>> hello and welcome to the tuesday, march 15th, 2022, hybrid, in-person and virtual meeting of the san francisco entertainment commission. i am the commission's vice president and my name is dori caminong. this meeting is occurring in person in city hall room 408. broadcast live on sfgovtv and available to view on zoom or listening to by calling 1 (669) 900-6833 using meeting id 82316056593. rrz before we begin i would

like to remind all individuals present today that all health and safety protocols and building rules must be adhered to at all times. this includes being masked in the hearing room at all times. failure to adhere to these requirements may result in your removal from this room. we appreciate your cooperation with these important rules and requirements in the interest of everyone's health and safety. please also note that hand sanitizer stations are available throughout the building and that each elevator and masks are available upon request at any of the city hall entrances. we welcome the public's participation during public comment period. there will be an opportunity for general public comment at the beginning of the meeting and there will be an opportunity to comment on each discussion or action item on the agenda. each comment is limited to two

minutes. public comment will be taken both in person and remotely by video or call-in. for each item, the commission will take public comment first from people attending the meeting in person and then from people attending the meeting remotely. for those attending in person, please come up to the podium during public comment, state your name, any affiliations, and then your comment. you will have two minutes. opportunities to speak during public comment period are available via the zoom platform using meeting i.d. 82316056593 or by calling 1 (669) 900-6833 and using the meeting id. if using the zoom platform to speak, select the raised hand option when it's time for public comment. please note that on your zoom, you will be able to hear, but not see the participants at the

meeting. if calling by phone, dial star nine to be added to the speaker line when your item of interest comes up. when you are asked to speak, unmute yourself by hitting star six. please call from a quiet location, speak clearly and slowly and turn down your television or radio. if you're viewing the meeting on sfgov tv, be sure to mute it before speaking during public comment. alternatively, while we recommend that you use a zoom audio or telephone for public comment, you may submit a written public comment through the check function on zoom. please note that commissioners and staff are not allowed to respond to comments or questions during public comment. thank you to sfgov tv and media services for sharing this meeting with the public. we can start with the roll call. >> secretary: great. [roll call]

we can note for the record that he is on his way. [roll call] >> vice president: thank you commission secretary. the first order is the consideration it and possible action to adopt the resolution making findings to allow teleconferenced meetings under california government code section 54953e. is there any in-person public comment for items not listed on

the agenda? >> secretary: sorry. that's the line for item two. we should be asking for any discussion among the commissioners. >> vice president: sorry. >> secretary: and then public comment after that. >> vice president: okay. no worries. sorry. is there any discussion on this item? fellow commissioners? okay. all right. try this again. is there any in-person public comment? >> secretary: there does not appear to be any in-person public comment. >> vice president: thank you. okay. is there any virtual public comment for items not listed on the agenda -- for this item. >> i'm checking and there are no hands raised and no comments in the chat box.

>> vice president: okay. public comment is now closed. >> secretary: aren't we supposed to take a motion on this item. >> vice president: yep. >> secretary: okay. commissioners. >> commissioner: i'd like to move for approval of the meeting minutes of february 15th. >> commissioner: i'll second. >> secretary: it's not for minutes. it's for the consideration -- >> we're struggling tonight. try this again. >> getting back into the groove here. >> vice president: that's okay. we're so excited to be back on the fourth floor of city hall. let's just say that for the record. >> secretary: it's true. >> commissioner: i move approval and possible action to adopt resolution making findings to allow teleconferenced meetings. >> commissioner: second. >> vice president: thank you. >> secretary: i'm sorry.

who seconded? awesome. commissioner wang seconded. and we can now do a roll call for approval. >> vice president: yes, please. >> secretary: great. [roll call] unanimous ayes. >> vice president: okay. i don't see the gavel. i would do a gavel down. oh, well. >> secretary: i think president bleiman has the gavel. >> vice president: okay. the next item on the agenda is item two, general public comment. members of the public may address the commission on items of the interest to the public that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the commission. with respect to agenda items, members may address the commission at the time such item is called.

okay. is there any in-person public comment for items not listed on the agenda? >> secretary: there does not appear to be any in-person public comment. >> vice president: is there any virtual public comment for items not listed on the agenda? >> i'm checking and there is none. >> vice president: okay. public comment is now closed. the next item on the agenda is item number three. approval of minutes for the february 15th, 2022, commission meeting. >> commissioner: i move to approve the minutes of the meeting. >> commissioner: second. >> vice president: okay. is there any public comment on this item? in person? >> secretary: there does not appear to be any in-person

comment. >> vice president: okay any virtual public comment? >> there's no virtual public comment. >> vice president: okay. public comment is now closed. can we do a roll call, please. >> secretary: yes. [roll call] unanimous ayes to approve the minutes. >> vice president: awesome. we found the gavel. [ laughter ] it's not the bedazzled one. >> commissioner: it will be. >> vice president: it shall be done. >> commissioner: we should all do a gem. >> vice president: all right. the next item on the agenda is item number four, report from the executive director. >> director: okay. good evening, commissioners. i just want to take a minute to

thank the staff so much for preparing for today's hearing. as you can see, this is a little bit of a circus, just making sure that every duck is in its row. and making sure that folks can participate both virtually and in person and also just a big welcome back to all of you. we've really missed seeing all of you in person and cannot believe that it's been a full two years since we've last met in a hearing room which is pretty wild and although this is not a staff update, so to speak, i will just say that that gavel will be bedazzled by president bleiman's daughter very soon prior to the next hearing because entertainment in all its forms is very important to all of us. all right. so thank you so much just for braving our virtual hearings the last couple of years. it's been an interesting run

