>> commissioner richards: i agree with commissioner moore. i look at this -- two things first. there's no agreement on the amount of savings or what the mitigation would be from a historic preservation point of review. i think, as well, i want to see a rendering of what the building is going to look like. i don't like the building as it is already, so if you're going to add more of a nasty front on top of it, i want to see what that looks like. this building is relentless. the design -- it has no design at all. it's just kind of a box with punch holes in it.

i would expect that we would have a revised design, and i would like to get it done before 12-7, so they get their site permit, but that's not what this is all about, but that's where i'm at. >> president hillis: commissioner melgar. >> vice president melgar: so i'm actually generally in support of this project. i -- it strikes me that everyone in the neighborhood is supportive. so i think that, you know, i understand, you know, the desire to sort of preserve a historic structure that people that -- you know, it's a -- in the fabric of our city. but everyone in the neighborhood supports this project, so i hear that. i also -- i have some questions for staff regarding the specific -- the mechanics of the e.i.r. and what you're doing, if you could just walk us through that, i would

appreciate that. so are we -- what are we doing? >> you are going to, if you choose to, certify the e.i.r. that it's adequate and accurate and meets the requirements of chapter 31. and what i've handed into you is an analysis of this revised preferred project which is removing the colonnade, and we would include that in the final e.i.r. if you do certify the e.i.r. so it is a revised chapter of the r.t.c. document that we will include in the final e.i.r. >> vice president melgar: so i guess just please help me because my understanding here of what we're doing is fuzzy. so this was not one of the proposed alternate tiffs when we had public comment on the e.i.r. >> no. the project that you saw in december, which was in the draft e.i.r., was retaining the

colonnade. then, after the draft e.i.r. public comment closed, the project sponsor did move forward and revised design again, and that design was in your r.t.c., which was a normal practice that we do, and we include those changes in the document, and we discussed are all of the environmental impacts still adequately in your draft e.i.r. until it is approved, there can still be changes, and we look at all of the impacts. we looked at this revised design that's before you, and we said it's still fully covered within the analysis of the draft e.i.r. there's no new significant impacts that were not disclosed, so that's what we handed into you, and we would include that in the final record.

>> vice president melgar: okay. but the fact that public comment is now closed, that's okay? >> yeah. so basically after the draft e.i.r. public comment is closed, if the sponsor decides to make changes to their project, we will look at those and determine if there's any new environmental impacts that have not been addressed with a draft e.i.r. if there are, it is our responsibility to recirculate the draft e.i.r. for public review and comment, so that is the process that ceqa lies out, and we did review these changes and there's no new impact so they were not addressed in the new e.i.r. >> president hillis: could i just ask a follow up on that. so the -- the e.i.r. assumed that this was a demolition of the historic building? >> yes. that was the identified significant and unavoidable impact is there is a material

impairment to this historic resource. so even though they retained the colonnade, it was still materially impaired, and we called it a significant unavoidable impact. >> president hillis: and the retention of the colonnade was not a mitigation. >> no, it was not a mitigation. there's several other mitigation measures that will have to be done before this building is demolished that would reduce the impact, but it was never identified as part of the -- as a mitigation for the -- >> president hillis: i think it was called out as a mitigation, and we were then to remove it here and that would be a different case. >> that would be a much different case, and we would look at if we would have to recirculate the e.i.r.s then. >> president hillis: sometimes these are a retention of the building, like a retention of some of the sustained glass windows are -- stained glass windows are listed as a

mitigation measure. d dr. -- director rahaim? >> the discussion that is happening on the additional payment is not mitigation perthe e.i.r., that is a private agreement between the developer and heritage, so it is not part of what the commission can approve or not approve. it is not additional mitigation perthe e.i.r., it's not something that we can require as part of the agreement between the developer and heritage, what additional benefit they might get. >> president hillis: even though on that funding, there's additional discussion on that funding going back to the city, it's still a separate agreement, rkand we'd have to t

on that differently. >> in a different capacity. >> president hillis: commissioner richards? >> commissioner richards: where we're going on this, i'm going to a -- inclined to approve the project as designed because you have no intent on sharing some of the cost benefit savings with the community. where are you at on the agreement on that? >> so answer your questions to where kind of we are on things, i think we have a healthy function of robust dialogue going with heritage. we have lots of meetings and calls, so that's heading in the right direction. i think the other thing that's going on is just when we removed facade when the design, something else has to go in its place, right? and we only had a couple hours really to throw together those images that we showed at the end.

