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Commission approves Brixton permit amendment for outdoor music despite neighbor objections
Summary
The Entertainment Commission approved The Brixton’s permit amendment to allow outdoor prerecorded music at specified hours; neighbors proposed tighter hours and voiced concerns about music playing when few or no patrons are outside.
The San Francisco Entertainment Commission on March 18 approved an amendment to The Brixton’s limited live-performance permit to allow outdoor amplified prerecorded music at 2140 Union Street, rejecting a late-arriving neighbor proposal to limit outdoor music to earlier evening hours.
Under the amendment approved by the commission, the permit will allow prerecorded music at the front of the business on Monday through Thursday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The owner said the request would regularize decades of intermittent outdoor background music on the sidewalk and that speakers fixed to the front of the business have been in place “since 1992.”
Deputy director Azavito told the commission that The Brixton previously had its permit reconditioned on June 4, 2024, to restrict some indoor entertainment; since that reconditioning staff recorded five sound complaints but inspectors found no substantiated permit violations and concluded some complaints originated from other nearby sources. SFPD Northern Station submitted no added conditions.
Several neighbors spoke in opposition during public comment. A neighbor identified as Paige said the proposed hours are “frankly excessive,” describing repeated incidents of amplified music playing outdoors for long stretches, sometimes with few or no diners outside. “It’s kind of hard to control that,” owner representatives said when asked about weather-related exceptions; the neighbors proposed an alternative schedule ending outdoor amplified sound at 6 p.m. on all days and limiting outdoor music on weekdays when no diners are present.
The owner declined the neighbors’ suggested compromise but indicated willingness to follow city enforcement rules and that ABC permitting records were being clarified by his attorney. Commissioners who supported approval said the hours align with what the venue has been operating and that staff had found no recent substantiated violations. Several commissioners encouraged the owner to proactively work with neighbors to minimize impacts.
The commission voted to approve the amendment with staff recommendations.
