Nightclub no-no’s go to commission
By: Brent Begin
Examiner Staff Writer
October 22, 2008
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| Mayor Gavin Newsom |
The city commission charged with overseeing San Francisco’s clubs will be granted greater powers to revoke permits and issue citations under an ordinance approved Tuesday to send to the Board of the Supervisors.
The laws were part of a package of legislation announced by Mayor Gavin Newsom in February, aimed at reforming San Francisco’s nightclub industry.
“People are going to these nightclubs, carrying guns and committing violent crimes,” Newsom said in February.
Violence has plagued The City’s popular party districts in recent years, including the South of Market Area and North Beach, with fights, shootings and killings outside entertainment venues.
Four of The City’s 98 homicides in 2007 were nightclub-related, and 15 percent of assaults occurred from disputes either inside or outside of nightclubs, according to San Francisco Police Department statistics.
One of the two laws approved Tuesday by The City’s Entertainment Commission grant greater powers to the city agency to suspend permits; the second piece of legislation is for clubs with “extended-hours” permits, requiring such nightclubs to create security plans.
The Entertainment Commission was created in 2002 to take over the nightclub permitting duties of the SFPD. If the legislation approved Tuesday is passed by the Board of Supervisors, the commission would also be granted authority to cite businesses with administrative citations.
In the past, police officers would give tickets to businesses that didn’t comply with nightlife-related codes. Those charges would often be dropped later in court, according to commission President Bob Davis.
The legislation would allow the commission to fine businesses $100-$500 for violations. The money would be directed to the Entertainment Commission, Davis said.
Another piece of related legislation championed by Newsom, a loitering law that prohibits standing within 10 feet of a club’s entrance for more than three minutes between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m., was previously approved by the commission, although it has not yet been sent to the Board of Supervisors.