for all of us. also, i just want to say a hello to anybody that is logged in online, this is our first hybrid hearing ever. so i wanted to just provide some updates for all of you on our return here. so the entertainment commission is part of phase one of boards and commissions returning to in-person meetings that started on march 7th. commissioners are required to attend in person, but may attend remotely for personal reasons. if you have covid or you're taking care of a household member who's sick with covid or if you're part of a vulnerable population, you would be excused and able to attend remotely. if attending remotely for covid related reasons, you must submit a letter attesting to having covid related reasons for remote appearance and for how long you'll be unable to attend and you must appear on camera during the meeting, you can't phone it in and you must

vote on camera. the meeting may be fully remote if all members are excused. if a technical failure prevents remote public comment, the commission should take a break or adjourn until the issue is resolved. we will have an agenda -- we just had an agenda item about adopting a simple policy for third party vendors, noncity employees and we will regarding having them in person virtually or both. and just a reminder that all in-person attendees and members must comply with applicable health, safety rules and requirements at all times. so the health officer did issue an update to the local health order easing masking requirements in full alignment with the state's guidelines. in full effect march 18th, masking is no longer required, but recommended. masks continuing to be required

for everyone regardless of vaccination status at in-person meetings and public commission for board hearing rooms and city public facilities. these requirements include commissioners, staff, and members of the public. if you have any questions about any of that, we're happy to address them this evening or we can discuss that via e-mail or phone call. i wanted to just also briefly share some important updates to the health order that impact our entertainment and night life businesses. as of last friday, march 11th, the city is no longer requiring people to provide proof of vaccination or a negative covid-19 test to enter certain indoor settings. these settings include indoor restaurants and bars, indoor venues holding an event with under a 1,000 attendees, gyms and fitness studios. however, businesses can decide to be more restrictive than local health guidelines and can continue to require proof of vaccination or a negative test

from their staff and patrons. masks can also still be required by the business. as a general rule, the health order strongly encourages these businesses to require that patrons and staff provide proof that they're up to date on vaccination including a booster if eligible. one important exception to note for all of you is that indoor mega events of a 1,000 or more people will continue to need proof of vaccination or a negative covid test for patrons and staff before entering the events. patrons and staff will be encouraged, but no longer required to have received a booster. we did send out a newsletter to all of you last week. thank you to dillon rice for doing that with this announcement. you'll see a copy of that in my director's report item in your virtual binder which that's my final update. i just want to thank may for

prepping these ipads for all of you and if you have any questions or issues, i'm essentially free. so i can kind of bounce around. let me know if you have any questions and welcome to the hearing, president bleiman at 5:48 p.m. for the record. >> president: welcome to me. thank you. >> director: and nice hair cut. >> president: thank you. my seven-year-old daughter did it. >> director: wow, she's a woman of many talents. we did discuss her bedazzling of the gavel. >> president: it definitely was a dangerous thing but it worked out okay. sorry i had a child care snafoo. i believe your public comment is finished. is there any public comment on this agenda item? i don't have to ask dillon anymore. this is so weird. do i? because we have a hybrid.

got it. >> you're not out of the water yet. >> director: not yet. >> secretary: there are currently no in-person public comments. >> and i'm checking and there are no virtual comments. no hands raised, no comments in the chat. >> president: next one. we'll close public comment and this agenda item and we'll move on to number five which is a report from deputy director azevedo. >> thank you, president bleiman. it has been a month since our last meeting and in that time, we have 64 sound complaints. a handful of these complaints resulted in educating a business owner on the requirement of needing employment and nearly everyone our inspectors have educated already and begun the application process with me. aside from that, i do have a few enforcement updates to share with you this evening. amsterdam cafe. this first business is amsterdam cafe.

i did discuss this location at our last hearing and i shared that the business is hosting entertainment without a permit. since our last hearing, i've reached out to the owner by way of their lawyer and we continue to respond to sounds. the complaints are coming on weekdays and we did not have staff in the field. whether this is a coincidence or not, i'm scheduling an inspector to go out during the week. i also just want to remind you there is a copy of the enforcement report in your virtual folder if you'd like to follow up. the next business i'd like to share is about joleen's. we received a handful of complaints, but the only violation that's occurred on february 26th when the inspectors responded to a complaint and measured it to be at the approved sound limit. we issued a notice of violation for the occurrence. i want to mention our inspectors observed joleen's

front door is not spring loaded. the security isn't always able to help close the door behind the patron right away. so the inspector suggested they add a spring door so it closes on its own. and further we observed that the speakers have been repositioned since the initial sound test was taken, so we're scheduling an opportunity to go out and take a new sound test to set a new limit. the next update is about decco dance. this location holds a p.o.e. and recently the volume was above their allowable limit. upon further investigation, we learned that the meter that the venue uses to measure their sound limit is not consistent with our sound meter. so our inspector synced the meters up and reminded them to keep windows and doors closed during entertainment. we anticipate this resolving future problems. quick update here on trademark and copy right at 1123 folsom street. we received three complaints

since our last hearing. the internal volume of their djs is quite loud so they're setting up a sound test. as a reminder, this business is not allowed to use their back patio for live entertainment due to a planning commission motion that was passed a few years back. the last update is regarding 26 mix. last thursday, march 10th, i received an e-mail letting me know he was investigating a potential incident that occurred on march 1st. the managers let me know that nothing had occurred on the 5th, but there was an incident that happened outside the club on march 9th. according to management, a fight broke out more than 100 feet away from the premises and those involved were not patrons of the club. the fight moved down the block closer to the business so they secured the door and the police were called. as of today, i have not heard back from authorities about the investigation for the alleged

event that occurred on march 5th. so i'll defer to president bleiman for another potential reconditioning hearing on march 4th. april 5th. pardon me. if you have any questions, i'm happy to answer them for you. >> commissioner: i do notice that hotels are now apparently using their roof decks and we're starting to get hotel via back in the mix. >> good eye. there was an incident that occurred at hotel via. thank you for mentioning that. i'm happy to provide a quick update. we did receive some sound complaints. their scheduling is not consistent, we wanted to make sure we planned to have an inspector go out at their next scheduled event which we did. inspector furintino and savino went out during a sunday day

