ENTERTAINMENT COMMISSION
City and County of San Francisco
ACTION MINUTES OF THE
Tuesday August 15, 2017
City Hall, Hearing Room 416
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA  94102

COMMISSIONERS

Present

Bryant Tan
Laura Thomas
Ben Blieman
Steven Lee
Liam Frost

STAFF

Present

Acting Director, Maggie Weiland
Sound Inspector, Sean Burke
Senior Analyst, Community & Cultural Events, Dylan Rice
Commission Aide, Crystal Stewart

CALL TO ORDER

Chair Bryant Tan called the meeting to order at 5:36PM.

Absent were Dori Caminong and Al Perez.

ROLL CALL

Members of the public may address the Commission on items of interest to the public that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Commission. With respect to agenda items, members of the public may address the Commission for up to three minutes at the time such item is called. 

General Public comment.

Members of the public may address the Commission on items of interest to the public that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Commission. With respect to agenda items, members of the public may address the Commission for up to three minutes at the time such item is called. 

Bennet Montoya of Hue Nightclub stated he wanted to understand how a condition of live entertainment was put on his permit to end entertainment at 12AM.  He added he has operated the nightclub over a decade and has not had one ABC violation or citations from the Entertainment Commission, no civil lawsuits or incidents with violent weapons.  He added on the same street on Broadway incidents occurred were someone was stabbed and bleed out onto the street and someone else got their head caved in or were a patron got kicked out of a venue and fired a weapon at the venue and patrons were getting drugged.   He added not to mention the murders and shootings and why hasn’t the Commission put any conditions on these clubs as they did his.   He added they have never been out of compliance with the sound that was set by the commission.  He added there were discrepancies with SFPD’s cad reports to the Entertainment Commission.  He asked to come before the Commission to discuss these matters.

Jordan Pauley former Sound Inspector of the Entertainment Commission stated he was present on behalf of Bennet Montoya.  He added he was present to discuss the item before the Commission made a final decision.   He added during his time as a Sound Inspector he has seen several things especially on Broadway and on Grant Street there was violence.  He added some of the violence and intoxication was normal to nightlife.   He added with the police reports there are sometimes they focus on certain things.   He added there were a lot of things you could nick pick and feels as far as Hue’s sound level they have been in compliance.   He added he did not think the Entertainment Commission acted unfairly but they were given limited information but to take into consideration the changes the venue has made.  

2. Approval of Meeting Minutes.  Discussion and possible action to approve the minutes of July 18, 2017 Commission meeting. [Action Item]

Commissioner Thomas moved to approve Commissioner Lee second the motion

Vote:

Yeas - Commissioner Caminong, Commissioner Tan, Commissioner Lee
Absent – Commissioner Frost, Commissioner Bleiman and Commissioner Perez
Absent - Commissioner Thomas at time of vote, present after this item

3. Report from Acting Director: Legislative/Policy Update: Update on File #170443, cleanup legislation regarding amplified sound; Staff and Office Update: Retirement of Executive Director Jocelyn Kane and Staff Transition; Update on Board of Appeals Action: Notice of Decision for Appeal No. 17-103; Corrective Actions: Nothing to Report. [Discussion Item]

4. Report from Sound Inspector: Sean Burke reports on recent venue sound inspections and activities. [Discussion Item]

NEW COMPLAINTS                                                      

7/14/17 311 SPIN 690 Folsom 2 complaints since last hearing. Had activated outdoor speakers, and has ceased using them since visiting.

7/21/17 311 Here Collective Golden Gate and Van Ness Jack Daniels event. Permitted. Significant neighborhood impact. Operator is aware and has held outreach meeting.

7/22/17 311        Grandma's Café 2797 16th St.      "Live bands on sporadic weekends until 11PM."

8/1/17   311        Hi-Tops 1715 Webster "Noise. Must be trivia night - amplified voices and tunes blaring with door left open"

8/6/17  311 Nihonmachi Street Fair 1715 Webster     The Nihon Machi Street Festival's live music is exorbitantly loud and often runs after its permit expires 8/9/17   311        Mix        4078 18th Street "Outdoor patio is VERY loud, late at night, and the sound travels to the surrounding neighborhood"

8/10/17 311        Revolution Café 1715 Webster     2 complaints since last hearing from same resident. Will visit this weekend to communicate issue to operator.

RESOLVED COMPLAINTS                                            

Hue        447 Broadway    No complaints since last hearing. Never found to be in excess of external sound limit. New ambient taken.

Codeword  917 Folsom No complaints since last hearing. Never found to be in excess of internal sound limit.

ONGOING COMPLAINTS                                             

Original: 6/3/17 311 Mayes Oyster House 1233 Polk St. 9 Complaints re: bass and patrons outside establishment in last 2 months. All anonymous. Investigation continues.

Original: 11/14/16 Text Halcyon 314 11th St. Complaint: 8/11 - Early morning yoga and holistic dance event from 7-9am audible in surrounding residences.

SITE INSPECTIONS                                                        

8/13/17 8:00 PM AT&T Park 24 Willie Mays    8 complaints via Hotline, 2 via 311. Working with Giants to make improvements moving forward.

