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Commission approves Mission Community Market amplified‑sound permit with time, equipment and hotline conditions
Summary
After split public comment, the Entertainment Commission granted a loudspeaker permit for the Mission Community Market on Bartlett Street with time limits (4 p.m. start and amplified performances to end at 6:30 p.m.), directional/damped sound requirements, a recommended 60–75 watt limit for children's area and a live hotline for neighbors.
The San Francisco Entertainment Commission voted on Sept. 28 to grant a loudspeaker permit to the Mission Community Market on Bartlett Street, approving amplified sound for weekly Thursday programming under a package of conditions intended to limit neighborhood noise impacts.
Jeremy Shaw, executive director of the Mission Community Market, told the Commission the market provides youth programming, microenterprise and a neighborhood gathering place and described outreach and mitigation efforts. "Once a week from 4 to 8 p.m. ... the community marketplace ... bring[s] positive activities there," Shaw said in testimony describing youth performances and volunteer oversight.
Neighbors testified with divergent views. Noe Zabal, who lives at 109 Bartlett Street, said amplified music ‘‘tunnels and echo[s] right up and disturb[s] my peace and quiet’’ and opposed a sound system. Community youth organizers including Teresa Alvarez (Mission Beacon) and educators urged the Commission to allow sound to support youth performances and violence‑prevention programming; Alvarez said the market "creates a positive outlet for youth" and that organizers had proposed technical solutions.
Commissioners approved the permit with conditions introduced during the hearing and refined by staff: amplified performances are to start at 4:00 p.m. and, for programmed dancing, end by 6:30 p.m.; sound system placement and levels must be set in consultation with EC staff and the Mission Station permit officer; the permittee must publish and staff a live hotline answered during performances to address complaints; directional speakers and limited bass were required; and staff recommended professional sound engineering. In discussion, one commissioner suggested a wattage cap of 60–75 watts for a children's performance area as a mitigation guideline.
The motion carried on a roll call that recorded Aye votes from Commissioners Cavallini, Jones, Meeko and Noland. Staff will condition final permit language on the technical placement and level checks, monthly notification of the musical calendar to EC staff and Mission Station and the hotline contact information.
The permit allows the market to continue weekly programming while setting clearer operational limits and on‑the‑ground remedies for neighbors who say the amplified sound has caused disruption in the narrow Bartlett Street corridor.