party and they were operating above their sound limit. they recon figured their speaker system. and when that occurs it warrants a new sound test. following the events, inspect savino and i spoke with the event and there was a pretty big disconnect between the event producer and the hotel management and the event producer was asking independently from the business when we all know at the end of the day, the business holds the permit. with that said, i'm not sure that that event producer will continue doing events at that location, but we are in conversation to discuss whether or not they do need a new sound test from us or not. that's kind of where that stands. >> commissioner: yeah. thank you. it seems like as things are opening back up and the weather gets nicer, we're going to be back in roof deck monitoring situations especially with that particular hotel. thank you to you and the

inspectors for managing that. >> president: commissioner falzon. >> commissioner: looking at 26 mix, we want to understand what's going on there and i see by reading the narrative, we don't have a lot of information yet. is your next step to circle back with officer ortiz? >> that's right. did i hear from officer ortiz that he was unable to make contact with management. and i'm trying to connect them directly so that he can obtain the video footage, the surveillance footage that he's seeking to learn more about what occurred. >> commissioner: is there something that occurreded on the 5th or he's not sure either? >> it appears that in

conversation today, there may have been also an incident that occurred on the 11th. so we're trying to learn more about that. i am in close contact with him. >> commissioner: i would strongly encourage between now and the next meeting you figure all this out and it gets to the executive director and the president and we bring them in to merit a chat. >> absolutely. >> commissioner: thank you so much. >> absolutely. >> president: no further questions from the commission. >> commissioner: the lack of hat's really throwing me off. >> president: well, it's been two years of zooming my head with a hat on. >> commissioner: i understand. i'm just thrown off. >> president: i understand. this is weird for all of us. so let's just address that. >> commissioner: well you missed the beginning. watch the replay. >> president: all right. i don't have any further questions. so we will open this up to our hybrid public comment. is there any public comment here for this agenda item?

>> secretary: it appears there does not appear to be any in-person public comment. >> president: and online. >> i'm checking and there are no hands raised and no comments in the chat box for this item. >> president: all right. we'll close public comment and move on to the next agenda item which is number six hearing impossible actions regarding applications for permits under the jurisdiction of the entertainment commission. and, with that, i'm going to introduce deputy director azevedo to bring up the first topic which i will be recusing myself from because it's a business that i own. so i'm going to step aside for this one. >> thank you, president bleiman and i'll address this to the commission and vice president caminong. so the only item on our consent agenda is for a limited live

performance for a california street cannabis company for an l.l.p.. there was no opposition and richman station did not have any suggested recommendations. so it's on consent. >> vice president: okay. fellow commissioners, is there any discussion on this item? no? okay. is there any public comment on the permit application? >> secretary: there does not appear to be any in-person public comment. >> vice president: okay. is there any virtual? >> there's no virtual public comment. >> vice president: okay. am i following the script wrong? >> secretary: we need to do a motion. >> vice president: sorry about that, you guys. so is there a motion?

>> commissioner: i'll raise a motion to approve with staff recommendations. >> commissioner: second. >> vice president: thank you. all right. your permit application is conditionally granted. >> commissioner: no we've got to vote. >> vice president: okay. let's vote. >> commissioner: you're in a rush. [ laughter ] . >> vice president: all right. can i have a vote, please? >> secretary: [roll call] unanimous ayes to approve. >> vice president: okay. our permit application is conditionally granted. please follow up with the deputy director for the next steps. okay. there he is.

>> commissioner: you knew right when to come back. >> president: yeah. that was strange. good guess. and i will ask deputy director azevedo to introduce the first permit application on the regular agenda. >> thank you. our first permit is for an outdoor l.l.p. located at 430 natoma is it true. the entertainment will be held within their two new parks. mary court east at 425 minna street and marry court west at 44 marry street. the applicants intend to activate the two parks with an array of entertainment such as fitness classes, film screenings, childrens events, and live musical performances. the applicants have elected an all entertainment and amplified sound by 9:00 p.m. and staff are recommending this end time

as adopted. inspectors took sound measures and because the closest sensitive receptor is at 100' away rather than the standard 250', section 1060.16 staff is recommending sound limits. the applicants conducted extensive neighborhood outreach by sending out 423 letters to the community of which 405 were to neighboring residences. additionally, you will find five letters of support in your file. there's no opposition to this report and southern station approves the permit with the one outline before. here to speak with you this evening is swassi bonda. >> hi. i'm the senior director of development at brickville properties. can they see my slides?

>> [ indiscernible ] >> perfect. so updated 5m just recently opened a couple of weeks ago. we have one commercial office tower, one residential tower and 26,000 square feet of public open space at 5m and really the objective for us securing this permit is to be able to provide daily activation and programming for our community members in soma. i'm just going to show a couple slides. so this is -- these are some photos from our grand openings celebration just about two weeks ago. you can see our public open space which has open lawns, a performance stage, as well as a children's play area and a dog run. and a few more photos as well. our intent is to host daily programming, really leveraging our partnership at 5m. we're fortunately to have the dumpster build as part of the

site as well as the women's audio mission. we're excited to be able to host their djs as well as their dance performances on our outdoor stage. we're also looking forward to hosting things like story time and other sorts of cultural and arts performances to really be able to activate the site and provide the type of programming, safety, and security that our community needs at 5m and this permit is a critical step to doing so. we will distributing a newsletter every month to key stakeholders including neighbors that will announce the events that will be hosted at 5m and those events will also be posted on our website so individuals in the community will be aware of what type of programming will be there so they can participate, but also they're aware of when amplified noise will be in the park space. >> president: thank you. any questions from the commissioners? >> commissioner: are you going to be controlling your own sound system? so you guys own and operate and

