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 kim and 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 despite. this is what makes this neighborhood special to all of us who live here and a lot more. so keep that in mind, thank you very much. >> /tpha*pbg thank you. next speaker. >> my name is rick, i've lived across the street at 775 post street since 1988, well before

the cafe royal. i'd like to second everything that the speakers before me just said. i'm a local musician and they are correct, some of the best musicians in this city have performed here. it holds maybe 50 people. it is a cornerstone of our neighborhood. a transplant of sweden told me that when he came to cafe royal i felt safe and that sums it up as how i feel about this. i would suggest that everybody catch a show of any kind here. it's a place you can bring your family, parents, grand parents

and they will have a good time. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker. >> my name's les, i used to be an owner of the cafe royal. i just want to point out that people at the cafe -- it's a community. my theme is the cafe is a community. people don't just meet at the cafe. they do things outside of the cafe together because they have gone from being individual people who happen to live in the neighborhood to being out in the community together. they go to monthly dining club together, they go on trips to wine country together -- all kind of things -- because the cafe has transformed people from individuals into part of a

community and i think that's very good for a healthy city. you've heard about the arts, et cetera some of the people who have performed there together are also teachers in the schools and they have brought their students to play for friends and family. you can see these kids glow with that opportunity. again, community. this is a part of community. i bought cafe in 2006 -- let me tell you one story. there was a night, all of a sudden policemen with guns drawn were swarming outside the cafe, one of the customers noticed the fugitive hiding under a car and

drew the police's attention and they arrested the fugitive. i think these guys deserve to be awarded with approval. >> i'm a resident and property manage of the community. i've actively worked with /tkp*rb the general consensus is that it's a good thing for the neighborhood. i reside in 500 hyde street right across the street from the night cap that has a liquor license and i frequent the cafe royal regardless. i travel two blocks to go there due to the

atmosphere and the people and everything it has to offer. i'll keep it short. >> thank you. next speaker. >> my name is tracy. i will keep it short because most of what i believe has already been said. i know there's been concerns raised that sudden these guys are going to turn this bar into a nightclub or something like that. i've lived in this city for seven years and i never felt like i had a community before. i moved to this neighborhood and now i have a community. i know everyone that i walk past on the street and i know them because of this bar. that really shows the support of the neighborhood and it shows the dedication that the owners have to their customers. there's just no reason to believe they

it would change it and i think it speaks to how dedicated the community is that this many people shows up, but the opposers are not. i want to highlight how incredible this place is and how it's changed my view on how san francisco is a place you can have a community. >> thank you. next speaker. >> my name is [inaudible] and it was actually the first establishment i walked into upon moving into the neighborhood. i'm from a small town and royal actually offered me a sense of a small town within a huge city. i feel absolutely safe walking home late at night. i work and go to school in /tkpoupb downtown and knowing that their vast windows within their venue

offers such a great sense of protection for me personally. also i want to say that it's probably the best -- i hate saying bar -- it's probably the best venue i've been to in san francisco. >> thank you. >> i am also a resident. i can see cafe royal from my front door. i want to second everything that's been said today, but i want to speak to the concern over crime and this being high crime area. it's true. we have crime in our neighborhood, but i am of the belief that having a mixture of businesses open during the daytime and night time hour brings safety to the

neighborhood. there are no other businesses open as late as cafe royal. i think there is benefit to having a business open at a later hour. it provides safety. as a woman that is something i think about. thank you for your time and consideration. >> i'm an active member of the theater arts here in san francisco. i want to speak a few words in favor of cafe royal. i've been a patron and neighbor of the cafe royal for a decade now and ever since [inaudible] expanded its impact past the visual arts community by providing ago small use as you will area in their bar. [inaudible] new work. while the city cuts grant funding for

independent artists to provide new work, the royal [inaudible] /aud /kwrepbls members but also to the artists. they're not only community oriented, but they do this all response ibly to make sure all noises are done by 10:00 pm. >> thank you. next speaker. >> hi, my name's christy. i've gotten to know the owners over the years and i've known them

ever since they started this whole venture. these guys are great guys. as far as the complaint about the noise in the area. let's be honest, it's not a quiet part of town. cafe royal is providing a community to the people who live in that area so that they don't have to walk three or four blocks down the street in a sketchy part of town depending on the night and direction they go. and they can walk half a block together have a communality community and friends to see. the liquor license will bring in more people from union square and these guys won't let it get rowdy. they're not like that. i wish i had more to say, but i

truly support them and i'm so proud of how far they've come in the last year. they've changed so much and they've really done a great job and they're constantly learning and wanting to make this place a better place for the community. thanks. >> thank you very much. next speaker. >> thank you for your time. i'd like to voice my support for the folks at cafe royal. my father was an artist so with other establishments supporting arts and humanities is what makes san francisco san francisco.this is something we need to embrace in our town. i'm a local small business owner and the way they support other local small businesses is something that makes this city unique, diverse and what makes me want to live here. so for these reasons and the other

reasons that the previous speakers have said i voice my support for them and their 48 license. thank you. >> thank you. >> my name's peter. i have lived on the 800 block of post street for the past eight years. i've been going to cafe royal since i moved in. i can say everyone that works at my work place would like to see these guys succeed. i think that a liquor license would be something that would be very beneficial for them. there is a lack in the area of night life and has been said before, it's something that's much needed as far as safety, security and just general well being of the neighborhood. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker. >> morning. my name is