ENTERTAINMENT COMMISSION
City and County of San Francisco
ACTION MINUTES OF THE
Tuesday June 6, 2017
City Hall, Hearing Room 416
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA  94102

COMMISSIONERS

Present
Bryant Tan
Laura Thomas
Steven Lee
Dori Caminong
Al Perez
Liam Frost
Ben Bleiman

STAFF

Present
Executive Director, Jocelyn Kane
Deputy Director, Maggie Weiland
Sound Inspector, Sean Burke
Commission Aide, Crystal Stewart

CALL TO ORDER

Chair Bryant Tan called the meeting to order at 5:37PM.

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.

No general public comments were made.

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

No public comment was made.

Commissioner Perez moved approve the minutes of May 2, 2017 Commissioner Lee second the motion with one minor correction.

Vote:
Yeas - Commissioner Perez, Commissioner Caminong, Commissioner Thomas, Commissioner Tan, Commissioner Lee, Commissioner Ben Bleiman and Commissioner Frost
Noes – None

Chair Tan moved item No. 3 Report from the Sound Inspectors to item No. 8 on the agenda.

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

NEW COMPLAINTS                                      

5/13/17 12:10am Verdi Club 2424 Mariposa Loud noise from live music. Audible with all windows closed.

RESOLVED COMPLAINTS                                            

Public Works  161 Erie No complaints since establishing new sound limit for Public Works on 5/6/17.

Brick & Mortar 1710 Mission

ONGOING COMPLAINTS                                            

Original: 3/10/15 Hawthorn 46 Geary  Complaint investigated on numerous occasions. Operator not found out of compliance. Requests to enter neighboring residential units denied.
Original: 10/24/16 Revolution Café  3248 22nd St. Operator met with staff on 5/2/17.
Additional complaint on 5/19/17. Citation issued on 5/20/17. Citation paid. Complaint on 5/22/17. Nothing since.
Original: 11/14/16 Halcyon   314 11th St.
Additional complaints: 5/14 @ 1:12 AM, 5/20 @ 2:47 AM, 5/28 @ 6:06 AM, 5/29 @ 2:26 AM, 6/3 @ 12:36 AM - Citations issued 5/13 & 20
Original: 1/15/17 Codeword  917 Folsom Additional complaints on 4/28 @ 12:05 AM, 5/21 @ 10:21 PM, 5/26 @ 12:25 AM, 12/28 @ 10:38 PM.  Working w/ operator to address complaints.

ADMINISTRATIVE CITATIONS                                    

5/13/17 1:52am Halcyon  314 11th St.    In excess of internal sound limit. (UNPAID - Due 30 days from 6/14/17)
5/14/17 1:00am  The Endup 401 6th St. Violation of Good Neighbor Policy #8: Audible >50' from property. (PAID)
5/20/17 12:45am Revolution Café 3248 22nd St. Violation of Permit Condition: Operating past 12:30am (PAID)
5/20/17   2:00am Halcyon 314 11th St.    In excess of internal sound limit. (UNPAID - Due 6/22/17)
5/20/17 2:05am Audio 316 11th St.  Operating w/o Extended Hours Premises permit. (UNPAID: Due 6/22/17)

NOTICES OF VIOLATION                                            

4/28/17 10:30pm Club Malibu 3395 Mission Violation of Good Neighbor Policy #2: No security posted at entrance.

4. 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]

1601-1637 Market Street, Bl/Lot: 3505/001,7,8,27-29,31-33, 35  Discussion and possible action to adopt written comments and/or recommendations regarding noise issues for the proposed residential project at 1601-1637 Market St, which is located within 300 feet of Zuni,  a permitted Place of Entertainment.

Chair Tan moved item No. 4 Discussion and possible action to adopt written recommendations to the Director of Planning Department to item No. 9 on the agenda.

5. 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-1407 – Raglin, Jonny, Bellota, 888 Brannan St., Limited Live Performance Permit.