have one guy kind of in charge with it? >> yeah. we have i will admit a fairly basic sound system that we purchased for these types of daily programming and our property management staff will be aware of the sound limit that is required. and we'll be making sure that our equipment stays within that threshold. when we do have larger scale events, we do have a strong partnership with cultivate labs and their undiscovered outdoor festivals which may -- which will sort of take the entirety of the park. we understand that additional noise permits may be required in some events. >> commissioner: so basically you have the sound system with the stage and then you have a sound man, right? according to this, your level's at 82 which is quite low, actually, for outside. so in other words your dj's playing, does he have control? if he's going to bring it up,

can you bring it down at another location? >> we would instruct the djs as to what the decimal limit is. >> so your guy will have some kind of a monitor, right? >> yeah. and really the day-to-day program is focused on things like exercise classes, story times, some cultural and dance performances and some dj performances as well thanks to women's audio mission. so we're really thinking day not ruckus parties, but day-to-day activities for the park. >> commissioner: okay. >> commissioner lee, may i point you to the staff recommendations in the memo just to clarify that you understand that number three and number four indicate that there are external limits that from a distance at 100' away for both parks. >> commissioner: right. >> respective of the sensitive receptor. >> commissioner: yeah. that's what i'm looking at. >> meaning it would be a higher

measurement if it were from the actual sound source. >> commissioner: i noticed sometimes the inspectors will measure the internal decimals. so even if it goes up, it sounds okay. it's still in violation. i just want to make sure. >> we're mindful of that. we do have a 302-unit residential building that directly adjacent to this park space as well as other residences that are in close proximity, so we do want to be mindful of the fact we have our own residents close by as well. >> commissioner: okay. >> president: commissioner perez. >> commissioner: hello and welcome. and congratulations on being an active member on the south of market because i know this project has been a long time coming but it seems like it's happened so quickly. so congratulations and i have a couple of questions.

actually i want to thank you for all the public outreach that you guys did and i appreciate the letters that were submitted by west bay, united players, and cultivate labs. my question is how are you going to manage if there's a complaint from the neighborhood? will you be able to respond in real time and what's the process of responding to those potential complaints? >> yeah. so our first approach is to really pre-empt complaints, to ensure that we are, a, operating within the decibal limits that are set and, b, sending out our monthly newsletters so people are aware of what's happening. and we're hoping through that proactive events people are going to be able to enjoy these events but also know when there's going to be amplified noise. we do have property managers on

staff and we do have a public phone number where you can submit complaints directly to us and so we have our community relations manager actively monitoring that phone number to ensure that any complaints are addressed by our staff. >> is that phone number available on the website? >> it is available on the newsletter, i'm not sure it's available on the website. >> commissioner: could you check the website. not everyone might receive the newsletter. >> we've had it posted on construction signage and other things. >> commissioner: i noticed on your presentation, you also have a roof top. i guess it's going to be a separate. >> yeah. so the roof top terrace is limited to residents within that building. >> commissioner: great. thank you so much. >> president: any more questions? what are the cross streets? >> so it's -- there are two parcels of park space along

mary's street between natoma and menna. >> president: i'm excited for this. i think anymore opportunities to employ local artists and musicians is just fantastic, especially outdoors. i have no further questions. all right. so you can have a seat. thank you very much for presenting. is there any public comment on this agenda item? >> secretary: there are no in-person public comment on this agenda item. >> there is someone with their hand raised. i'm going to let them speak in zoom. hello, caller, are you calling regarding this item which is

the 5m project? >> caller: yes. i am. >> okay. great. please state your name and you have two minutes. thank you. >> caller: hi. my name is jeff and thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening. i have concerns around this limited live performance permit being considered. my residence of 20 years is approximately 200' from the proposed performance area. we did not receive any letter regarding the permit application. i submit that the notice of application for a permit has not been properly posted for the requisite amount of time nor was the notice posted con spicuously as required and the notice of application was posted inside the fencing. the fencing was just removed on

february 28th or march 1st. it was put back in place on march 10th and it remains up today. the notice was only visible for about nine days. even when the fencing was down, the notice was not posted in a location that would easily attract a passer-by's attention. so i submit that the requirements for posting the notification have not been met. i am requesting that the vote on ec 1624 be postponed for at least 60 days until at least may 15th and that the period for public comment be extended for a similar period until may 9th. i have a link to a couple of photos showing the location of the notice and i will put those in the chat. thank you. >> all right. i am checking and there are no other hands raised.

and, president bleiman, am i allowed to share content in the chat? submitting a link to something in the zoom chat, but he did already speak. is that something we can include? >> into public comment he can't. >> president: it's kind of a gray area i think. >> that's a good question. we've never had this come up before. i could do -- a screen share, i'm not sure that they can see it up here. >> because if it was an in-person meeting, he would be able to hold up photos for us. so -- >> except that it would have occurred during the time allowed. he used up all his time, i

would caution. >> president: i think we should allow it just for the sake of being open. yeah. you can just do a screen share. >> all right. so that's the link that the gentleman just shared. >> that's the notice that's posted on the side there. >> there's more. pardon me. thank you, may. is that sufficient? >> just the two pictures? >> yeah. >> thank you. >> president: any other public comment? >> there's none. >> president: does anybody have thoughts?

discussion? >> commissioner: i just have a quick. the only thing, actually i'm out of experience with this situation with abc licenses and the only thing that's disappointing is this person spent all their time focusing on posting and not what his objection to the space or the event is so i'm a bit at a loss does he actually have a problem with this activation or does he have a problem with -- it sounded to me like his issue's posting. i'm unclear what his problem is with the activation. so it's more of a comment than anything. >> commissioner: i mean, we do have -- sorry. >> president: please. >> commissioner: we have requirements around public notice for a reason and if those aren't being met, it makes sense that we delay something until there is opportunity for public notice and public comment. >> commissioner: i kind of agree, the location is

definitely not if you were walking by, i would never see it, you know. i think the project is great and everything, but i think the more people that are more knowing about it and there's less objections, the whole thing would be a lot smoother than having problems every time they have an event. >> can we put the picture back up, again. please. you never know. >> president: you can take a picture from an angle. you're not there, so you don't have the full experience. >> president bleiman may i make a note for the record regarding the posting. we issued the applicant four postings knowing that there was a large space that needed to be noticed. there were four posters posted. the proof of posting that i have are different than the two posters that are pictured here. so it does appear that the photos that this individual

submitted do not align with the proof of posting that was submitted to me by the applicant which i'm happy to share my phone as a proof of posting that way. >> president: there were four posters. the plot thickens. how did that happen? >> commissioner: can someone refresh my memory to the exact language on the posting requirement that the regulations mandate. >> yes. per the police code, there must be a notice posted to the public in a conspicuous.

