The Entertainment Commission now “strongly recommends” that bar and club owners formally reach out to neighbors and neighborhood groups before applying for an extended-hours or place-of-entertainment permit.

It is not exactly a requirement, but the commission approved the change Tuesday in hopes that bar owners would take more time to reach out instead of springing a notice on the community late in the permit process.

The commission could have made it a requirement, but after two years battling police at the Board of Supervisors to change the codes that govern nightlife in San Francisco, it decided to go with a less substantial amendment.

“I believe it will help the commission be able to understand the issues from the neighborhoods perspective, and it will help start a dialogue between local residents and bar owners early in the process,” Entertainment Commission Executive Director Bob Davis said. “It just gets you off on the right foot.”