Deputy Director Maggie Weiland stated the first permit application for this evening is a Limited Live Performance permit application for Bellota located at 888 Brannan Street. Bellota is a restaurant in the Design District that wants to offer complimentary live jazz to patrons during dinner hours. The venue does not have any residential neighbors, and did not receive any letters of protest. Southern Station approves this permit application with the attached conditions. Since there were no issues with this application, it is on the consent agenda.

No public comment was made.

Commissioner Lee moved to approve Commissioner Thomas second the motion

Vote:
Yeas - Commissioner Perez, Commissioner Caminong, Commissioner Thomas, Commissioner Tan, Commissioner Lee, Commissioner Ben Bleiman and Commissioner Frost
Noes – None

Regular Agenda:

EC-1409 – Miller, Britt, Jeff Keith Jurow, Sterling Heatley, Hollow Cow, 1875 Union St., Limited Live Performance Permit.

This permit needs to be postponed due to unforeseen issues with the Planning Department. The venue will reschedule with the Commission as soon as possible.

Commissioner Frost continued the item to the call of the chair Commissioner Thomas second the message.

Vote:
Yeas - Commissioner Perez, Commissioner Caminong, Commissioner Thomas, Commissioner Tan, Commissioner Lee, Commissioner Ben Bleiman and Commissioner Frost
Noes – None

6. 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.

7.  Review and possible action to change the conditions on the Place of Entertainment permit #EC-953 Place of Entertainment permit, dba Hue located at 447 Broadway, San Francisco, CA. 94133 at the request of SFPD Central Station.  [Discussion and Possible Action Item]

Captain Yep, the commanding officer of Central Station Police station stated since he took over as Commanding Officer in March of 2017 and he was immediately he was advised of problems at or related to a place of Entertainment at Hue located at 447 Broadway Street.  He added the complaints were numerous and directly from the public, neighbors and business owners, managers the Broadway and the Community Benefit District, neighborhood watch groups, other police officers and the media.   He added the complaints contain a history of fights, aggravated assaults, threats, disturbing the peace, public intoxication and violations their entertainment permit as well as their ABC permit.  He added there have been attempts to work with Hues management to resolve the issues over the past two years.  He added the volume of police complaints were documented which they would present to the commission tonight.  He added there was a clear pattern of disturbances that directly impacts the quality of life and the safety of the neighborhood.  He added it was predictable that Hue would continue this pattern of conduct.  He requested that the Entertainment Commission consider modifications to the Entertainment Permit specifically to impose a condition to not allow the venue to have amplified or loud music after midnight until 8AM.

Commander Officer David Lazar stated he served as the Commanding officer to Central Police station from 2014 to 2017.  He added he was familiar with the entertainment industry and venues in and out the Central district.  He added he was very familiar with Broadway and when he started at Central station at that time was Club Atmosphere was on the radar in terms of their inability to handle the lines, the loud music the disputes and fights and the violence that took place there.  He added his initial thought was they had to work with their club owners collaboratively and have a common ground for public safety.  He added it was not about shutting down and being anti clubs but is was about what they could do to work together to make sure the clubs and the community and Broadway was safe.  He added he reached out to Bennett Montoya and stated they would have to work together and to figure out what they could do on all the issues.  He added the conversations started back in 2014 and he quickly realized although there were attempts to make things better on his part but things were not getting better there were still calls for police service at the venue with lines, music noise, overserving doors being left open and mismanaged lines.   He added it all came to a head on October 31, 2014 where two fights took place outside the venue.  There was an assault on an officer who was injured.  He added when the venue let out a guy goes across the street and shot a victim in the chest about forty feet from them and it was complete chaos and he radioed in every available San Francisco Police officer to respond to the incident.   He added he met with Bennett Montoya again about the management.  He added it was clear the club cannot be managed late in the evening.   He said in all of his years on the force he has not seen such an effort to work with a club owner to be successful for a long period of time and there still being the same issues. 

