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Rules committee advances ordinance to create Union Street entertainment zone
Summary
The Rules Committee voted to forward an ordinance creating an entertainment zone on Union Street and a stretch of Fillmore Street to the full Board, after members and a business owner described expected economic benefits and discussed waste management and traffic concerns. The committee also affirmed the planning department’s CEQA documentation.
The Rules Committee on the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to send to the full Board an ordinance to create a Union Street Entertainment Zone on Union Street between Gough and Steiner streets and on Fillmore Street between Union and Greenwich, and to affirm the Planning Department’s documentation under the California Environmental Quality Act.
Vice Chair Sherrill said the proposal grew from community outreach and merchant requests for increased foot traffic and activity, and stressed that entertainment zones are distinct from permanent street closures. “This has been a community-driven process,” Vice Chair Sherrill said. “Every business on the block has expressed the need for more activity, for more foot traffic, and there is a clear economic boost, social boost, vibrancy boost from the increased activity that entertainment zones can bring.”
Teddy Kramer, a Union Street business owner and member of the Union Street Merchants Association, told the committee the association conducted more than a year of outreach with merchants and neighborhood groups and described broad local support. “We have overwhelming support,” Kramer said. “This is about economic activity, activation, but at the same time, taking responsibility for our corridor.” Kramer said merchants plan to partner with private waste contractors during events and to coordinate with neighborhood associations about short-term parking impacts from permitted street uses.
Committee members acknowledged concerns about trash and logistics and said a management plan and waste-management requirements are part of the proposal. The ordinance before the committee includes direction that permits for entertainment-zone activities incorporate waste-management plans. The committee did not debate or amend the ordinance text at the hearing; it voted to forward the item with a positive recommendation.
The item was advanced on a voice vote with all present members recorded as “aye.” The committee’s action forwards the ordinance and the Planning Department’s CEQA documentation to the full Board for subsequent hearings and final action.
Votes at the committee: On a motion to send the ordinance to the full Board with recommendation, Vice Chair Sherrill — aye; President Rafael Mandelman — aye; Chair Shamann Walton — aye. The motion passed without objection.
