events and they're catered specifically to the people who are able to walk to our bar. the four of us could not be any prouder of the reputation our establishment has earned as a second tome to some of the city's most interesting part-time. we understand our responsibilities in the neighborhood in providing a safe and welcoming atmosphere. [inaudible]. we are residents of this

neighborhood ourselves /-fp three of the four of us live within three blocks of this bar and we share the same concerns as the neighbors for the overall well being of this community. a safe and watchful eye over a dark intersection. we've gone to great lengths for folks to /epbl joy a /tp*eurls date, meet with friends or enjoy a show. we feature local and smaller breweries from around the bay area and work with nearby businesses to bring kitchens to the bar weekly. we're trying the showcase the talents of local businesses. we serve bar bites and after recent advising by the alu we have expanded or menu and options for service to provide

service later in the evening. we hope with the expansion of our new license we will be able to keep up with this bar bites. the neighborhood has 'em /pwraeulsed this bar as its own. patrons have expressed an overwhelming show of support in response to this license transfer. we would like to ensure that we're able to provide the highest quality entertainment possible. we are the only /srepbl ewe of our kind in our neighborhood and we are the polar opposite of a nightclub. since the four of us assumed ownership we are performed extensive outreach to our community to /tkpwaeupbl

their trust and support. we've held two meet and greet nights to give the community the opportunity to come in and introduce themselves and us to do the same. we like people to come in and voice their concerns about the transfer of this license and we've successfully rescinded 13 of them by explaining our commitment to providing the safest possible atmosphere to our street corner. also, the support of 30 neighboring businesses within two blocks of

our bar. we have acquired a personal letter of support from the only student dormitory within 500 feet of our door at 761 post street and we've confirmed that the building has been sold and will be converted into a marriott property starting in july. so with that they will be taking the only student housing within two blocks of the bar and with that the next nearest hard liquor license from the bar big, that was down the street from us. we've installed security video cameras to monitor and record activity. we've soundproofed our walls and seen a number of noise complaints cut in half over the past year. we hope to convey is that we as /rez residents of this neighborhood understand and care very deeply

to provide a positive environment in our community. this establishment is unique to so many kinds of people that make i want a second home. we hope our spotless record with the board of health,police and fire departments [inaudible] better serve the needs of the people who keep our bar what it is today -- a hub for the arts, a safe and welcoming light on in an other wise dark intersection. we aim to serve the residents of lower knob hill for years to come. if everybody is here the who supports if they would stand up real quick that would be

wonderful. this is our community and thank you for having us today. >> thank you. if we can now hear from our abc liaison unit. i believe we'll here from inspector fong or keller. >> 800 post street. this location is currently operating at a type 31 public eating place. for the purposes of sharing the [inaudible] department of alcoholic

beverage control [inaudible] approval or denial of this license. from december 2011 to december 2012 there were 31 police calls of service and two police reports for this location. notification -- the [inaudible] date was on may 29, 2012 and the notice to public was posted on june 13, 2012. [inaudible] information. this premises is located in plot 542. it has [inaudible] high crime areas defined by [inaudible] police report in the plot so the applicant premises is located in a high crime area. [inaudible] info. this premises is located in [inaudible] 120, population for this [inaudible] is 833. the

on sale authorized by the [inaudible] is 13, currently 27 active on sale licenses so the applicant premises is currently in an undue concentration area. letter of protests. 52 letter of protests were filed with the department of alcoholic beverage control. there's no record of [inaudible] department of alcoholic beverage control. these are the points of conservation by the alu. they received 19 testimony moan /kwral, 19 local business support, five resident supports and [inaudible] presented to alu by mr. weston in a nice folder. [inaudible]

kim's office. [inaudible] opposed to this application filed with a bc. the alu made visit to the premises and determined that their applicants are not in come marine base with their current type 1 food license. the premises is located in a high crime area and the premises is located in the undue con sen /traeugs area. it is in close proximity to a college dormitory, with a capacity of [inaudible] students. i spoke to the [inaudible] manager and he confirmed that. additional information that i received that wasn't on this /r-rt -- i

received expanded /phepbl ewe from mr. weston with more service and extended meal hour, getting closer to the come /phraoeupbls compliance of [inaudible] eating place. this morning i received a fax copy of additional protests by this miss wright. i believe i provide that to the board this morning. she's on behalf of -- let me find -- you know what? i gave my copy to the [inaudible]. i believe she was a cohen tower residence, which is 666 post street. so the central /phreults station is opposed to this apply --

application, so the alu recommendation is denial. >> can you summarize what the main reasoning for that is? >> on all transfer, the local resident within 500 feet to have a right together protest the transfer of new license of type [inaudible] license and that's in rule 61 of the abc code and their protest will be verified by the abc. [inaudible] on this letter protest that i received this

morning by miss wright of 666 post street based on [inaudible] the business is operating unlawfully out of compliance of the /kurpbts license /kph-s a restaurant of beer and wine. type 41 and the [inaudible] which was stated that they must have kitchen facility. the food must be prepared on premise and here the sales shall be greater than 51 of total gross avenue as eating place. the second point of this letter is this neighborhood is already saturated with bars, which the allowable number of license is 13 and they currently have 27.

the third point is the quality of life this neighborhood is threatened [inaudible] noise and drunken [inaudible] in hours of late night or early morning. rule 61 of abc -- they believe that [inaudible] undue saturated area will affect the enjoyment of their neighborhood. >> i understand what the protests are say, but i want to understand what the reasoning of the police department is. >> we have over 100 resident neighborhood protests that, in my opinion, that is all within walking distance and i reach out to them and seems that they're too far apart to even work out some condition and they