A video was shown from KRON 4 news about an incident at the venue location were fights occurred in front of the venue March of 2017.

Officer Steve Matthias stated he would talk about the rebranded Hue nightclub.  He added they heard about what it would Intel as far as bringing food in and he hasn’t seen that but rather it going right back into the things that they initially went to the ABC hearings on.  Officer Steve Matthias gave the Commission a spreadsheet of police reports and narratives and meeting discussions with Bennett Montoya.  He added again it was not about shutting things down but about making it as safe as possible. He added he has met with the applicant regarding 447 Broadway more than any other club in the city.   He added many of the problems was over service and other issues.

Chair Tan stated he thought things were going well on Broadway and there were exceptions but the Commission had regular hearings twice a month and he was curious why now and why not a year ago.   He added there was evidence that some other issues needed to come to the Commission sooner.

Officer Matthias stated they were working with the community business district on Broadway which was there maid focus.  He added the point of why they were present today was when they tried to do all the work with the club and with the community it wasn’t working and the community demanded it after seeing no improvement.  

Chair Tan stated what was the major thing that HUE needed to improve?

Officer Steve Matthias stated if he did not have to take into consideration a family that lives in the alley way, that aside as far public safety, danger, and people hurt absolutely their bottle service.   He added it was by far the biggest reason of why they have the violence and the drunks. 

Supervisor Aaron Peskin stated he has represented the northeast corner of San Francisco for 10 of the last 17 years.  He added in his fourth term in office he was one of the original co-sponsors of the measure that created the Entertainment Commission which was sponsored by his then colleague Supervisor Mark Leno.  He added North beach and Broadway has been, will be and should continue to be a destination for dining and entertainment zone in San Francisco.   He added this was the first time in his 10 years that he has been on the Board of Supervisors that he has testified before the Entertainment Commission.  He added in North Beach and District 3 with the community, community groups and SFPD are generally able to work things out and this was the exception and is an extraordinary situation he added he did not get complaints from any other establishments on Broadway and could not tell the Commission how many times his office has gotten complaints from this venue.   He added he did not want to slide aback into the old days of Broadway and it was very rare to see all of the organizations, the community and the Police, the Supervisor on the same page and he thought the permit should be revoked.

Bennett Montoya stated unfortunately their general manager Steve was on a well-deserved vacation and could not be present for the meeting.   He added he would like to go over a timeline of what Hue has don’t to be proactive. He added to deal with noise issues, crowd control and incidents.  He added he wanted to touch base on some things that were said that he disagreed with.   He added Hue has never been in violation of ABC or an entertainment violation as well and they have now been dated back before Hue 8 plus years and was on the street those past years witnessing how the Broadway corridor was then and is now and has improved and definitely did not want it to go back to how it was.   He added management and ownership were unaware of any noise complaints until December of 2016 and when they were brought to his attention since the noise complaint a professional sound engineer was hired and made adjustment to their sound. He added they added sound proofing to the walls adjacent to the alley as well as sound curtains were installed over an exit door.  He added after the sound installation management did not hear of any complaints for four months and assumed the issues were resolved.

Chair Tan asked did the complaints come directly from your neighbors or the police.

Bennett Montoya stated they came from the SFPD and the CBD.

Chair Tan asked did he reach out to the neighbors to tell them about the improvements that were made.

Bennett Montoya stated his GM Steve did reach out to the specific neighbor in December 2016 and included a cell number for the neighbor if the noise levels were high any given any night and they did not receive a response.   He added his GM reached out again in April 2017 in response with new complaints and the neighbor responded an included Officer Matthias in the email.   He added they attempted to set up a meeting and the neighbor never responded.  He added Hue was more than willing to discuss the issues with the neighbors and has responded to the neighbors.  He added they have hired an onsite manager for every weekend to be onsite to adjust any levels and his cell phone the General Manager and sound engineer numbers are on file and have been given to the neighbors as well so they can be notified to adjust them admittedly.   He added the sound engineer has performed two sound test and suggested some possible improvements.  He added it was not an over the night process and would take a time but Hue was more than willing to be proactive to be a good neighbor.  He addressed crowd control and that it could be challenging at times with dynamics of the industry and their location and they are working with DPW about moving a two tree in front of their venue to allow for more navigation space in in front of their venue.  He added they have added they have doubled their guard count to and VIP host and have added an operations manager to help crowd control and to monitor alcohol consumption.