and we'll need to work on how all that plays out. until we have a design, we can't cost it out. >> commissioner richards: so given the december 7 date, and the need to do what you need to do in order to come up with a number, etc., how much time might you need? >> we're confident we can do it in parallel, really. we have a team working on a site permit design application right now, and they are running full steam across the finish line there. >> commissioner richards: so is the site completely dependant on this little front piece. >> i'll defer to the staff on how a site permit is issued in regard to planning approvals, but having an approval in hand certainly help is us get the

site process through planning. >> commissioner richards: my thought is if you need to back in the numbers, would you need a week, would you need two weeks? i think you said we just learned about this, it was just thrown our way, we're just kind of rushing this. what would we need to tie this up with a red bow? >> i'm totally guessing here. we've been entertaining this idea for almost 48 hours. a week or two to make more progress. >> commissioner richards: i think that's reasonable here. i want to see a good project here. and if there are some cost savings, i want you to recognize those. if we can still pull this all off, in your estimation with

another week or two to come with something more fully baked rather than a ton of 24-hour, 48-hour thing, i support that. >> sure. i guess my only fare -- fear, commissioner, we come back in a week or two and there's something else that's come up. our experience on this project, it's a game of whack-a-mole. and our fare is if we -- fear is if we don't secure an approval on one of the two options in front muof you, we' going to have problems with d.b.i., with building. the project has not moved forward in the last four years, which is why we're at serious risk of losing the project in december. >> excuse me. david sinkata. i also want to add, one to two weeks, we need to have staff

time to figure out what the facade is going to look like now, and we couldn't do cost estimates until we have that design. so we still have -- i don't know how much time their design team has with our design team to tum come up with a design for that -- to come up with a design for that. we'd like to get this all resolved in the next couple of weeks, so we know, but there's a lot of other people involved that need to be involved. >> another thing to note is that the additional condition that's been suggested to kind of be the mechanism for all this is, it allows us to work with planning staff during the architectural addenda phase of the permitting process, and arc tech ral addenda are thoroughly reviewed by planning staff, staff that's been on this project the entire time. if we're able to secure

approval today, knowing that the facade is going to come off during the architectural addenda stage, all the same conditions that the rest of the project is subject to from a design perexpect tiff in terms of capability with the district, materials, etc., all of those same conditions are going to apply to whatever new volume is put in place. >> president hillis: all right. commissioner fong? >> president fong: thank you. i've been following what's going on here for the last week. we are have. it does make me nervous that they're against a time crunch. it does make me nervous that asking for additional dollars, whether you call them savings or not, puts weight on the project financially, as we talked about that j.k. deneen projects, makes me a little bit nervous that this project ends

up as one of them. so given that and demand and need for housing, i'd like to try to move this project forward and happy to make a motion to approve this project as proposed. >> commissioner richards: as proposed. >> president hillis: with the -- >> president fong: with the removal of the columns. i'd also like to say if heritage can keep working with the architect and the project sponsor to not save them, but sort of do the right thing, acknowledge the time and space that's there. i don't want to take the time to redesign that, because i think that'll open another can of woerms, but if the two of them can work together, that'd be great. >> it'd be great to have what commissioner moore alluded to, come back and see the design, whether it's the m.o.u. or executive director's report. >> i was going to suggest that very thing. we can certainly bring back that design we work out with the project sponsor to you for

review. i would also point out the proposed condition that we have drafted, that is quite specific about how the project needs to meet the tenants of the tenderloin national register historic district, and we do have some preliminary sketches that they presented to the. we acknowledge it's happening more likely than we normally would like, but in this case, i do think that we would need to resolve this in order to get to a site permit which is required by december 7, so we would recommend that you take action today. >> president hillis: commissioner moore? >> commissioner moore: can we add a condition of encouragement that the involved parties continue to work with each other. >> president fong: that's what i stated. >> commissioner moore: you did state that. i didn't hear that. >> president hillis: and i would say by us continuing it, it would give some additional

lemp leverage to mr. bueller and others to continue working together. those things can happen regardless of this, so i think, yeah, people should be encouraged to work together. hopefully, we resolve this, we can get housing built here. we're not putting an undue burden on this project, but let's try to kick this forward and try to get housing on this site. >> if i could make a recommendation, kristin jensen, city attorney, as one of the commissioners pointed out, this is a private agreement. it's not a condition of approval this they reach an agreement with heritage. while they can discuss findings, i would not recommend putting it as a condition.