... >> okay. i think i understand. thank you very much. supervisor yee. inspector, if you can come back. i think we're trying to understand your reasoning here so supervisor... >> there is a protest and there's protesting it. just a point of clarification in terms of the cafe royal in regards to its food services, maybe this is really a question for cafe royal. where is the food from then if you don't have a kitchen and how are you expanding the menu? can you respond to that? come on up and respond to that. >> so basically cafe royal's

been serving food as long as it's been open. it's part of the license. it's beer, wine and food. the bar has changed hands three or four times over the last 14 years and i think every owner's had their own way of satisfying that license to the best of their ability. the license was granted 14 years. >> with the understanding that the building is protected by the historical society. we've never had an issue with this, we've always had two health inspections per year and always gotten above 90. all three inspections have found us to be well within our compliance. >> so the food you service

comes from the outside? >> we bring in portable devices to cook with so we had to bring stand alone devices like rice cookers. >> but we do prepare food on /prepl /seuls. premises. >> we have been serving food, maybe not to the extent that the alu want. that's why we've been trying to work with them to see where we can comply. >> in regards to the protest letters, there were also quite a few support letters and signatures and so forth. did you check with that group whether or not that support

came from the immediate community also? >> >> i check with the addresses and some some of the group that -- a lot of them do come from the neighborhood. and i sent and email to supervisor d chiu that they have a tremendous amount of support. however, there also a tremendous amount of opposition. and one of the rule that we do follow is the abc act when it's local resident that is within 500 feet and 100 feet with that am of protest and opposition. and i try to work with the group and [inaudible] they're just very far apart, that's why i reached this recommendation. >> so anymore questions

supervisor? why don't we open it up to public comment? thank you very much. i have a couple of speaker cards, but any member of the public /whog who would like to speak on this, please come up. please line up to the right of the chambers. you each have two minutes. >> i want to point out that my family lives very near to this establishment and would not be supporting it if we thought it was going to be problematic, which we do not think it will be. 48 license will bring them into compliance. that's something to important to note. our organization supports this

liquor license application, and i as a /rez resident of the area also support this application. >> thank you. next speaker please. >> i'm a local business owner and an artist. cafe royal let me have my first art show. a liquor license would allow them a better chance to grow and compete in the area. i know this from working in the hospitality industry for over 20 years. it's a great place to visit and the owners seem to care about their city. they showcase local photographers, painters, opera singers, comedians, dj's, musicians, the /hr*euls goes on. from what

i've witnessed they've attracted a very nice clientele. i want to see these guys succeed and i believe a liquor license would help them tremendously. >> thank you. next speaker. >> morning. my name is robert garcia. i am here representing the protestors. they were all verified by the abc. they swore under penalty of perjury. this license means it has to serve 50 percent food and it must be be prepared on the

premises. the original owners are people who owned the building and they opened a wonderful cafe. it opened at 6:00 in the morning, closed at 6:00 in the evening. some of the people wanted to have wine with their sandwiches or their lunch so they applied for a liquor license. every time that place changes it just gets worse. now they haven't been serving food in there for so long. why grant them a type 48 which will turn it into a bar. the neighbors don't want that. this is the last quiet corner in our neighborhood. it's tree lined. we've worked for over 20 years to keep this neighborhood clean and safe and we don't need another bar and club in that area. they didn't

do outreach, they did promotion. they sent out a card and on the card one side says all ages, on the other side it says all the different e vents they're going to have. one is sex talk. >> thank you. just for those two are looking for a seat, there's an overflow room in room 263, which is right across the hall. next speaker. thank you. >> morning /saoupler supervisors. i live 65-and-a-half feet from the bar. when i look out the window i see the place and i say i need a drink and i need

some friends, and i go over. we're ages 23 to 5 out in the audience. on tuesday you would have seen two senior women enjoying themselves before they went to dinner. this is a neighborhood spot. this is the only place that has not been a scene of any crime, any problems. they don't even have a television because they don't want to encourage loud noises. these guys are what we're looking for in this city -- young energetic people who care about doing business. you have 400 people for, you have 100 people against. i think in the city for projects we've seen to have three times more people supporting than against is

really a record. the high crime corner is geary where all the late night residences are. this is a corner where three of the buildings are apartments and they are the lower level of the apartment building. they do everything that they said they have done, they have done consistently since they've lived there and i've lived there since 1991. >> thank you. next speaker. just so folks know, we ask people not to applaud in response to public comments so that the meeting moves forward

but you can always gesture to express your support please. >> i'm a father, i have lived across the the street since the turn of the century before cafe royal became such. i live well within 100. feet. i've had every birthday there since my 20s, i had my wedding reception there, we had our baby shower there. this is the best jazz venue downtown, but it is unique in a lot of other ways. it's the only venue offering -- it's an approachable, intimate environment. they couldn't do it any other way. it's

something that every other owner's wanted to do. part of the reason the corner is safe is because these guys don't make the dark corner accessible for [inaudible] and the police know about this. they rely on these guys cob substantiately to make sure the neighborhood is comfortable. there are no bars once the bar closes down -- there will be no bars on this street between hyde and jones and gearr and south /erpbl. i want to make sure you take the concerns of people who live in the neighborhood because of what it offers at least in as high regard as those who live in the neighborhood des