Public comment

Sau Fang Huang stated she lives adjacent to the venue and always hears noise at night and it was hard for them to sleep and feels threaten by patrons at night.

Ryan Maxey with the Naked Lunch stated he was affected negatively by Hue’s Night Club.

Francesca Valdez stated her business has been affected by Hue’s Club and her patrons do not want to return for safety concerns.

Ben Tucker is a resident stated he lives in the alley way and they do not go our Friday and Saturday nights at a certain time and there is no guard guarding the door in the area.

Garth Smith stated he purchased his home in 2002 and spoke with Bennett Montoya in the issues of trash and blocked vehicles.  He added that promises are made and not kept.

Drew Diamond has lived in the area before Hue and stated the last two years have been really bad with fights breaking out and noise in the alley from 3AM to 4AM.  He added there is also the issue of trash and they get it every single weekend.

Christine Diamond loves the community but feels Hue is the issue. She has concerns of blocked cars in the alley and potential fire hazard.

A property manager has been in the area for the past 7 years and stated his employees do not feel safe and feels Hue is bringing the wrong crowd and the issues are not being addressed.

Jerry Cimino owns the Beat Museum and said his issue was safety on Broadway. He added he has been trying to work with Hue and have had meetings with no change.

Kyle stated Bennett was a smooth talker and the same things happen and he was a bad neighbor.

Oliver Mar stated they have been trying to work with Hue for the past year to get them to improve their business and they have all had enough.

District Manager of the CBD added he came on in 2015 to work on the issues with Hue and to reach out to Bennett but it has been a slow process.

Oliver Mar stated they have been trying to work with Hue for the past year to get them to improve their business and they have all had enough.

Stephanie is a bar manager and stated she remembers incidents of stabbing and fights when she lived in the area but feels the Hue was not the sole problem on Broadway.

Louis Saragossa hold dance instructions at Hue’s club and feels the incidents have been blown out of proportion.

Lloyd Lewis of Personal Touch Entertainment thought Bennett did not want the issues but feels that the Entertainment Commission should give him a chance to respond to the issues.

Public comment closed.

Recess at 8:26PM

Reconvened at 8:36PM

Commissioner Thomas entertained a motion to 1. limit the hour of Entertainment limited to 12am daily. 2. Inform neighbors of the sound attenuation plans, 3. Add more employees to bottle service area: 1 manager, 2 security guards, and 1 host. 4. Review added conditions in 6 months. Commissioner Caminong second the motion

Vote:
Yeas - Commissioner Caminong, Commissioner Thomas, Commissioner Tan and Commissioner Ben Bleiman
Noes – Commissioner Lee Commissioner Perez and Commissioner Frost

8.  Review and possible action to change the conditions on the #EC-1377 Place of Entertainment and Extended Hours Premises permits, dba Halcyon located at 314 11th Street, San Francisco, CA. 94103.  [Discussion and Possible Action Item]

Gina Milano read an update on her sound progression with Salter & Associates at Halcyon to the Commission which included a sound baffle barrier on the roof of the ceiling that would reduce sound transmission at the venue property line at the property line by 7 to 10 db.

Public comment

Tony Vu spoke about the timeline and a recap of facts so the Commission could see what was going on.  He added the delayed sound proofing and the timeline and five citations Halcyon has received should result in the revocation Halcyons permit and suspend their extended hours permit until proper steps are made.