>> commissioner koppel: i would also make a condition to approval the final e.i.r., as well. >> clerk: we will take up those matters separately. >> president hillis: i'll second commissioner coppells's motion to approve the final e.i.r. >> clerk: very good. there's been a motion. on that motion -- [roll call] >> clerk: so moved, commission, that motion passes unanimously 7-0. there is a second motion for the project to approve the project as proposed without -- or with the removal of the historic facade as amended by staff, including that condition read into the record. >> i think you need to adopt the ceqa findings first.

>> president hillis: that's part of this. >> clerk: that's part of this, yes. >> president hillis: they're 15 a and b, adopt the ceqa findings and approve the entitlements. >> clerk: right. i'm sorry. and including a finding recognizing that heritage and project sponsor continue working together on the final design and adopting ceqa findings on th findings. on that motion -- [roll call] >> clerk: so moved, commissioners, that motion passes 6-1, with commissioner richards voting against. commissioners, that will place us on item 16 for case number 2017-015181 cua as 412 broadway street. this is a conditional use authorization. >> president hillis: what's that? >> take a little break. >> president hillis: all right. we'll take a five-minute break.

>> september 13th, 2018. i would like to remind the members of the public to turn off your mobile devices. if care to state your name for the record. 412 broadway street this is a condition to use authorization. >> good afternoon, president, commissioners. the case before you is a why for conditional use to extend the hours of operation until the 4:00 a.m. daily and for an existing restaurant and night-time entertainment use doing business as the penthouse club and restaurant. the bis is located at 412 broadway within the broadway and except for the extension of hours no other changes are proposed. it's a place of entertainment and restaurant since 1999 with other uses dating back further.

the business han been in operation since march 2012. using per mat datarom the entertainment commission, staff analyzed the quarter mile area surrounding the property and found that seven businesses hold extended hours permits to be able to operate past 2:00 a.m. of those seven, five are for food establishments and have extended hours centered mostly around weekends also only one business, the husteller club is similar. the extended hours authorization for husteller club pre datedatee n.c.d. and late-night hours on thursdays, fridays and saturdays. as such, it's precedent setting to receive an extended hours application and as the first to have extended hours throughout

the weekend not only limited to weekends. the project sponsor has conducted a number of outreach meeting in advance of the meetings. including a pre application meeting held at the planning department in september of last year. e-mail sent in january to those meeting a te and to make a presentation at any of the neighborhood groups meeting. and in may, two open house meetings at the business location. the department has received two e-mails from individuals in opposition. as well as a joint letter of opposition submitted on behalf of several neighborhood and organizations, including the telegraph hill dwellers, the neighborhood association, the golden gateway tenants association, and the 455 vallejo street homeowners association. the department has one letter of support from the community benefit district and a letter of support from the north beach business association recommending a six-month trial extension.

additionally, commissioners, after publishing of the staff report, the department received 25 e-mails of support from the proposal and these have been e-mailed to you and available in hard copy. although the hours would enhance an existing restaurant and entertainment business, located within the district which is characterized of the city wide and regional entertainment and night life district, the project may lead to detrimental effects those those living nearby and along broadway. as noted, nearby residents experience disturbances on weekends around the 2:00 a.m. hour and there's a concern these nuisance activities may be extended for a longer duration and later into the night. it may be appropriate for certain uses too much late-night hours. provided that they are subject to carefully regulated conditions. however, given the nuisance activity associated with entertainment uses generally, it is difficult to see how adequate

conditions can be adapted to ensure there are not detrimental effects in the vicinity. in conclusion the department finds the proposal is on balance, inconsistent with the general plan and is not necessary, desirable the character. for these reasons the department recommend disapproval of this application and that concludes my presentation but i am available for questions. thank you. >> project sponsor. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i would first like to start by asking the people who have come in support of this application to stand and show your support quietly for this application to extend hours from 2:00 to 4:00 a.m. thank you, very much. sir thini think the recommendatn