>> president: to is appears as if the caller was noting one sign. were there four signs? >> yeah. i was on site when we zip tied those up there. there were multiple signs posted to the fencing. >> president: got it. thank you. >> can i ask a question. >> president: yeah. sorry. >> commissioner: can you just recap for us. i know it's already in submitted paper work here, but can you talk about 5m's outreach to the neighborhood? >> yeah. so we as required sent out letters to residents in via post and in some cases hand delivered letters to i believe the account was over 400 residents in the adjacent area and then we also posted the signage that katelynn just

shared on our fences. in addition to that, we reached out to key community partners who various community partners have submitted letters of support as well. >> commissioner: okay. thank you. i do want to note for the record, there are a number of reputable nonprofits and cultural organizations who have written in support of the cultural programming. >> president: more comments? questions? >> commissioner: is it possible this particular resident just did not get the letter? >> president: sometimes that happens. i've done this a number of times myself and inevitably there are neighbor who is have raised a concern that do not receive a post that we paid for to be sent to them and

affidavit it. it's happened before. >> commissioner: are we able to make a motion at this juncture. >> president: public comment is closed. so, yes, we can make a motion. >> commissioner: okay. i would like to move to approve the outdoor l.l.p. permit with the staff recommendations. >> commissioner: i second. >> commissioner: i think sfpd also has some additional recommendations. just notifying them. >> i think that's included under the staff recommendations. >> commissioner: okay. got it. >> president: all right. we have a motion. we can vote. >> secretary: okay. [roll call]

ayes around for the approval. >> president: all right. congratulations to the applicant. you have been approved and to the disembodied voice who called in, i would just recommend that if you do have concerns that you reach out to our office, that's what we're here for. we exist to act as a liaison between entertainment and neighborhood and communities and that's our job and that's what we're paid for. so not me personally, but that's what they're paid for. so please do not hesitate to share your concerns with our staff as they come up. so thank you very much. and we can move on to the next permit. >> thank you. the final permit on tonight's agenda is for a place of entertainment for the lost church located at 665 chestnut street and this is our first prop h application.

the lost church is a nonprofit theater hosting plays, comedy, magic, spoken word, and acoustic. the lost church originated in the owner's living room and has since grown into a professional production located in santa rosa. as a prop h applicant, planning approved the p.o.e. so long as they operate as a theater which is their intended use and means they cannot sell alcohol during performances. the applicant will be applying for a type 64 liquor license which is a special on sale general for nonprofit theater company. her abc theater companies holding this license may sell alcoholic beverages to ticket holders only during and two hours prior to and one hour after a bona fied theater of the company. sending out nearly 100 letters

to nearby businesses and residents. you will see 35 letters of support submitted by long-time patrons of the lost church. and a handful of their new residential neighbors including the property managers of the residential units. additionally, we did receive five letters of opposition. the owner responded to each one and it's included in your file. at the time of writing this memo, four of the five neighbors responded to the owner's comments. one continued to oppose the application, one still has questions which are -- we're in the middle of answering and the other three rescinded their opposition. i lost my. here we go. excuse me. in an effort to mitigate neighbor concerns, the owner held a community zoom meeting to answer questions. approximately 20 people attended the meeting.

as a result, the applicant has self-elected to have a time of 10:30 p.m. of entertainment and agreed to use and all other patrons will utilize the egress on columbus street. you, of course, have the ability to condition as you see fit after hearing this item or elect to bring this permit applicant back to a hearing at a later date to discuss repositioning. one standard recommendation for this application and here to speak to you this evening is the owner brett klein. >> hello. i am the executive director of the lost church. we are a 501 c3 nonprofit arts organization. this project has been funded by the california arts council, the san francisco grants for the arts and the san francisco office of economic work force and development. ten years ago, my wife and i started at the theater in our

living room to put on my ridiculous plays. is it possible to show some of these? >> yes. >> all right. here we see i believe this is "mummy, the opera." but what ended up happening almost immediately is we were totally overwhelmed. i don't even know how these people found us, but with people who wanted to play our little space and it turns out there are far more artist who is need a 49 seat theater than a 490 seat theater and patrons who far more prefer to sit in a theater space than go to a club or nightclub where the prime thing is to serve alcohol. so since then, we have hosted roughly 300 shows a year including tons of live acoustic performances. change. here we go. here's the manzanita string

courtett. here's "clive always." anyhow. a bunch of these different little plays. one of my favorites is brad barton, reality. he's a magician at our monthly residence. as well as ned bus kirk, you're going to die. poetry goes about death and loss. it's heavy but one of the most beautiful things you can take part in. we've also helped ned become a zone 5013c and i'm pretty proud of that. anyway. more little acoustic performances. basically, the only thing, we started this process many years ago. it took a long time to get funding and we worked through. we got a c.u.p. for 65 calf. we were never able to come up with an a.d.a. accessible

