Entertainment Commission reviews Cafe Kokomo outdoor loudspeaker permit; no vote due to lack of quorum

The San Francisco Entertainment Commission on Aug. 9 heard a presentation and public discussion about an outdoor loudspeaker permit application for Arcia Fernando, doing business as Cafe Kokomo at 650 Indiana Street, but the body did not take a vote because it lacked a quorum.

Nick, a staff member who introduced the item, said outdoor loudspeaker permits are typically handled administratively but this application was placed before the commission because of a history of sound complaints. The event is proposed for Aug. 28 from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and would include daytime DJs and a small three-person cumbia ensemble on the patio. "Approval of the permit if you can, balance the approval with, mitigating the concerns that they express in their emails, mainly related to, sound, bass in particular," staff said.

Roosh Vanigat Sanger, general manager at Cafe Kokomo, told commissioners the outdoor setup will be modest: "It's just gonna be 2, speakers on post. There's not gonna be a subwoofer or any kind of big amplified sound system." He said the indoor portion of the event would use the venue's regular sound system and that the outdoor portion will move inside at 8 p.m. Sanger said the promoter will provide a sound engineer to patrol the neighborhood with a dB meter during the event and that organizers expected that the outdoor music would not be audible beyond a 250-foot radius.

Officer Tim Dalton, the Bayview permit officer for SFPD, told the commission the item was being elevated because prior outdoor events at the venue generated multiple noise complaints, including during the July 4 weekend. He presented a map showing resident locations relative to a 250-foot radius from Cafe Kokomo and summarized the prior complaint counts, noting some duplicate calls in the records. "If I can hear the noise from coming outside your club when I walk by, well, I guess that's an issue," Dalton said.

Commissioners questioned the neighbor-submitted calculation about ambient decibel levels and said ambient measurements vary by location, so conclusions about absolute allowed levels should be treated cautiously. Several commissioners asked for staff to develop possible permit conditions or mitigation options — for example, limits on bass, sound monitoring, or enforced radius compliance — but they also noted the commission lacked a quorum and could not issue formal conditions or vote at the meeting.

Because the commission did not have a quorum, no formal action was taken on the Kokomo permit. Staff indicated it would continue coordinating with SFPD and the applicant, and the permit may be handled administratively or returned to the commission for action once a quorum is present or if staff deems conditions advisable.