against approval here is very short-sided and reflects a lack of understanding of this industry and lack of understanding of this particular business most importantly. this business has been a model citizen in this community. penthouse club has been responsible for the creation of the community benefit district and responsible for the increase security, increased crime control, the reduction in police calls and that direct, it's all been led by this business. and there is no real justification for simply saying it would be difficult to tell if it was making a nuisance. that's not a basis for denial of a conditional use application. one of the letters of support you suggests a six-month trial

period. i would suggest that this commission could adopt as brief a trial period as it saw fit. you will not see one eye owe ta of difference in different tee from the club as it is now to the club if it was open until 4:00 a.m. comings and goings are quietly done there. we're asking for 4:00 a.m. close for the convenience of our employees, our entertainers and our guests. it's a very different atmosphere out on broadway at 1:55 am.

there are dance clubs that bring in a different element to the community that tend to patronize the penthouse club. this is a business-suit kind of place. these are business travelers. these are men and women coming from downtown hotels or coming from business meetings and spilling out on the street at 2:00 a.m. at the same moment as the nightclubs that have been dancing and rowdy all night. it's a very, very harsh contrast. it's one we would like to protect our patrons and our employees and community members from. we had a lot of neighborhood outreach through this process. it was first suggested that there was concern about sound. we had charles salter do the most thorough sound study in the neighborhood he has ever done. his conclusion was that at closing time, there is no

noticeable difference with this club. there is no sound audible outside of this club when it's operating or when it's not operating. there is no difference in activity in front of the club. our security is so thorough, so complete and so professional. so, you are going to hear from a lot of members of this community today that are going to give you reasons why this is a business worth supporting and why this industry is misunderstood and why the people who work in it deserve the opportunity to have these additional two hours of income in their daily paycheck. i think it's a good idea to let this play out. if you don't -- as i said, i would be very supportive of a very limited granting. any conditions that you want today attach to this, we're open

to because i'm that certain the impact on the community is going to be negligible. i do not have opportunity for a rebuttle in the conditional use so i would ask if commissioners have any questions about the operation or how we intend to implement it or concerns that are praise raised bit community. please, ask us about it. we've thought it through and i know we can do this and do it right. thank you, very much. >> we will hold this item up for public comment. i have two speaker cards. paul webber, lisa greekos. but if others would like to speak, lineup or approach the podium. >> thank you. we need to get back to work.

thank you for letting us speak. my name is sally, i'm the chairperson for the san francisco firefighters toy program. i've had this job for 18 years. it's the largest firefighters toy program in the united states. people think of toys for tots. i've been working with penthouse for a few years. previously in my other position at at&t the telephone pioneers, the clubs all together but especially penthouse has been very generous to the toy program. a lot of the girls are also single moms and come down and volunteer and receive toys for us. we make sure that no one goes without a toy during the holidays. and like former supervisor chris daily said, some people may not approve of what they are or aren't doing there but we don't ask them not to go there just as he said, he didn't care for the oprah but he didn't ask for it to be shut down. i want to introduce my two firefighters here. i have jason and jose.

jason, i'll let you talk. >> so, i guess for us it comes down to supporting an aspect of the community that has continuously supported us. i've personally gone around to collect toy barrels, toy bins throughout the holiday season. the influx much donations that we get is substantial from clubs like penthouse. we're here to show support for them. it's all for the kids. >> we're just thankful for the contributions from the penthouse. they help through out san francisco. every types of community. giving toys to kids is our mission and our goal. the penthouse helps that come about. >> thank you, very much. >> next speaker, please. mr. webber. >> >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. my name is paul webber. and i am here on behalf of telegraph hill dwellers.