situation that was under about a half a million dollars. ultimately, we started looking for a new space after we got funding from hardly strictly bluegrass and other foundations. we -- it took over a year and i was absolutely stunned at how little space has suited us. we need a very small space that has high end. we need fire sprinklers and ada accessibility. this is the reason we moved. i was overjoyed after a year of rigorously searching to actually find a place at 665 chestnut. i was excited about this because of its entrance on columbus. there's a bar across the corner. cob's comedy club. it's in a basement. the people above us are actually a medical group that leave at 5:30 at night and they are all on board with this. i felt that this basement gave us the best opportunity to be able to serve the public

without -- with the least amount of negative impact on our neighbors. if we are allowed to move forward, i have -- i'm totally open to all the neighbors to ensure that we do not bother them, you know and we'll do everything in our power to make sure that happens. i submit that. i hope you guys accept our request and i want to thank super hero deputy director here for her hard work in bringing this all together. thank you. >> president: questions? comments? >> commissioner: quick question. >> president: go. >> commissioner: deputy director, i'm just curious, what made you flag section 1.102, article 1, section one? why are we putting that in as a condition? >> absolutely. thanks for the question on this. this was approved by the

planning department because the applicant proposed a theater use and so we don't have a theater permit, it falls under p.o.e., however, there are specific regulations around operating as a theater which ties to alcohol sales and so that's why we're quoting section 102 of the planning code. >> commissioner: great. thank you. >> you're welcome. >> commissioner: well done. >> president: other questions? >> commissioner: just to share, i heard from supervisor peskin's office that they appreciate the community outreach that happened and are confident that mr. klein will continue to engage with the neighbors and resolve any concerns and are supportive. >> president: all right. well, i don't have any further questions. the lost church is a thing of legends in san francisco and we're going to have a

discussion about this, but i'm very happy that you have existed in doing your thing and we hope that you will find a home that works. so you can have a seat and we will open up to public comment hybrid. it's so weird. i'm not used to it yet. >> secretary: there are no in-person public comments. >> president: this hearing room too, i can't see anything. i actually need help. there's a giant podium in my face. i need to be taller. i'm sure it's fine for dillon. >> good evening. there are some people with their hands raised and we've already received some comments in the zoom chat. so i'm going to read the first one for the record. i have no more than two minutes allowed for each public

comment. i'm going to do my best to read it as clearly as possible. i will read for two minutes and then unfortunately i will have to stop what i'm reading. so the first one's from viva tie concerning lost church's p.o.e.. in last documents the 2020 drawing of the floor plans clearly shows the construction in the corner space includes new bathrooms requiring both demolition and construction. subsequently in the application questionnaire signed by the applicant on december 8th, 2021, on page 6, under construction's last renovation, the question describe any construction renovation or other improvements for your premises and the timetable for completion, unquote. the applicant answers interior decoration unquote. the two related permits

questions blank. this appears to be contradiction to what was planned implemented. the applicant has acknowledged that new bathrooms were being constructed. the consequences of this have been many. shortly after, in december, the jackhammering started even as early as 5:00 a.m. there was no sign adjust such an application had been filed nor outreach of the immediate neighbors normally the abutting, i won't name the name of the building residence because of the address. the concerns regarding construction as well as impact from future entertainment events include noise, odors, and vibration from machinery as the construction appears to have removed hammering and drilling which appear to break through into our structure could clearly be heard from within our unit and caused alarm and for us to report it. it seems that if the applicant

were practicing a good neighbor policy, he would have confirm wednesday his neighbors while we could provide feedback. as for the application, the public informational posting only appeared a short time ago and did not indicate the location within the four-story building nor was it posted at the other main entrance. so time's up. i'm not allowed to go further with that one. and that counts as your public comment. all right. i'm going to read the next one that we received. let me see, this person i believe is -- okay. so this person identifies as living in the neighboring building. they do not want to identify their name. and they say regarding lost

church, they say regarding lost church we request that any queue be formed only on columbus and doesn't wrap on chestnut. we request that loading or unloading of equipment be only on columbus and not chestnut. we request that there be extensive testing for no base leakage to the neighboring building. that is their comment. you can stop the clock. okay. i have another hand raised. hello, caller, is this regard to the lost church application. can you hear us?

>> caller: yes. i can. >> okay. please state your name and your public comment. >> okay. >> caller: my name is jose and i just wanted to finish off some comments and given in the area where there are many residential units, we believe but if the project is approved then by 10:00 a.m. coinciding with the residential quiet time and allowing for a short amount of time after participants to exit the premises and in terms of noise, we believe there should be sound testing done to ensure that construction did not adversely affect the barrier between that building and the joining buildings and if so that it be corrected before any permit to be granted

and performances could be commencing. thank you. >> thank you. all right. in terms of anyone else, there's no other new commenter that i can see. just listeners, please raise your hand if you have not yet made a public comment. and i'm seeing there's none. >> president: okay. i'm going to go ahead and close public comment, then if that makes sense. discussion? >> commissioner: i mean, it's a small place and it sounds like it's just going to be i

mean, you're not going to have large groups, right? i'm getting the impression that it is going to not really a theater, but more of a pub kind of thing. i should ask these questions when he was here. >> president: i think it's just a theater, it's not a pub. >> commissioner: well, it's small. we deal with places that are 300. >> president: it's directly across the street from cobb's. >> commissioner: there's an entertainment and it's been there for a long time so neighbors are concerned. well, i don't think. i mean, that's a busy place. i get it, you know, there's certain things that the applicants should work out with their neighbors if they're going to be loading, don't load on chestnut. these are pretty much honorable things to do. so as a responsible owner and

you want to work with your neighbors, i think you -- even though it's not going to be in writing per se, you should do that. i have no problems with a small theater or small venue like this in this area. so that's my comment. >> commissioner: just adding to that, i just want to commend you. i think the city is really in need of spaces like this for artists and that there's a lot of demand for it. it does seem to be in an area and i do note you have a sound mitigation plan. it's in a concrete building. and i feel comfortable moving forward. >> commissioner: yeah.

