Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee Regular Meeting - March 12, 2020
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Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee Regular Meeting - March 12, 2020
Introductory paragraph: The Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee met on March 12, 2020, chaired by Supervisor Raphael Mandelman, with Vice Chair Catherine Stefani and Supervisor Walton. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the city's declared local emergency, the committee asked attendees to maintain physical distance and postponed non-essential items that anticipated large public turnout. Four agenda items were considered, with two continued, one approved, and one continued after public testimony.
Discussion Items
- Item 1 (200075): Liquor License Issuance – 706 Mission Street – The applicant's representative noted that Supervisor Haney's office requested a continuance to allow additional time for a meeting. The committee continued the item to the March 26, 2020 regular meeting.
- Item 2 (200076): Liquor License Transfer – 365-11th Street (Buzzworks) – The applicant, Vlad Cood, owner of Buzzworks and a 30-year San Francisco nightclub/restaurant operator, explained the license would allow adding craft spirits to the existing craft beer offerings. There were zero protests and support from the police department and ALU. The committee voted to forward a positive recommendation to the full Board of Supervisors.
- Item 3 (200141): Health Code – Adult Sex Venue Health and Safety Standards – The chair stated that, per President Yee's request, non-essential legislation with anticipated large public turnout should be postponed. The item was continued to the call of the chair, after taking public comment (no speakers).
- Item 4 (200051): Hearing on Effects of On-Demand Delivery on Small Businesses – The chair similarly continued this hearing to the call of the chair after taking public comment.
Public Comments & Testimony
- One speaker (self-identified small business owner) expressed strong support for the hearing topic, stating that on-demand delivery services use “extortive tactics” that harm small restaurants and bars, and urged the city to regulate them.
- A second speaker asked how to know in advance whether an agenda item will actually be heard, noting they rearranged their schedule to attend. The clerk and chair advised contacting the sponsor’s office or the clerk’s office (415-554-4445) ahead of time, especially during the pandemic.
- Victor Escobito, owner of Papalote (two restaurants and a food truck), said the delivery services’ impact is changing San Francisco’s culinary culture and urged serious regulation.
Key Outcomes
- Item 1: Continued to March 26, 2020 (motion approved without objection).
- Item 2: Approved with positive recommendation to the full board (motion approved without objection).
- Item 3: Continued to the call of the chair (motion approved without objection).
- Item 4: Continued to the call of the chair (motion approved without objection).
The meeting adjourned after no further business.
Meeting Transcript
Morning, everyone. The meeting will come to order. Welcome to the March 12th, uh 2020 regular meeting of the public safety and neighborhood services committee. I'm Supervisor Raphael Mandelman. I'm the chair of the committee. To my right is our vice chair Catherine Stephanie. To my left is Supervisor Walton. Our clerk is John Carroll, and I want to thank Colina Mendoza and Corwin Cooley at SFGTV for staffing this meeting. Mr. Clerk, do you have any announcements? Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Please ensure you've you've silenced your cell phones and other electronic devices. Your completed speaker cards and copies of any documents you have to be included as part of the files shall be submitted today to the clerk. Items acted upon today will appear on the March 24th, 2020 Board of Supervisors agenda, unless otherwise stated. And Mr. Chair, due to the declaration of local emergency related to the novel coronavirus disease and the subsequent health order, we are asking all attendees of this meeting to maintain at least four feet of physical space between themselves and others. Regularly wash your hands for at least 20 seconds at a time. Try to avoid touching high volume surfaces as much as possible. Thank you for that, Mr. Clerk. And uh for uh for reasons related to the um to the current public health crisis. Uh we are likely to continue items three and four. So if anyone is here for those, um you should you should be aware of that. Um so uh Mr. Clerk, can you please call our first item? Agenda item number one is a hearing to consider that the issuance of a type 57 special on sale general beer wine and distilled spirits liquor license to 706 mission residences owners association doing business as the four seasons private residences on the fifth floor of 706 mission street will serve the public convenience or necessity of the city and county. Thank you. Uh is our yes, our ALU is here. Morning, members of the board, Officer Solmons and I'll call liaison unit. Uh you have before you PCN for 706 mission residence owner association. They've applied for a type 57 license, and if approved, this would allow them to sell special on sale general. There are zero protests, zero letters of support. They're located in plot two twelve, which is considered a high crime area. They're in census track 615, which is a high saturation area. Southern Station has no opposition, and ALRU recommendation is to approve the license without uh recommending any new conditions. Great. Thank you. And is the applicant here or a representative? Yes, good morning. I'm Beth Abbalafia representing the applicant. Uh we understand that the supervisor's office has requested a continuance of this item and would like to meet with the project sponsor. So we are making plans to do that prior to the next meeting date. Fantastic. Thank you. Um there are no comments or questions, we'll uh open this up for public comment. Are there any members of the public who'd like to testify on this item? Seeing none, public comment is now closed. Um as the applicant's representative said, um uh Supervisor Haney's requested that we continue this item to allow additional time for his office and the applicant to meet. Um we can continue this item to the March 26th regular meeting and still uh not go past our 90-day um uh period during which we're trying to take action.
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