stan haze, quote share of our land use committee had to be away. we join bar barrie coast neighborhood association, golden gate tennis association. >> just speak into the mic so we can hear you. it's hard hearing you. >> i'm at 450 homeowners association to oppose the conditional use authorization. we strongly support planning staff's recommendation for disapproval. i quote, broad extension of hours in the district would negative the ability of the area. broadway is an active commercial area. it is also residential. both uses must coexist. further intensifying after hours from 2:00 to 4:00 a.m. make it difficult. on weekends, patrons of broadway businesses will spill into

surrounding residential areas. many residents who live just up the hill from broadway are uneasy and at times confronted by intrusive and intimidating encounters. and for that reason, for residents to be concerned. for example, in the same block as the applicant's business, just three months ago, san francisco police department reported and i quote, central station officers arrested a 34-year-old male for discharging a firearm numerous times on the 400 block of broadway. the arrest resulted in the confiscation of three guns and a rifle. let's be clear. for us this is not directed at the applicant. we understand and appreciate his enormous efforts to improve broadway. we also understand the desires of employees desiring to arrange for additional income through extra hours. but no matter how well an

individual club manages its patrons, their behavior can't be guaranteed when they're elsewhere on the street or in adjacent neighborhoods. this is about precedent, slippery slopes, unintended consequences. if approved, more and more venues will apply to extend their hours to 4:00 p.m. and more intense and negative impacts on preexisting residential liveability will occur. we urge you to support staff and the voices of the organization and disapprove this application. thank you, very much. >> next speaker, please. >> hello commissioners, thank you for hearing me. my name is lisa and i am a unit owner and the community association manager for the 45 unit building at 455 vallejo

street. homeowners association is directly above and shares a property line with the penthouse club. together, with the telegraph hill dwellers, the neighborhood association and the golden gate tenants association we have submitted multiple letters describing the negative impacts that broadway club operations have. the work we have and continue to have on this safety and enjoyment of our homes. i'm not going to go over these examples of negative impacts. as you must already be aware of them from our previous correspondents. i might suggest, though, that you see some type of impact on this hearing today, with the volume of people that enter into a space designed, not only for club activity. i'm going to get right to the point. this commission has a choice. will you place club owners,

whose sole purpose is to boost corporate prophets by providing an outlet from drunken party goers from all regions of neighborhoods and cities to revel until sun shines or will you respect the hard-working residents, the young families, the tax-paying property owners of the north beach community and simply say 2:00 a.m. is enough. the fact is, each of you know it, the officers of the north beach station know it, i know it and even the broadway club owners know it. nothing good happens on broadway between 2:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. it is time for this commission to make a decision and to make it clear. not only do we ask you deny this application, but ask that you do so in such a strong denial, loud

enough that we north beach residents can sleep during the we hours of the morning without having to be on guard for the next club's application. we are counting on you to chose the people that live in north beach and disapprove this application. thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> afternoon commissioners. i'm the district director for the top of broadway community district. i will add my support to the application to extend the conditional use permit to penthouse operational hours. penthouse originally brought this request before our land use committee in july of 2016. we deliberat deliberated over tt looking and considering the property owners' standing in the neighborhood, which is

excellent. the property owner of penthouse as well as the hustler club have given generous tee to the top of broadway that allows us to continue services on broadway for the past four years. they're instrumental in the two drives to create a community benefit district in the area because they see the added benefit of supplemental security as well as supplemental services. considering this past support and considering the fact that they are very responsible operator on the block, as far as i'm concerned being the district director, per the commission's recommendation and considering all this, we decided to approval their request for a change in hours. we thought if there was anything of issue that would arise after the change, we know penthouse would approach this c.b.d. and look for a viable solution where all parties would be satisfied. with that confidence, i lend my

support. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi, good afternoon. my name is joy anna. i am an advertising accountable executive at san francisco media company where we publish the examiner, sf weekly and after dark. currently working with penthouse club and it's management staff and they've been very professional and our partnership has helped my business strive with providing entertainment content for our readers. all people read our paper from locals and tourists to find things to do in san francisco. i believe granting the extension is critical to offer a late entertainment that is safe environment to go to. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please.