Stillman stated in one of the earlier hearings Commissioner Thomas pointed out the ambient levels should be lowered during the quietest time of the night.  He supplied the Commission with Salter & Associates biased sound report and a sound report they conducted with the same sound meters the Entertainment Commission advised their POE owners to use and took measurements as Salter & Associates however they took the measurements at 2AM on a Monday.  He added they determine Halcyon has been violating the sound measures and request the Extended Hours permit be revoked and suspend their Entertainment permit until proper steps were taken for measuring ambient levels. 

Kelly stated there were additional neighbors affected who don’t always contact the Entertainment Commission.  She added sadly to of her neighbors were moving out because unresolved noise issues.  She added this was the fifth time this item was taking up time on the Commission’s agenda.  She added they live with the issue even when the Entertainment Commission was not available to respond. She added the music gets louder after 2AM.   She added to revoke the afterhours permit and suspend the Place of entertainment permit until the issues were addressed.

David Callie stated he lived on 11th street and has been the point person to spearhead the construction.  He added they have done a lot of work and believed they could have it done within a week.   He added

Commission voted to amend permit #EC-1377 by adding the following condition:  the allowance of only one extended hours premises event (between the hours of 2am-6am) per month until the Commission is able to verify improvements made to Halcyon proving the venue’s sound compliance. The Commission noted that Ms. Milano could come back to the Entertainment Commission hearing on Tuesday, June 20, 2017 if she was ready at that time to show the improvements made that would prove the venue to be in sound compliance.

Commissioner Lee moved to the allowance of only one extended hour’s premises event (between the hours of 2am-6am) per month until the Commission is able to verify improvements made to Halcyon proving the venue’s sound compliance. Commissioner Thomas second the motion

Vote:
Yeas - Commissioner Caminong, Commissioner Thomas, Commissioner Tan and Commissioner Ben Bleiman
Noes – Commissioner Frost, Commissioner Lee, Commissioner and Perez

9. Report from Executive Director: Legislative/Policy Update: Update on File #170443, cleanup legislation regarding amplified sound; Staff and Office Update: Update on CA AEP conference participation by Director; Corrective Actions: Directors Order issued for Ruby Skye, 420 Mason St. [Discussion Item]

10. Discussion and Possible Action to approve job announcement/description of Entertainment Commission Executive Director, and motion to authorize the General Services Agency to conduct and manage the recruitment and screening process for this position. [Action Item]

Chair Tan and Director Maggie Weiland recused themselves from the meeting.

Executive Director Jocelyn Kane stated she was retiring from City services with the City & County of San Francisco and will work until the end of July 2017. She added the job description was attached for their review. She added the Commission should have an additional meeting the last week of July 2017 because it was a closed session and the timeline for the process.

Public comment

No public comment.

Commissioner Blieman moved to approve to have General Services Agency to conduct the job search for a new candidate for Executive Director of the Entertainment Commission Appoint a Commissioner to be part of the initial job search and have Deputy Director to be the acting director in the interim Commissioner Perez second the motion

Vote:
Yeas - Commissioner Perez, Commissioner Caminong, Commissioner, Commissioner Ben Bleiman, Commissioner Lee, Commissioner Frost and Commissioner Thomas
Recused – Commissioner Bryant Tan

Vice Chair Thomas stated they could Aim for the Tuesday, August 1, 2017 meeting to be partly closed session.

11. Report from the Senior Analyst – Community & Cultural Events: Dylan Rice discusses implementation of report recommendations to improve City interagency coordination and customer experience for outdoor events. [Discussion Item]

No public comment was made.

Commissioner Tan moved to continue the item to the next Commission meeting on June 20, 2017 Commissioner Frost second the motion.

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

12.  Commissioner Comments & Questions. [Discussion Item]

Vice Chair Thomas stated she attended the club health conference and will report on it at the next Commission meeting.

Commissioner Perez stated he did a ride along with inspector Burke which was educational and informative. He added he had a new appreciation for what the Inspectors do onsite.

Adjournment. 9:40 PM