good add beautiful food in that location. >> thank you for your comments. anybody else? do you want to respond to this. . . >> just wanted to add that central station recommends an approval as well. i met with ms. louie on numerous occasions. she's actually had quite a few one-day e.c. events at the restaurant and they've all gone very, very well. and so from a law enforcement perspective, we have zero problems there and no issues whatsoever. and another thing as far as you've got the restaurant there, and per the entertainment permit, they'll have a security guard, but also, just know that they have a full security staff at pier 39. not that i'm anticipating anything, but if they ever needed help, they've got the security right there. a large amount of parking in the area. you've got the high-rise garage for the cars, and also the distance. there's really no noise impact or issues for the neighbors, which we look forward to that not being an issue. thank you. >> all right, thank you. ok. the matter is with the commission to have a motion. >> i motion to approve. >> second it. >> commissioner perez? >> aye. >> commissioner hyde? >> aye. >> commissioner lee? >> aye. >> and president? >> aye. >> good luck. >> all right, item f, kietbumrunkul charun. >> i believe you're familiar with this, because this was continued from the last meeting. so i will let the applicant speak for himself. >> all right. >> good evening, commissioners. i'm marsha garland and this is my client, who is americanized. anyway, it's a very small thai restaurant on post street, 720 post. in a rare one-story building in the middle of the city. the interior seats 49 people. and the block that runs to the conche involves one-story shops, a laundromat, massage parlor, a cafe and an indonesian restaurant. and across the street it has built-in markets with lots of people. we have done a very -- this has been a very long process for him because it turned out he needed a section 312 notification before he could move forward with the entertainment permit application. the section 312 notification went -- involved a mailing to residents within a 300-block radius. this was done several months ago. and we've worked closely with rick crawford, the planner, on this, and there were no complaints, no questions, no responses whatsoever to that mailing. after that we filed with the entertainment commission and his goal is -- the abc license that he has is beer and wine only and he's allowed to serve until 12:00 midnight, which is fine with him. after that there are a lot of thai friends of his and thai people who work in the service industry who would like a place to go late at night to have a bowl of noodles or to have some thai street food, which is what his specialty is and to relax with friends. so shawn would like to install karaoke. of all the communities i've worked with in this city, especially the asian communities, i would say that the thai community is most strongly in love with karaoke music. i mean, it's such an ingrained part of their culture now. he has hired a security company. he has a very strong security plan. greater base security is handling matters for him. through another client of ours we found out a good resource for him for sound curtains, which he will be buying from a company in san diego. he has become an active participant in the community and helped to cater mayor ed lee's inauguration. and he's always ready to help whenever we ask for help. he's been in business approximately three months. his prior experience -- his family is in the import business and they have imported rice from thigh land for a long time -- thailand for a long time. he also has worked as a deejay himself and has worked with karaoke for events in the thai community. i think those are all my short-term comments. unless we have to go into more detail, i think i have covered we have reached out to the community. there was originally a very strong letter of opposition from crown tower of hartman's, which is a half a block away, in the next block, in the 600 block. but after the president of that residential group -- there are 55 units in there -- went to meet with shawn and talked to us and heard what was really afoot, he did send a letter, which we got a copy of yesterday, which i sent to all of you -- i sent the wrong one to you, but you got it right, and he has retracted his opposition. and we have also had letters of support from david villalobos and from the community leadership alliance and also, michael nolte's group, the alliance for a better district six. and it's really all about a very small cultural upgrade to a very small venue. thank you. do you want to add anything? his english is a little rocky. >> anything from the applicant? no? oh, officer matthias, did you want to comment on this application? >> steve matthias from central station. position of central station is recommending a denial. this is based on the following. location on post is that the traffic congestion, no wide front out front. with limited parking, we've concerned about the cars lining up and the horns and the stuff that goes along with that. >> i'm sorry, what? >> stars the congestion, that street -- there's businesses on there, but it's a major thoroughfare, so you have traffic going all the time. that's one of the issues as far as the limited parking. trying to find parking in the area isn't the easiest thing. high crime rate, but downtown it's pretty hard to find an area that's not a high crime rate. the big thing that we're looking at is the community input. ms. garland has talked about different people that