>> good afternoon. i am erin, vice president of operations at the san francisco media company. we are one of the media and advertising partners with the penthouse club and their parent company bse management. if the five years we've worked together, they have strived to help this city, its residents and tourism by offering safe and clean establishments. they not only hold special events for donations and food drives, but they are an essential part of the economy of our city. establishments like this add to our economy across the board, from lodging and restaurants to shopping and tourism. between city residents and utilizing numerous vendors in this great city for their day-to-day operations, they also are a tremendous asset. the partnership has created jobs

inside of our company of 100 employees. their future success helped us maintain those positions. we believe it would be a great idea to extend the hours to increase tax revenue and also increase the income of the city as our city's employees. thank you very much for your time. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi, i'm marian. i'm here to represent the staff. thank you for your time. so today i want to say i believe the extended hours could be very beneficial to all of us, the employees and the patrons alike. the north beach community has -- the patrons have expressed that they have the idea. the possibility of having a safe place to go, maybe after they've been drinking at the other bars after 2:00 come into our club

and hangout for a while until they are going to get in their cars and go home. it's one of the reasons. for the employees, it's important because we do need more shifts. we need more money to support ourselves here. we all know how high the rent is. i think it would be a good change for the north beach community. >> thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello. good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. my name is emma henley. you can call me ms. emma. i am coming here today not as an employee of the club but as a representative of both nightclub culture here in san francisco and the nightclub industry. i also have worked as a producer and performer internationally and i've been tracking

international nightclub trends for quite some time. i've been in this industry my entire adult life. although i get up earlier in the morning these days. i am here mostly to impresses upon you, not just the nature of where i see this area of the nightclub industry going, but how excited him to be involved in the beginnings of a conversation about 4:00 a.m. here in san francisco. being from new york and working all over the world, sometimes it's hard to come home and realize how much we're missing out on asper formers and entertainers in this last two hours of the evening. i don't consider myself a stripper. i've never worked in a strip club but i am a burlesque entertainer and performer and producer. i call them my sisters in charms and i am often a patron with many people and clients and businesses associates that i have into these nightclubs. i'm excited about how things are changing. as a burlesque historian, i'm ie

seen the expression of female change over the years. we've had high points. obviously carole duda is a home-town hero in that regard. there have been dark moments and under currents in this industry as we all know. i'm under no illusions about the fact they don't exist other places. here in san francisco, this trend has completely changed due to some hard work of people right here in city hall to protect the safety and security of these girls late-night. while i'm not a stripper myself, or an exotic dancer or anything else you might want to call them, outside of a burlesque performer, it's our job and our duty to listen to what it is they want. what it is they need to try and help offer their own existence here because this is a community and something that anyone who comes into this town as a tourist or the young men who are droving into this town with no idea about social interaction in

a positive sexual way, this is a really great opportunity for women in this town to step up and guide them in certain ways. thank you for your time today. i really appreciate this opportunity. >> thank you, very much. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. my name is michael rickson. i'm an employee at the penthouse club. i don't want to take up too much time today. i will let you know, i am a single father. i had my son 10 months ago, best thing that happened to me by far. although i am not with the mother, obviously, we do have a working relationship together where we both kind of co parent. we're both in this industry. if you are related to a single parent or you are a single parent it's difficult to raise a child in an area like this as expensive as it is. currently i'm working four

shifts. i'd like to be working a little bit more to be able to give my son the things that he needs and deserves. i really think that this extension will help us out all across the board. i know a major concern within the neighborhood is the patrons getting out later and stirring up a raucous in the streets. i can tell you as somebody who deals with our customers firsthand face-to-face, the type of guests that we have are doctors, lawyers, politicians, people that aren't going to be out causing a raucous. these are guys that get out and get into a black car, you know, on their way back to their hotel to their home. i really don't see the extension effecting the neighborhood negatively. i believe there are some clubs in that area, if they did have an extension it might not workout in the best way, we're not a club like that. i stand by that 100%. i know it would help me a lot

and a lot of employees. it would help a lot of management to have this extension. i really hope you guys take that into consideration. thank you for your time. >> next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. my name is daniel. i'm the d.j. at penthouse club as well as hustler club. i started with them 14 years ago as their d.j. today i run my own motion graphics company because of this organization. i've been able to learn video production from shooting to creating videos myself. i do it for art clubs as well as clubs around the country. it wouldn't have happened if this company didn't put time into developing me. in somewhat of a rebuttle, they're not just a company that is hoar to make corporate profit off of strangers. they supported me through a heart attack, open-heart surgery, throat cancer surgery as well as 14 years of sobriety.

