Commission forwards staff recommendations for 159 Fell St. RDR, citing adjacent Rickshaw Stop and sound mitigation

The San Francisco Entertainment Commission on Jan. 19 voted to accept staff recommendations and submit comments to the Planning Department and Department of Building Inspection on the residential development review for 159 Fell Street, a proposed seven-story project immediately adjacent to the Rickshaw Stop.

Senior Inspector Antonio Savino introduced the project and said the sponsor conducted outreach to Rickshaw Stop and other neighbors and that staff reviewed a sound study performed before shelter-in-place. Architect Jeff Gibson described design choices intended to reduce noise transmission: two heavy concrete lower floors abutting the venue line to provide acoustic deadening, specified wall assemblies and glazing, and an inset six-inch separation from the Rickshaw Stop property to avoid direct structural contact.

Commissioners asked about the ground-floor retail potentially hosting entertainment, internal acoustic separation between retail and the residential unit above, window glazing levels facing the club and mitigation for patron noise late at night. Gibson and the consultant (CSDA) said CSDA targeted worst-case programming in its monitoring, recommended appropriate assemblies and glazing, and proposed construction-stage inspections and post-construction acoustic testing tied to Rickshaw Stop’s programming.

A motion to accept staff recommendations and forward comments to Planning and DBI passed unanimously. Staff will transmit the commission’s recommendations and has committed to post-construction testing and verification; if post-construction testing shows performance below expectations, additional mitigation measures will be required before units are marketed.