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Record of Proceedings

San Francisco Board of Supervisors — Public Safety & Neighborhood Services Committee Regular Meeting (Dec. 11, 2025): Alcohol License Public Convenience or Necessity (PCN) Determinations

Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee — Thursday, December 11, 2025

BodySan Francisco, California

SessionPublic Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee

DateThursday, December 11, 2025

StatusFILED

Video Record

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Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

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Good morning, everyone. This meeting will come to order. Welcome to the regular meeting of the

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Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for

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Thursday, December 11th, 2025. I'm Supervisor Matt Dorsey, Chair of this committee. I am joined

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today by Vice Chair Bilal Mahmood and Supervisor Alan Wong, who is filling in for Supervisor

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Welcome, Supervisor Wong.

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Our always capable clerk today is Ms. Monique Creighton, whom we thank for staffing us.

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Together we'd like to express our gratitude to Sousinos and everybody at the SFGovTV team

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for facilitating and broadcasting today's meeting.

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Madam Clerk, do you have any announcements?

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Yes.

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Please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices.

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Documents to be included as part of the file should be submitted to the clerk.

0:50

public comment will be taken on each item on this agenda. When your item of interest comes up and

0:55

public comment is called, please line up to speak on your right. Alternatively, you may submit public

1:00

comment and writing in either of the following ways. First, you may email them to myself,

1:05

the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee clerk at monique.crayton at sfgov.org.

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Or you may submit your written comments via U.S. Postal Service to our office in City Hall.

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Number one, Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, room 244, San Francisco, California, 94102.

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If you submit public comment in writing, it will be forwarded to the supervisors and also included as part of the official file in which you're commenting.

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Finally, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors' Agenda of January 6, 2025, unless otherwise stated.

1:41

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

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Before we get started on our agenda today, I'd like to make a motion to excuse Supervisor Sauter from today's meeting.

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Yes, and on the motion to excuse Member Sauter from today's meeting, Member Wong.

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Member Wong, aye.

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Vice Chair Mahmood?

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Vice Chair Mahmood, aye.

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Chair Dorsey?

2:01

Aye.

2:01

Chair Dorsey, aye.

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I have three ayes with, excuse me, with Member Sauter excused.

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Thank you, Madam Clerk.

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The motion passes.

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Madam Clerk, would you call item number one?

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Yes, item number one is a hearing to consider that the person-to-person,

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premise to premise transfer of a type 48 on sale general public premises beer wine and distilled

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liquor license to big sky llc doing businesses club 895 located at 895 oferro street will serve

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the public convenience or necessity of the city and county of san francisco thank you madam clerk

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i'd like to welcome officer brandon erickson from the san francisco police department's

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abc liaison unit officer erickson the floor is yours thank you good morning i'm officer erickson

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with the Alcohol Liaison San Francisco Police Department.

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You have before you a PCN report for Big Sky LLC as Club 895.

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They have applied for a Type 48 license, and if approved,

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this would allow them to operate an on-sale general public premises

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at 895 O'Farrell Street.

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There are zero letters of protest, zero letters of support.

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They are located in plot 547, which is considered a high crime area.

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They are in census tract 122.02, which is considered a high concentration area.

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Tenderloin Station has no opposition.

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AOU recommendation approval with the following conditions.

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Condition 1.

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Except as provided in condition 2 below, no noise shall be audible beyond the area under the control of the licensee.

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Condition 2, any noise caused by entertainment or amplified sound that is subject to the provisions of an active entertainment permit issued by the San Francisco Entertainment Commission shall be authorized in accordance with the limits established by that entertainment permit, including any limitation on hours during which entertainment or amplified sound is permitted.

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A violation of the entertainment or amplified sound conditions of the entertainment permit,

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as determined by the San Francisco Entertainment Commission,

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shall be deemed to be a violation of this condition.

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Any noise that is subject to or is beyond the scope of the entertainment permit

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shall be subject to condition 1 above.

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Entertainment permit means any of the following,

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a just-to-add music permit, a limited live performance permit, a place of entertainment permit,

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a fixed-place amplified sound permit, or any similar such permit issued by the San Francisco

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Public Safety█████████████████████████████████████████████45%

Code Enforcement████████████████████20%

Homelessness███████████████15%

Community Engagement████████████12%

Economic Development████████8%

Summary of Proceedings

San Francisco Board of Supervisors — Public Safety & Neighborhood Services Committee (Dec. 11, 2025)

The Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee met on Thursday, December 11, 2025, chaired by Supervisor Matt Dorsey, with Vice Chair Bilal Mahmood and Supervisor Alan Wong (substituting for Supervisor Welcome). The committee considered three Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) license transfer-related Public Convenience or Necessity (PCN) determinations—two recommended for approval (with conditions) and one recommended for denial following extensive neighborhood opposition. Supervisor Sauter/Salter was excused (3-0).