i echo that. this is a small nonprofit theater. it's going to be on columbus street in an area of entertainment venues. i support this. >> president: yeah. the only thing i would add is i hear the concerns of the neighbors, but, you know, they also, they live next next to an entertainment zone and just because the place has been empty, doesn't mean it shouldn't be fill wednesday a use that's allowable by our city zoning code which the planning department has already authorized and a lot of the concerns that i heard were planning concerns which is certainly not our purview, that's not our department, it's not our jurisdiction or however you want to describe it. for me, this is about now that the planning department has deemed that this is a place that is zoned correctly for a

theater whether or not we grant a permit, you know, it just seems crazy to me that we wouldn't, but we can vote obviously, we have to vote. the other thing i'd say is it does appear this owner is a lot more open to negotiating with neighbors and addressing their concerns, i would say 99% of the people that we've seen come across here usually at the box checking exercise or often it is and it doesn't feel like this was here and him willing to lower his or reduce his operating hours to 10:30 p.m. technically, this permit could go to 2:00 p.m., but he's self-offering for it to go to 10:30 p.m. we see a lot of these permits and i think that you might consider yourselves lucky for having somebody who's this conscientious walking and

moving next door because you never know who else might move in next door to you. so that said, i think we can have a vote if i'm correct. >> commissioner: motion. >> president: motion first. let's do that. >> commissioner: i move to approve with staff recommendations. >> commissioner: second. >> president: now we can vote. >> secretary: [roll call] >> president: congratulations. your permit's been approveded. you can follow up with our staff at your earliest convenience. one thing i would say is that it's great that you are operating only until 10:30 and i think that's a wonderful thing to do for the neighbors. if at any time if things are

going well, you wanted to consider other options, it certainly is an option for you to come back for the commission and ask for us to reconsider what time you would be required to close. sounds like it may not be a problem for you at all. but i want to make sure you have that in the back of your mind. thank you very much. all right. the final agenda item is number seven. commissioners comments and questions and new business request for future agenda items. welcome back everyone. this is something else. >> commissioner: yeah. >> can we bedazzle the hammer? >> president: we are going to. we have a date with my daughter maggie and some jewelled things to put on there. they're in this box. got it. i'll definitely not lose these tonight. there's no question. >> commissioner: send a photo to our former president of your daughter's handiwork. one item, there was an article

in the san francisco chronicle about people distributing fentanyl test strips in different night life venues and bars and so on and in addition there have been a number of people in the night life who've been distributing naloxone at their performances and so on and then attempt to reduce overdose fatalities in the city, i would love to put that on a future agenda item to talk about the role that night life and our venues can play in and ways to improve uptake of these sorts of life-saving interventions and entertainment venues. >> president: i think this is more necessary than ever. you may have heard about people in the mission who may have accidentally overdosed. those are three regulars in my bar and in fact the one had had a party that week that then got

canceled because he was no longer with us. he was not somebody i was close with, but our staff, everybody was close to him. so it really hits close to home. i hope that all entertainment venues and bars can get access to the spray or the strips as soon as humanly possible because this thing is no joke. thank you for bringing that up and i second the idea of bringing it before the hearing to learn more about it. thank you. >> commissioner: thank you. >> president: other questions. >> commissioner: just happy to see us re-opening downtown. people getting back to work. entertainment coming back to life more and more. it's great to see. >> president: just to end it, i'm just going to plug the bluegrass festival that i'm putting on in the community benefit district which i operate which is called picking on the polk. it's easter weekend and i think we have 16 different bluegrass

fans all booked through hardly strictly and everything's free including the street closure. please come out for that. >> what was the date and time? >> president: april 15th and 16th, the street closures on saturday, that's the 16th, but we have 12 to 14 shows going on in our cafes and wine bars and bars. so we're programming the whole district as a number of venues for us. >> commissioner: i got one. it says we missed the meeting last time, right. i want to report that the chinese new year parade was the biggest ever. we must of had almost like it was 2018 when i drove in the parade and saw all the barricades were at least 10 or 15 deep like it was before the pandemic. i want to thank the community and all the people that stuck together to try to survive after all this and we had a

great night in chinatown. all the businesses are doing well, we're now back to normal and everybody's still waiting for more customers. so just want to let everybody know that you guys can still come and eat dinner and hopefully push these restaurants to start opening later again. you know, we're still pretty much closed down at 9:00 and us entertainment venues trying to bring more people in. so thank you everybody for the support. >> president: thank you, commissioner perez. >> commissioner: yeah. i just want to take this opportunity to give a shout out to former commissioner liam frost. i believe it's like the 1701st annual st. patrick's day parade in san francisco. i just want to tell him congratulations and great job for getting that out.

>> president: liam. okay. all right. well, is there any public comment on the final agenda item here? >> secretary: there is no in-person public comment. >> i'm checking and there is none on zoom. >> president: all right. we will close public comment and we will adjourn this meeting at 6:46 p.m. thank you very much everyone. >> thank you.

>> we worked very hard with the san francisco venue coalition, the independent venue alliance to advocate for venues. put this issue on the radar of the supervisors and obviously mayor breed. the entertainment commission and the office of small business and we went to meetings and showed up and did public comment and it was a concerted effort between 50 venues in the city and they are kind of traditional like live performance venues and we all made a concerted effort to get out there and sound the alarm and to her credit, maybe breed really stepped up, worked with matt haney, who is a supervisor haney was a huge champion for us and they got

this done and they got $3 million into the sf venue recovery fund. >> we have represented about 40 independent venues in san francisco. basically, all the venues closed on march 13th, 2020. we were the first to close and we will be the last to reopen and we've had all the of the overhead costs are rent, mortgage, payroll, utilities and insurance with zero revenue. so many of these venues have been burning $1,000 a day just to stay closed. >> we have a huge music history here in san francisco and the part of our cultural fab lick but it's also an economic