SOUND ABATEMENT INSPECTION                                                        

8/4/17   9:30 PM Toy Solider 52 Belden Passed.

5. Report from the Senior Analyst – Community & Cultural Events: Dylan Rice discusses update on SF Outdoor Event Planning and Permitting Guide and reports on first Outdoor Events Network mixer and panel at The Stud on July 27, 2017. [Discussion Item]

Senior Analyst, Community & Cultural Events, Dylan Rice reported on the mixer and learning session for outdoor event producers and the first event was held at the Stud held on July 27, 2017 called the SF Outdoor Events Network. The whole objective of the series was to create a forum to foster an event of education and increase knowledge of best practices and industry trends.   He added as well as to strengthen the vitality of community cultural outdoor events through education and networking.

6. Discussion and Possible Action to adopt written comments and/or recommendations already submitted by the Director to the Planning Department and/or Department of Building Inspection regarding noise issues for proposed residential projects per Chapter 116 of the Administrative Code. [Action Item]

a) 18 Turk Murphy Lane, Bl/Lot: 0147/022, Discussion and possible action to adopt written comments and/or recommendations regarding noise issues for the proposed residential project at 18 Turk Murphy Lane, which is located within 300 feet of Sip Bar and Lounge,  a permitted Place of Entertainment.

Commissioner Thomas moved to approve Commissioner Lee second the motion

Vote:
Yeas - Commissioner Caminong, Commissioner Tan, Commissioner Lee
Absent – Commissioner Frost, Commissioner Bleiman and Commissioner Perez
Absent - Commissioner Thomas at time of vote, present after this item

Commissioner Tan moved this item first on item 6.

b)  344 14th StreeBl/Lot: 3532/1013 & 3532/1021, Discussion and possible action to adopt written comments and/or recommendations regarding noise issues for the proposed residential project at 344 14th Street & 1463 Stevenson Street, which is located within 300 feet of SF Armory and The Armory Club, permitted Places of Entertainment.

Public Comment

Audrey Joseph stated they were excited about the project happening but had some concerns she wanted to address. 

Commissioner Thomas moved to approve with additional sound test on a peak time on the 29th of September, street lighting and no street closure during Armory’s events Commissioner Blieman second the motion

Vote:
Yeas - Commissioner Tan, Commissioner Thomas, Commissioner Lee Commissioner Frost, Commissioner Bleiman
Absent - Commissioner Caminong, Commissioner Perez

8. Police Department Comments & Questions. This item allows any member of the SFPD to address the Commission regarding matters related to nightlife and public safety. [Discussion Item]

No police comments were made.

9. Hearing and Possible Action regarding applications for permits under the jurisdiction of the Entertainment Commission. [Action Item]

Consent Calendar:

All matters listed hereunder constitute a Consent Calendar, are considered to be routine by the Entertainment Commission, and will be acted upon by a single roll call vote of the Commission.  There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a member of the Commission, the public, or staff so requests, in which event the matter shall be removed from the Consent Calendar and considered as a separate item at this or a future hearing.

Consent Agenda:

EC-1414 – Brown, Daniel, Noise, 3427 Balboa St., Limited Live Performance Permit.

Acting Director Maggie Weiland stated the first permit application for this evening is a Limited Live Performance permit application for Noise located at 3427 Balboa Street. Noise is a record store is the Richmond that wants to host occasional live music performances. In your files, you will see that Noise received several pages of signatures of support, as well as over 70 letters of support from neighbors and supporters of the business, as well as a letter from Supervisor Fewer. We did not receive any letters of protest. Richmond Station approves this permit application with no objection or added conditions. Since there were no issues with this application, it is on the consent agenda

Lady spoke in support of the permit application and supported the application.

Public comment closed.  

Commissioner Blieman moved to approve
Commissioner Thomas second the motion

Vote:
Yeas - Commissioner Tan, Commissioner Thomas, Commissioner Lee Commissioner Frost, Commissioner Bleiman
Absent - Commissioner Caminong, Commissioner Perez

Regular Agenda:           

EC-1415 – Haynes, Rick, Two-51, 251 Rhode Island St., Place of Entertainment Permit.

Acting Director Maggie Weiland stated the permit needs to be postponed due to unforeseen issues with the Planning Department. The venue will reschedule with the Commission as soon as possible. ***President Tan to move to continue this permit application to the next possible hearing at the request of the permit applicant.

Commissioner Tan moved to continue the item at the applicants request Commissioner Thomas second the motion.

Vote:
Yeas - Commissioner Tan, Commissioner Thomas, Commissioner Lee Commissioner Frost, Commissioner Bleiman
Absent - Commissioner Caminong, Commissioner Perez

10. Commissioner Comments & Questions. [Discussion Item]

Commissioner Blieman updated the Commission with the process for hiring a new Executive Director and there was an initial application put out by the Human Resource Department that yielded a low number of qualified candidates and they revised the job qualifications and description and it was submitted a month ago and there was a substantial outpour of applicants that were qualified this time around.  He added the process going forward with applicants that meet the requirements.

ADJOURNMENT

8:10PM