Consent Calendar

None stated.

Public Comments & Testimony

Item 1 (Big Sky LLC / Club 895, 895 O’Farrell St., Type 48 on-sale): No public commenters.
Item 2 (Caldero LLC / Caldero, 2149 Union St., Type 20 off-sale beer & wine): No public commenters.
Item 3 (Royal Mart LLC / Unimart, 1201 Howard St., Type 21 off-sale general: beer/wine/spirits):
- Susanna Singer (local resident; President of the Board, Episcopal Community Services) opposed the license transfer, citing proximity to ECS facilities (including a 200-bed shelter across the street) and stating that public drunkenness outside the store undermines guests’ sobriety efforts.
- Nikhil (West SOMA resident) opposed, describing increased public drinking, noise, and urination since ownership changed “about a year” prior; stated a volunteer cleanup crew finds bottles/litter every Saturday at 4 p.m.
- Sean (Tehama St. resident) opposed; stated neighbors use a WhatsApp group to warn of incidents; cited self-reported analysis that in the last 90 days, calls to police at 8th & Howard were up 71% year-on-year, response wait times up 50%, and two-thirds of calls resulted in “no police contact” due to late arrival; described a Nov. 7 incident he said SFPD documented as a hate crime, and referenced a recent overdose near his home.
- Cheney (Board member, SOMA West Neighborhood Association) urged prioritizing public safety and holding businesses accountable for impacts outside the premises.
- Nancy Kim Parker (business owner across from Unimart) opposed, estimating “up to 50%” increase in loitering/public drunkenness and “80%” increase in urination compared to prior operations.
- Henry Connuller (President, South of Market Business Association) opposed, describing deteriorated conditions since the ownership change, and referencing similar concerns alleged at another store operated by the same owner.
- Alex Kane (resident; Board member, neighborhood association) opposed, describing recurring public drinking/loitering and trash pickup observations.
- Lauren (resident near 8th & Clementina) opposed, stating she walks past the location with her 7-year-old child and that the store causes loitering and garbage issues; contrasted with other nearby stores she described as operating responsibly.
- David (Tehama St. resident) opposed, stating there was “no necessity,” citing daily litter/urination concerns, proximity to recovery-oriented facilities, and alleging he was assaulted twice while picking up trash.
- Sylvia Wu (resident near 9th & Folsom) supported SOMA West’s opposition, citing safety concerns when walking past at night.

Discussion Items

Member Excused
- The committee voted to excuse Supervisor Sauter/Salter (3-0).
Item 1 — PCN for Type 48 (On-Sale General/Public Premises) Transfer: Big Sky LLC dba Club 895 (895 O’Farrell St.)
- Officer Brandon Erickson (SFPD Alcohol Liaison Unit/ABC liaison) presented the PCN report: 0 letters of protest; 0 letters of support; location in police plot 547 (high crime area) and census tract 122.02 (high concentration area); Tenderloin Station: no opposition.
- ALU recommended approval with conditions, including limits on audible noise, alignment with any Entertainment Commission permit requirements, requiring two uniformed, state-licensed security guards during live entertainment, anti-loitering monitoring, and litter responsibility within areas depicted on ABC Form 257.
- Applicant representative David Villalobos (CLA Consulting) stated the building had been a blighted eyesore; stated sponsor spent nearly $9 million to purchase and expected to spend “a little over $6 million” on renovations to create a multi-entertainment venue; requested support.
Item 2 — PCN for Type 20 (Off-Sale Beer & Wine) Transfer: Caldero LLC dba Caldero (2149 Union St.)
- Officer Erickson presented: 0 letters of protest; 0 letters of support; location in police plot 518 (high crime area) and census tract 0130.02 (high concentration area); Northern Station: no opposition.
- ALU recommended approval with conditions focused on anti-loitering monitoring and litter responsibility (ABC Form 257).
- No applicant presentation and no public comment.
Item 3 — PCN for Type 21 (Off-Sale General, incl. Spirits) Transfer: Royal Mart LLC dba Unimart (1201 Howard St.)
- Officer Erickson presented: 7 letters of protest; 0 letters of support; location in police plot 230 (high crime area) and census tract 0178.03 (high concentration area); Southern Station: no opposition; ALU recommendation was approval with a loitering-monitoring condition.
- Applicant representative Omar Albaughan Reyesha (son of the owner) stated the business aimed to operate responsibly; argued that homelessness/trash/loitering predated their beer license; stated commitments including enhanced lighting, expanded camera coverage, strict ID checks, hourly exterior cleanups, and refusing service to people loitering or causing disorder.
- Chair Dorsey stated the clerk received multiple community letters consistent with the testimony; stated he had also heard similar concerns from neighbors and was inclined to support the community position that the license would not serve PCN.

