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Planning panel approves rooftop lounge at 1815 Market with curtailed hours after neighbors' noise concerns
Summary
The Planning Commission approved a conditional use authorization for a restaurant with a rooftop deck at 1815 Market Street but amended the rooftop hours so amplified sound ends at 10 p.m.; roof deck hours were limited to 10 p.m. Sunday'Thursday and midnight Friday'Saturday (7-0).
The San Francisco Planning Commission on Feb. 6 approved a conditional use authorization allowing an outdoor roof deck and nighttime entertainment use at 1815 Market Street, with conditions limiting rooftop amplified sound and adjusted rooftop hours to reduce impacts on nearby residents.
Planning Department staff presented the project as a change to a vacant commercial building to create a restaurant-with-entertainment and a nearly 780-square-foot roof deck. Staff recommended approval with conditions to minimize neighborhood impacts. The applicant, restaurateur Dante Buckley, described plans for a Jamaican-inspired restaurant and a rooftop lounge, told commissioners the roof deck would use sound consultants and a canopy to limit noise and that amplified outdoor sound would end by 10 p.m.
Neighbors and several residents who share party walls or have direct line-of-sight into the proposed deck testified in opposition, citing historic wood-frame construction, direct sightlines into bedrooms, and concerns about amplified noise and patrons lingering outdoors late at night. Multiple residents asked the commission to deny the rooftop component or limit late-night operations.
Commissioner Braun moved, and Commissioner Imperial seconded, an amendment to the draft motion that set clear rooftop limits: amplified outdoor sound must stop at 10 p.m. nightly; the rooftop deck must close at 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and at 12 a.m. (midnight) Friday and Saturday. The commission adopted that amendment and then voted 7-0 to approve the conditional use authorization with the amended hours and the other staff conditions
Commissioners emphasized operator commitments to sound mitigation and enforcement steps available under the City's noise ordinance and the Entertainment Commission permitting process. Planning staff and the applicant said they will work with an acoustical consultant to set design criteria and construction assemblies for sound attenuation; the applicant said he had budgeted for acoustic work and that rooftop occupancy would be small (the applicant noted a code capacity of about 47 people, and also said he expects fewer patrons on the deck at one time).
"We will stop any sort of amplified sound by 10:00 p.m.," planning staff said, summarizing the application materials. Commissioner Braun added that the rooftop is small and that the applicant's operational plans and consultant commitments, along with the limits the commission set, made approval appropriate with conditions.
