Board of Appeals Upholds La Urbana Sidewalk Seating Permit With Six-Month Trial and Noise Conditions

The San Francisco Board of Appeals on July 15 upheld a DPW-issued tables-and-chairs permit for La Urbana at 661 Divisadero/Grove while adding conditions intended to limit late-night noise and give the neighborhood a trial period. The board voted 4–1 to adopt DPW’s permit with a six-month expiration and a requirement that the restaurant’s garage doors close at 9:30 p.m.

Neighbors and a neighborhood group argued the permit process and the restaurant’s behavior had produced a persistent noise problem. Michael Cupitz, who said he runs the Grove Residents Rights Resource, told the board that the public notice was posted in a recessed foyer where opposing neighbors could not see it and that DPW’s adjustment to hours was an insufficient ‘‘compromise’’ because it left the core…