Key Outcomes

Excuse absence: Motion to excuse Supervisor Sauter/Salter approved 3-0 (Dorsey, Mahmood, Wong voting aye).
Item 1 (Club 895, Type 48 on-sale):
- Committee directed the Clerk to prepare a resolution finding the license would serve public convenience or necessity and forward to the Full Board with a positive recommendation.
- Vote: 3-0 (Dorsey/Mahmood/Wong aye; Sauter/Salter excused).
Item 2 (Caldero, Type 20 off-sale beer & wine):
- Committee directed the Clerk to prepare a resolution finding the license would serve public convenience or necessity and forward to the Full Board with a positive recommendation.
- Vote: 3-0 (Dorsey/Mahmood/Wong aye; Sauter/Salter excused).
Item 3 (Unimart, Type 21 off-sale general incl. spirits):
- Committee directed the Clerk to prepare a resolution finding the license would not serve public convenience or necessity.
- Vote: 3-0 (Dorsey/Mahmood/Wong aye; Sauter/Salter excused).
- Committee then voted to send that resolution to the Full Board with a positive recommendation.
- Vote: 3-0 (Dorsey/Mahmood/Wong aye; Sauter/Salter excused).

Notes / Record Issues

The clerk announced that items acted upon were expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda of January 6, 2025; however, the meeting was stated at the outset to be Thursday, December 11, 2025, creating a potential date discrepancy in the record.

Meeting Transcript

Good morning, everyone. This meeting will come to order. Welcome to the regular meeting of the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for Thursday, December 11th, 2025. I'm Supervisor Matt Dorsey, Chair of this committee. I am joined today by Vice Chair Bilal Mahmood and Supervisor Alan Wong, who is filling in for Supervisor Welcome, Supervisor Wong. Our always capable clerk today is Ms. Monique Creighton, whom we thank for staffing us. Together we'd like to express our gratitude to Sousinos and everybody at the SFGovTV team for facilitating and broadcasting today's meeting. Madam Clerk, do you have any announcements? Yes. Please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices. Documents to be included as part of the file should be submitted to the clerk. public comment will be taken on each item on this agenda. When your item of interest comes up and public comment is called, please line up to speak on your right. Alternatively, you may submit public comment and writing in either of the following ways. First, you may email them to myself, the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee clerk at monique.crayton at sfgov.org. Or you may submit your written comments via U.S. Postal Service to our office in City Hall. Number one, Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, room 244, San Francisco, California, 94102. If you submit public comment in writing, it will be forwarded to the supervisors and also included as part of the official file in which you're commenting. Finally, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors' Agenda of January 6, 2025, unless otherwise stated. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Before we get started on our agenda today, I'd like to make a motion to excuse Supervisor Sauter from today's meeting. Yes, and on the motion to excuse Member Sauter from today's meeting, Member Wong. Member Wong, aye. Vice Chair Mahmood? Vice Chair Mahmood, aye. Chair Dorsey? Aye. Chair Dorsey, aye. I have three ayes with, excuse me, with Member Sauter excused. Thank you, Madam Clerk. The motion passes. Madam Clerk, would you call item number one? Yes, item number one is a hearing to consider that the person-to-person, premise to premise transfer of a type 48 on sale general public premises beer wine and distilled liquor license to big sky llc doing businesses club 895 located at 895 oferro street will serve the public convenience or necessity of the city and county of san francisco thank you madam clerk i'd like to welcome officer brandon erickson from the san francisco police department's abc liaison unit officer erickson the floor is yours thank you good morning i'm officer erickson with the Alcohol Liaison San Francisco Police Department. You have before you a PCN report for Big Sky LLC as Club 895. They have applied for a Type 48 license, and if approved, this would allow them to operate an on-sale general public premises at 895 O'Farrell Street. There are zero letters of protest, zero letters of support. They are located in plot 547, which is considered a high crime area. They are in census tract 122.02, which is considered a high concentration area. Tenderloin Station has no opposition. AOU recommendation approval with the following conditions. Condition 1.

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