have come up, and i've gotten input on both sides. and i want to share that with the commission. as far as from the crown tower apartments, pat, i believe she's here. she's going to speak in front of you as well. thought it would interfere with the quiet enjoyment of the neighboring residents. she sent out a letter. and then also, there was -- i went over to the different hotels in the area, because i wanted to get their input, the ones right across the street that could be impacted by this. i talked to people there, and they had no opinion either way. they said they were neutral on this. i went to tower 737. i got a mixed -- i talked to the manager there. she said it's kind of mixed. she said some people were afraid as far as what it would bring and some people were for it. u.s.a. hostels. this is a quote from the manager there. he says he wants to support business, but noise is a critical concern. "i'm nervous about our guests' experience based on noise. positive reviews are paramount. we are the top-rated establishment in the u.s. and that enables us to charge more. everything is based on good reviews and the noise issue impacts us. i can't do anything about a fire engine going by with its red lights and sirens, but people stepping out for a smoke or standing outside at 2:00 in the morning will create a problem for us. we have sickle-pane win does and our guests will hear the noise." he said that it's real difficult for him, you know, the things that they try to do at the business as far as keeping the guests happy, but they said that noise is an issue, and he looks at the potential of this as really hurting his business. across -- also across the street was the hotel and they said we don't want it. get rid of the massage parlor, while you're at it. i don't think the massage parlor comes under the entertainment commission. but they were not for it as well. so i got -- received letters in the very beginning, however, in the last week i do want the commission to know that i have received letters that miss garland has spoken about that was from david villalobos from community leadership alliance as well as michael nolte, alliance for a better district six, and then as told by mr. castellano, that michael has changed his position on the protest. so i think these speakers will speak in front of you. as far as central station, we're recommending a denial. >> remind me again, what's the cross street here on post? >> jones. >> jones, ok. commissioners, any questions of officer matthias? >> i just want to clarify, you are recommending a denial based on the traffic congestion, noise, those two main areas? >> the noise and then the community input. i mean -- and another thing as far as the -- not so much the high crime rate. this is another thing i wanted to add. but the alcohol permit for ithai it goes until 12 midnight. another concern that we have here is the byob factor that we get at places. so somebody bringing in the small bottles of vodka, because they can't get a drink, you know, in an establishment, and they can probably order a soda there, but we're also concerned about them bringing in the commall alcohol bottles and putting that in there as well. >> but you realize we can't deny somebody on something that may happen. i mean, there's probably not an after-hours in the city that somebody is not sneaking booze into the place and pouring. >> right. >> and you realize this is only 49 capacity. so i don't know what traffic you're expecting out of a 49 -- i mean, we're not talking about a 250-person venue. and they stop at 10:00 or 12:00. i mean, it's hard for me to follow the logic that -- i mean, we have to have really objective reasons to deny somebody, and to say somebody, you know, they don't have a white zone. a white zone is just for passenger loading and unloading. that actually takes away parking. so that would eliminate on-street parking. it would aggravate the problem, if anything. but, ok. any other questions from the commission? all right. let's see if there's members of the public that wants to address this application. going once. all right. >> good evening, commissioners. my name is robert garcia. i'm president of save our streets tenants and merchants association. i live in the neighborhood. i am about a block away from this address. parking. i had to wait for two years to get a parking space in my neighborhood. by 6:00 all the parking is gone. the residents are coming home from work, they're taking whatever parking they can get. the people that come in later are parking in our driveways. we have to have them towed. they're parking on the sidewalks, red zones. parking is at a premium. this is the most densely populated area west of new york city. the lower nob hill hotel and historic district. there are thousands of people that live on each block. the pictures that were shown to you here illustrate that. it showed right across the street three large buildings. and this is throughout the neighborhood. so we also have enough entertainment. in fact, we have too much. we're saturated, this area. and between union square and polk street, those are the high entertainment areas now. we are right in the middle. our residential area. rc-4, rc-3. rc-3 the highest residential in the city. these are working people. this area was built to houseworking people for downtown, financial district, city hall. it was after the earthquake in 1906, everything burned, so they built this masonry district to houseworkers here, and that's what is here. and we need our sleep. i mean, we have guests, too, that we love to find a place to park. this