driver. we produce $7 billion annual' here in san francisco and it's formidable. >> we've been very fortunate here. we've had the department of emergency management and ems division and using part of our building since last april and aside from being proud to i can't tell you how important to have some cost recovery coming in and income to keep the doors open. >> typically we'll have, three to 400 people working behind the teens to support the show and that is everything from the teamsters and security staff and usualers, ticket takers, the

folks that do our medical and the bar tenders and the people in the kitchen preparing food for backstage and concession and the people that sell key shirts and it's a pretty staggering amount of people that are out of work as a result of this one verne you going tarkanian. it doesn't work to open at reduced capacity. when we get past june 15th, out of the into the blue print for our economy we can open it it 100% and look at the festival in full capacity in october and we're just so grateful for the leadership of the mavor and dr. coal fax to make us the safest ♪ america and this is been hard for everybody in san francisco and the world but our leadership has kept us safe and

i trust them that they will let us know when it's safe to do that. >> a lot of people know about america is military stuff, bullying stuff, corporate stuff. when people like me and my friends go to these foreign country and play music, we're giving them an american cultural experience. it's important. the same way they can bring that here. it sounds comfy buyia, you know, we're a punk band and we're nasty and we were never much for peace and love and everything but that's the fertilizer that grows the big stuff that some day goes to bill graham's place and takes everybody's money but you have to start with us and so my hope is that allel groups and people make music and get together because without out, hanging together we'll hang

separately, you know. >> other venues like this, all over the place, not just in the san francisco bay area need to exist in order for communities to thrive and i'm not just talking about the arts communities, even if you are here to see a chuckle bucket comedy show and you are still experiencing humanity and in specific ways being able to gather with people and experience something together. and especially coming out of the pandemic, the loss of that in-person human connection recovering that in good ways is going to be vital for our entire society. >> it's a family club. most our staff has been working with us for 10 years so we feel like a family. >> what people think of when they think of bottom of the hill and i get a lot of this is first

of all, the first place i met my husband or where we had our first date and i love that and we love doing weddings and i expect there to be a wedding season post 2021 of all the make up we haddings and i hope that many people do that because we have had so many rock ep role weddings. >> i told my girlfriend, make sure you stand at the front of the stage and i can give you a kiss at midnight. at this got down on one knee at the stroke of midnight. it wasn't a public thing, i got down on one knee and said will you marry me and is he she had are you [beep] kidding me and i said no, i'm dead serious and she said yes. we were any time homicideel of the show. we just paused for new year's eve and that was where i proposed to my wife.

this is more than just a professional relationship it's more than just a relationship from a love of arts, it's where my family started. we'll always have a special place in my heart. >> venues, you know, represent so much. they are cultural beckons of a city. neighbors can learn and celebrate and mourn and dance together. venues and arts and culture are characterized as second responders to crisis and they provide a mental health outlet and a community center for people to come together at and it's the shared history of our city and these spaces is where we all come together and can celebrate. >> art often music opens up people to understanding the fellow man and i mean, taz always necessary and if

anything, it's going to be even more necessary as we come out of this to reach out and connect with people. >> we can sustain with food, water and shelter is accurate and does anybody have a good time over the last year? no. >> san francisco is a great down. i've been here many years and i love it here and it's a beautiful, beautiful, place to be music and art is key to that. drama, acting, movies, everything, everything that makes life worth living and that's what we've got to mow proteasome no san francisco and that's what is important now. [♪♪♪].

>> i just feel like this is what i was born to do when i was a little kid i would make up performances and daydream it was always performing and doing something i feel if i can't do that than i can't be me. >> i just get excited and my nickname is x usher my mom calls me i stuck out like a sore thumb for sure hey everybody i'm susan kitten on the keys from there, i working in vintage

clothing and chris in the 30's and fosz and aesthetic. >> i think part of the what i did i could have put on my poa he focus on a lot of different musical eras. >> shirley temple is created as ahsha safai the nation with happens and light heartenness shirley temple my biggest influence i love david boo and el john and may i west coast their flamboyant and show people (singing) can't be unhappy as a dr. murase and it is so fun it is a joyful instrument i learned more about

music by playing the piano it was interesting the way i was brought up the youth taught me about music he picked up the a correspond that was so hard my first performing experience happened as 3-year-old an age i did executive services and also thanks to the lord and sank in youth groups people will be powering grave over their turk i'll be playing better and better back la i worked as places where men make more money than me i was in bands i was treated as other the next thing i know i'm in grants performing for a huge protection with a few of my friends berry elect and new berry elect and can be ray was then

and we kept getting invited back you are shows got better we made it to paris in 2005 a famous arc we ended up getting a months residencey other than an island and he came to our show and started writing a script based on our troop of 6 american burr elect performs in france we were woman of all this angels and shapes and sizes and it was very exciting to be part of the a few lettering elect scene at the time he here he was bay area born and breed braces and with glossaries all of a sudden walking 9 red carpet in i

walgreens pedestrian care. >> land for best director that was backpack in 2010 the french love this music i come back here and because of film was not released in the united states nobody gave a rats ass let's say the music and berry elect and performing doesn't pay very much i definitely feel into a huge depression especially, when it ended i didn't feel kemgd to france anymore he definitely didn't feel connected to the scene i almost feel like i have to beg for tips i hey i'm from the bay area and an artist you don't make a living it changed my represent tar to appeal and the folks that are

coming into the wars these days people are not listening they love the idea of having a live musician but don't really nurture it like having a potted plant if you don't warrant it it dizzy sort of feel like a potted plant (laughter) i'm going to give san francisco one more year i've been here since 1981 born and raised in the bay area i know that is not for me i'll keep on trying and if the struggle becomes too hard i'll have to move on i don't know where that will be but i love here so so much i used to dab he will in substances i don't do that i'm sober and part of the being is an and sober and happy to be able to play music and perform and express myself

if i make. >> few people happy of all ages i've gone my job so i have so stay is an i feel like the piano and music in general with my voice together i feel really powerful and strong