i've been taking care of my whole adult life because they cared for me as more than just an employee. so i just wanted to state those are the people i work for. thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. my name is frances. i am the general manager at penthouse. i just wanted to speak on behalf of the penthouse and the employees and the patrons that are here supporting us to request to have the club open until 4:00 a.m. some of the reasons that we definitely have in common for that, for the most part, i am a true son of san francisco. i've been born and raised and still live here. i've seen the changes. i've seen everything from whether it's broadway or the sunset direct, richmond district, i've seen the changes

that has benefited the city. one thing that i want to definitely make sure and point out, we are a tourist town. a lot of times we do interact with patrons whether it's locally, nationally, internationally. they do ask where can we stay and relax and be entertained until a certain point in time. right now it's 2:00. i believe 4:00 a.m. definitely can help relieve that. so for the most part, i know it's beneficial for the company and for the patrons that come in here and tourist that's come in here i believe it can benefit them as well. thank you for your time. >> thank you, very much. next speaker, please. >> hello. my name is rachel. i'm a dancer at penthouse club.

i've been in industry for 20 years now. i want to point out that, first, i'm speaking on behalf of at least several dozen women that couldn't make it here today. that are in similar situations as myself. i'm a single mom. i'm working, i'm going to school, i'm trying to start a business. one of the things that the facility provides is flexibility. it's invaluable for us people with a family and an inability to make it ahead and really needing that time. one of the things that has been really difficult in the bay area with the raising costs, is just keeping up with that. one of the things that staying open late will do is help me put in more time and make more money without actually having to sacrifice my days at school to work more days. i will get more hours without

working more days. like i said, a lot of other women at my work, like some of them go to school, some of them are trying to start a business, others have personal health issues. there's a lot of reasons that women like us are seeking of flexibility of the place we work. it's invaluable. the other thing i want to point out, i think it would be valuable for you to consider is the people that live in the local area that are worried about the sounds that happens at 2:00, one thing i don't think that's been fully considered is that having a place like penthouse, with the staff that penthouse has, and with the bouncers that are willing to put in the time and energy to rally that energy is going to provide a place to pull that sound off of the streets. to bring a place that is controlled instead of uncontrolled out on the streets where people are getting in their cars drunks and driving home. that also applies to us dancers, who are leaving the club at 2:30

in the morning and putting ourselves out into that mess, which is largely due to the other types of clubs on the street, of which penthouse is not one of those. i think it would provide more of a safelternative for a lot of us employees. employees and independent contractors. thank you. >> thank you, very much. next speaker, please. >> hello. my name is frankie. i am the general manager for a club. i want to make eye few statements here. i understand the concerns that some people have, especially in the neighborhood. it talks about after hours and how to deal with the riff raff that spill out on the streets. well, hustel has been going after hours for about 16 years now. that hasn't happened. we share most of the same guests that come into our establishment

with penthouse. we have not had problems after hours and we're half a block away. i don't understand why these concerns are coming up now. it doesn't make sense to me. it has benefited the community and my employees to get more shifts and a little bit more flexibility for some period of time essential terrainers who arentertainers and staff thatar. >> next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. my name is scotty. i'm an employee at penthouse. i've been a employee at 412 broadway for 13 years now. it's allowed me to purchase a home for my family, my mom, my brother and my sister. who currently all stay with me. it's also, prior to that, i lived and worked at almost ever club on broadway.

every club let's out at 2:00 and everybody butts head. to stay open a couple hours and keep our guests safe and keep our staff safe and to keep the block safe would help out a lot of the noise, it won't be outside. i think it would be good to keep everybody safe on the block. >> thank you, very much. next speaker, please. >> hello, my name is markel. i am the supervisor over at the penthouse club. what i want to touch on is, prior to the get-togethers that we had with the communities of the area where we had the open house at penthouse, and met in places like this to talk about what the concerns were, i took those into consideration.

