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Board rescinds conditional-use authorization for 1268 Grant Avenue after planning and police cite violations
Summary
After neighborhood protest and a Planning Department investigation, the Board of Supervisors disapproved a Planning Commission decision that had authorized "other entertainment" for the second floor of 1268 Grant Avenue; the board found new evidence of a recorded notice of special restriction and active code violations.
The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to disapprove a Planning Commission decision that had granted a conditional use authorization allowing "other entertainment" at 1268 Grant Avenue, a North Beach restaurant and upstairs space that neighbors and police said had been operating more like a bar and sports venue than a restaurant.
Telegraph Hill Dwellers and nearby residents appealed the Planning Commissions August approval after planning staff reviewed the property record and discovered a 2005 notice of special restriction on the site that imposed specific floor plans and limitations. The Planning Department also reported recently issued code-enforcement notices alleging intensified bar activity on the second floor.
"This is about a much, much bigger issue than a karaoke machine," said Veda Kapuri, president of Telegraph Hill Dwellers, arguing that an intensification of bar activity was not permitted under the neighborhood commercial controls that govern sections of North Beach.
San Francisco Police Department officials, including Commander Jim Dudley, told the board the area is heavily saturated with ABC-licensed establishments and that the Central Police District had documented problems tied to late-night drinking. The chiefs letter to the board urged rejection of the conditional use. "This venue is emblematic of places that have made the change in ad hoc situation in a neighborhood where there is no public convenience or necessity to house a new bar," Commander Dudley said.
Planning staff told the board that the second-floor use is a legal nonconforming restaurant use that cannot be intensified; staff said its post-appeal investigation found evidence that the upstairs had been converted to a full bar with taps and expanded bar service, inconsistent with the earlier notice of special restriction and the NCD (Neighborhood Commercial District) controls.
The board voted to disapprove the conditional use authorization and referred enforcement to the Planning Department; supervisors directed staff to work with the applicant and neighborhood on compliance and to ensure planning code protections were enforced.
Why it matters: The case centered on how nonconforming grandfathered commercial uses in tight commercial-residential neighborhoods are treated under local land-use controls, and on the city's responsibility to enforce prior conditions recorded on property titles. The decision will affect other North Beach establishments where residents and police have reported nightlife-related disturbances.
Whats next: The Planning Department has issued a notice of violation and will pursue enforcement; the owners may seek remedies under applicable administrative and legal processes.
Speakers quoted: Veda Kapuri (Telegraph Hill Dwellers); Commander Jim Dudley (SFPD); Tara Sullivan (Planning Department).
