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City‑run Southeast Community Center cleared for place‑of‑entertainment permit; center to open this spring
Summary
The commission approved a place‑of‑entertainment permit for the new, city‑owned Southeast Community Center at 1550 Evans Ave, a 45,000‑square‑foot facility with a 5,000‑square‑foot event hall; staff recommended approval with the Good Neighbor Policy and standard limits on outdoor amplified sound.
The Entertainment Commission voted Feb. 15 to approve a place‑of‑entertainment (POE) permit for the new, city‑owned Southeast Community Center at 1550 Evans Ave in the Bayview, a facility the applicants said is slated to open in spring/early summer.
Emily Rogers Farr, executive director of the Southeast Community Center, described the new 45,000‑square‑foot building that will include an expanded childcare center, a nonprofit coworking space, multipurpose meeting rooms and a standalone 5,000‑square‑foot hall the applicants called the Alex Pitcher Pavilion. Farr said the site includes more than two acres of outdoor space with an amphitheater and picnic areas; indoor entertainment will not run later than midnight and outdoor amplified sound will not run later than 10 p.m., per the application. Staff told commissioners the commission will set an outdoor sound limit compliant with Municipal Police Code (MPC) 10.60.16 when the center opens.
Farr told the commission the center typically hosts more than 300 events a year at the organization’s current site and that the POE designation will streamline community use by eliminating the one‑night dance permit previously required for community members. She described neighborhood outreach (eight letters to nearby businesses) and said the area is primarily industrial and set back from the street with off‑street parking, and she asked commissioners to approve the POE.
Commissioners discussed security and event staffing; Farr said the center will provide event monitors, dedicated event coordinators, and require security and, for some private events, off‑duty police and insurance. Staff recommended approval with the Good Neighbor Policy; a motion to approve with staff recommendations and a request that the center provide an events calendar to Bayview Station and the commission was seconded and passed by roll call.
Farr invited commissioners to the center’s grand opening and offered tours for commissioners once the center is ready.