since, from day one, i have been able to walk the block, especially after the 2:00 a.m. i have walked up vallejo, i have walked down to sampson. you just get a feel of what it was that our neighbors were concerned about. at no time have i run into any of the guests that have come out of the clubs on broadway up on vallejo or powell street or anywhere around there. i wanted to make that clear. these are things that we've looked into ourselves as club owners and club management regarding the area. we want to make sure that it's safe. that is what we did. so thank you. >> thank you, very much. next speaker. >> commissioners, terrance allen. founding president of the san francisco entertainment commission. i bring that up because the entertainment commission was an experiment that san francisco took at a time when it was

struggling with how to manage night life. it brought into the conversation newance and the ability to make specific conditions between clubs. prior to that, entertainment was seen as a big monolithic entity and everybody got the same thing and everybody had the same problems. there was no ability for nuance to be employed in deciding who should be open when and who should be rewarded for what behavior. here we have another experiment. we have an opportunity for the planning commission to exercise its nuance, not make a blanket determination for all of broadway but to exercise nuance in showing how good behavior can be rewarded on behalf of a venue. good behavior can help a neighborhood. it's been proven over and over again if you stagger the closing times of venues, especially at night, you reduce that effect

that happens when everybody gets out at the same time and bumps into each other and trying to get a cab, car, uber and that chaos is something we can predict. if we can extent hours in certain venues and reward those convenience use that have been especially good at doing their job and improve that nighttime, that last time of the night, that evening close experience for neighbors, patrons, and businesses, i say use that nuance. you have that power, use it. you are not going to have to use it again if you don't feel that the person standing in front of you is it worthy. in this case, i think they are worthy and i ask, as the founder of the entertainment commission, that you give this venue a chance and see if the city can be shown that nuance works when it comes to late-night. thank you, very much. >> thank you, mr. allen. any other additional public comment on this item? if others would like to speak, please lineup.

>> welcome. >> hi. my name is sarah. i am a employee of the penthouse. i've heard previous speakers cover various points whether in favor or against the approval of this permit. the over all tone has been clearly one of passion, which is why i've decided to speak now. i was born in san francisco, raised in oakland. i am proud to be a bay area native. according to real estate site red fin, san francisco lost more residents than any other u.s. city in the last four months of 2017. i have seen changes on all fronts here ebb and flow. my everyday is a struggle to make runt, to be a contributing member of society and up hold the values instilled in me since day one over 30 years ago. this permit will make a huge difference in my life.

with an increase in wages i can make daily life better for myself but also remain a resident to the only place i've called home. this permit will also allow me to pursue my passion to be a photojournalist, with higher wages as a result of an increase in our hours of operation, i will be able to return to school completing my studies and moving that much closer to making my dream a reality. that is my personal experience. and thank you for listening. >> thank you, very much. any other additional public comments? seeing none, we'll close pluck comments. public comments. can i ask you a question on the alcohol service. so currently they serve alcohol here? >> correct. >> they can only do that until 2:00 a.m.? >> correct. >> so alcohol is regulated by

the state. currently 2:00 a.m. is the cut off everywhere. as part of the proposal for this club, you know, when the state law changed there was no application that they would chose to extend alcohol service. there's legislation at the state level to consider extending alcohol to 4:00 a.m. in certain jurisdictions, san francisco being one of them. i believe that would -- similar to the legalization of recreational marijuana that will take legislation at the local level and kick in until 2020 and 2021. >> if that passes, rules would have to be -- it's not a blanket approval for establishments to serve until 4:00. we would have to establish our own local rules. if this establish wanted to serve alcohol until 4:00, it would be subject to whatever the rules are then? >> i would like to the city attorney for that as well.

that would be my understanding. it would come out of whatever local laws. certainly if the commission wanted to be proactive, you could adopt a condition of approval that would curtail it to 2:00 a.m. >> ok. thank you. mr. paul, just a question for you. ms. greekos testified from vallejo street, it's not an ideal place to be trying to go to sleep or whatever you are trying to do at 2:00 a.m. around broadway. she's nervous that then just gets exacerbated at 4:00 a.m. there's noise from people leaving the penthouse club. maybe you can respond to that. i mean, i know we've heard this isn't necessarily the problem -- is folks coming out the penthouse club. but how are we assured of that?

at 4:00 a.m., we just don't have a repeat of what happens at 2:00 a.m. i know there's not a significant number of businesses that are open until 4:00 a.m. how many people are in the establishment at 3:30 that would leave at 4:00? give us some sense of that. >> on weekend evenings, friday, saturday night, holiday nights, there might be 100 patrons present at closing. there's never a crowd in there. keep in mind this was the stone. i have a closet when he was a heavy metal joint. this was a hive of noise and activity. this is now a sealed box. they set monitors up