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Committee forwards Cole Valley entertainment-zone ordinance after minor amendments
Summary
The Rules Committee unanimously adopted non-substantive amendments and forwarded an ordinance to establish an entertainment zone in Cole Valley, allowing participating restaurants and bars to sell open-to-go beverages during permitted street events under a management plan developed with OEWD.
The Rules Committee voted unanimously to adopt minor technical amendments and forward an ordinance to create an entertainment zone in Cole Valley to the full Board of Supervisors with a positive recommendation.
Supervisor Rafael Mandelman introduced the ordinance, which would add a Cole Valley Entertainment Zone on Cole Street between Frederick Street and Parnassus Avenue and on Carl Street between Schrader Street and Clayton Street. The zone would permit adjacent qualifying establishments — restaurants, bars, breweries and wineries — to sell open-to-go alcoholic beverages for consumption in specified shared outdoor areas during permitted special events, subject to state law and a local management plan developed by the Office of Economic and Workforce Development.
Ben Van Houten of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) said entertainment zones are intended to "help activate streets with entertainment and really support community businesses" and described local controls that can be added through a management plan, including alignment with street-closure and ABC permitting. He noted changes in state law that removed a prior requirement for a separate one-day ABC event permit and said the ordinance includes a technical fix to conform local code to current state law.
Local business leaders from the Cole Valley Merchants Association spoke in support. Dan Surratt, president of the Merchants Association and owner of Finnegan's Wake, said outreach at the December holiday market produced "tremendous support" from neighbors and merchants. Jim Angelus, a longtime neighborhood business owner, described the legislation as a tool to "activate the street" and support struggling neighborhood businesses.
Supervisor Mandelman described two non-substantive amendments that clarify which premises are included and align the ordinance language with state law; the committee adopted the amendments unanimously and then voted to forward the ordinance as a committee report with a positive recommendation.
The committee recorded no public opponents during the hearing. The item will next go to the full Board of Supervisors for consideration.
