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Committee Advances Overhaul of Outdoor Amplified Sound Permits, Sends Measure to Board
Summary
The committee moved forward an ordinance recodifying amplified-sound permits to create distinct permit types (fixed-place, one-time event, sound trucks), clarify fees/monitoring, and shift portions of regulation to the Entertainment Commission; the measure was amended and forwarded with a positive recommendation.
Supervisor Sheehy presented an ordinance to modernize San Francisco’s outdoor amplified sound permit procedures and move parts of enforcement and permitting into the Entertainment Commission’s Article 15.1. Jocelyn Kane, Director of the Entertainment Commission, described new permit categories to distinguish entertainment activities (place of entertainment, limited live performance, and one‑time entertainment events) from non-entertainment amplified sound (one‑time outdoor amplified sound or annual ambient music permits for businesses).
Supporting departments including the Police Department and the Small Business Commission participated in page-by-page review. The committee adopted technical amendments recommended by the City Attorney and the supervisor and voted to forward the ordinance to the Board of Supervisors with a positive recommendation.
The changes aim to provide clearer tools for regulating a range of activities — from rallies to ongoing restaurant patio music — by creating permit categories better matched to those activities, clarifying roles between police and the Entertainment Commission, and establishing fees and sound-monitoring provisions.
The committee’s action was unanimous and procedural: it accepted the City Attorney’s technical edits, amended the draft as distributed and moved the item to the full Board with a positive recommendation.