operation, it has a type 41. now, it's a bona fide eating place, and that's what it should remain. i mean, to going at 10:00 to entertainment is just another problem. we have the party buses coming in and parking in the financial district because they can't park in the neighborhoods anymore. and they are trompping across our neighborhood. they are coming in droves going over to polk street. i would like quickly to show you this. this is a rough diagram of the stabet. so you see there's a room back here. this -- i'm sorry, it goes this way. i think this is the kitchen here. >> all right, thank you. thank you. >> there's a curtain there that blocks it off. >> ok. >> right here. >> ok, great. >> so that's not normal. >> ok. thank you. any other members of the public wish to address the commission? >> good evening, commissioners. once again, dave villalobos, community leadership alliance. we're supporting this particular business because this gentleman has really shown that he cares about the community. he's a member of our organization. he comes to our meetings and has demonstrated that he in earnest really cares about what we're doing in the community and is involved in the different projects we have. and i just want to point out -- i know commissioner lee was at the meeting that he spoke at, our meeting that he spoke at. that particular day was a day after he had surgery and was in a bad way, and he still made it to the meeting, and he was the last on our agenda and he stood through the whole meeting so he could make a presentation to our community. we had a pretty full house that day. so this is a harmless business, and we support it and hope that you'll support it as well. >> thank you for your comments. anybody else? >> i'm patricia, 66 post street. and i'm part of the towers group. i definitely do not withdraw my protest. now -- and i really was not aware when i came in here that michael was going to withdraw his. we have 58 owner-residents in this particular building and he has withdrawn his. i am not withdrawing mine. >> ok. >> our premises is located within 100 feet of the ithai. for one thing, i would tell you we did not receive any type of notification, as this woman indicated in the beginning. none at all. the way we found out about this -- and i was the one who actually first found out about it -- was the posting that was made on the ithai saying that an entertainment license had been applied for. so i'd like to contradict that right now. and none of the other owners in our building did anyway, or would have. i can get a listing for you, if you'd leak, on that, too. but our premises, as i say, is within 100 feet of that. now, the ithai -- both ithai restaurant and our building, our home, within two city blocks of the particular area that we're in, there already exists six entertainment licenses. on yuri, the ambassador, the rye, the blue lamp. on shutter there's le colonial, sheer cafe and the cellar. we already have an undue concentration of entertainment licenses in really a very densely populated residential area. we have a number of apartment buildings, we have hotels where officer matthias has already gone their objection to it, although they didn't do it in writing. we, by the way, did do it in writing to you. now, as far as the ithai itself, when we get down to that, that is -- although we've had traffic back and forth and we have noise at night, we definitely have all the regular club-type noise as people go back and forth between the party buses, trying to find their cars, where they are. there's the laughing and the talking from approximately 11:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. in the morning. the difference -- am i out of time already? >> you've got a few more seconds. >> one minute. >> ok. with the ithai, they're really right in our backyard. by that i mean the ithai -- when i heard about this, i actually went over to the thai stick, which is a thai restaurant again. it's on fill more at the corner of pine. and they had had -- they had, at the time i went in, an entertainment license for karaoke. so when i went into them, i asked, do you still -- how is karaoke going with you? are you still doing well? and they said absolutely not. we had to discontinue it. and the reason we had to discontinue it is that we had so many complaints from the neighbors. they were consistent, they were loud. and we also had police down there. >> all right, thank you. >> is my time all up? >> yes. >> too bad. thank you. >> ok. anybody else from the public? >> my name is -- >> if you can pull the mic down, thank you. >> my name is brigitte hennessy. i am also a residents of 666 post. and that corner seems to be a magnet for pan handlers and people sleeping all around the corner. and this particular restaurant, you can see right through it. i mean, every table is visible from the street. and i feel that would be a magnet for homeless and, you know, drifters to watch the entertainment. and they're supposed to be open till 2:00 in the morning. and then the people hang around for an hour or more. well, this particular neighborhood has a lot of apartment buildings where people go to work very early in the morning, and we also have enough entertainment and places that have licenses and coffee shops, and to add to that -- it's just a quarter of a block from where we live, that particular restaurant. and i really don't think we can tolerate any more, nor is one other place necessary. there's a massage parlor, there's two coffee shops, there's a restaurants, there's two grocery stores, there's a couple of restaurants. i think we are saturated, and having karaoke at that hour of the night, till 2:00 in the morning, is not anything that's going to improve our neighborhood. thank you very much. >> thank you. yes, sir. >> good evening, commissioners. i think karaoke is just what we need in the area. we have four thai restaurants. it's very conducive. it's a mixed-use area. i think we need to be a little more sensitive to the thai community. i would consider this an upgrade. it is not an alcohol-related issue. it has to do with a small, low-volume, low amplification and cultural upgrade enhancement to a small space that happens to be conducive. here's what i want to basically say. this was not a one-step process, but a two-step process. the 312 notification goes to the planning department. everybody in the immediate area gets notified, and they wait about 30 days. there were no complaints, not from the p.d., not from any neighbors. some of the neighbors came out to weigh in. the residents here were here two weeks ago, and i did give them my card and i said if you have any issues, please contact me. they chose not to contact me. robert happens to be a very active in the community and he weighs in a lot of issues throughout the meeting. so he's a pretty good watchdog. but at the same time he knows how to reach me, too. i think if we sit down we can mitigate some of the issues that they may have. in the case of michael, who is the president of the crown apartments, his initial letter of february 2 was a denial, without even engagements. then when we engaged and answered the questions to his satisfaction, he wanted a couple of adjustments, some signage, signage in thai and in english that would basically state that be courteous to the neighbors and be quiet, and that's great. also in terms of smoking, if you can put some signs. i went to the health department yesterday and picked up the signs. so in other words, with a good security plan, with a nice cosmetic changes to the place, with good food, these are the kind of places that particular area needs. it brings more eyes, more ears to the area. now, where it's based, it's conducive for what we're asking for. the size and scope of the place warrant that it's not going to have overintensification. it's impossible. and we're not booking metallica. it's pass the microphone to the community and share in their experience. i think we need to be more sensitive. they've met all the requirements that they've been asked for by the city. so i think in this particular case it's going to be a nice fit and i urge you to support this. >> ok. thank you. any other members of the public? if not, the issues with the commission, questions? >> can we ask questions of the applicant? >> sure. >> i think so, can't we? i just have a couple of questions for you. first of all, i want to thank the members of the public that took the time to speak today. i know you've waited a long time for your turn to speak and we really appreciate you sharing your feedback. my question to you, to address some of the issues that were brought up about noise. are you doing anything to insulate the place? >> yeah. i just have placed an order for a curtain to insulate all the like glass win does right in the front, and in that case it should be blocking about the concern about the homeless watching the entertainment as well. but i re-ordered one that is fireproof, so i have to wait a couple of more weeks to get that kind of thing. the first one i ordered is not fireproof. so i re-ordered it like yesterday. as far as the concern, i think we really are doing a sit-down passing the microphone to the tables with a couple of tv's. so they might have misunderstood the points of doing the entertaining, like lighting kind of things. if they're concerned about how loud it's going to be, it's going to be as loud as my music running in the restaurants right now, like every single day. so when people sing, they don't really want to go super, super loud. in a small room like nine foot high, if you go that loud, it's going to go feedback through the microphone anyway. so you can't go crazy loud. so it's not super, super entertainment, like dancing kind of things going on. so i guess maybe if they understand more about the point that we're trying to do, then maybe they get less concerned about how crazy it's going on. >> and you understand that it's also for the benefit of the neighbors here that part of your permit will require you to give out a cell phone number to members of the public who are interested, so that if they have an issue about the noise level they can call you, and you will answer that phone all the time. so can you make sure you give that phone number to the neighbors who are here tonight? >> yes. >> thank you. >> yes. >> yeah, i just wanted to make a comment to the neighbors about party buses. you can always write to assemblyman tom, who has party bus legislation sitting in public safety, and it's something that i'm working on, so i encourage you to do that, because i know they are a huge problem. . >> any other questions? >>i'll just say it sounds like this business that you're proposing in the entertainment is actually going to improve the quality of life in the neighborhood. i think some of the folks' comments about vagrants and that kind of thing in the neighborhood, i think it gets deterred by responsible businesses there, so i wanted to commend you for that. >> i've done many thai events and most of the thai workers, they get off work at around 10:30 and they don't even get there until 11:00 and they come to end

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