S.F. nightclub safety law in works
Heather Knight, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, February 29, 2008
Responding to a recent spike in violent crimes in and around San Francisco's popular nightclubs, Mayor Gavin Newsom announced new legislation Thursday intended to make the venues safer.
Under the proposed legislation - to be introduced by Supervisor Sophie Maxwell at Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting - it would be illegal to loiter within 10 feet of a club for more than three minutes between the hours of 9 p.m. and 3 a.m.
People smoking or waiting for a bus or taxi would be exempted, and police would have to issue a warning before citing a loiterer.
The legislation also would require promoters who hold two or more events at nightclubs within any given year to obtain a permit.
As it is now, the mayor said, "fly-by-night" promoters come and go without anybody keeping track of them. Permits would enable the Police Department and other city agencies to know who is responsible for an event in the case of a security breach or health violation.
In addition, the legislation would grant emergency powers to the director of the city Entertainment Commission to suspend permits for safety or noise violations. If a promoter planned an event for Friday and Saturday nights and the Friday night party got out of hand, the director could unilaterally cancel the Saturday night event.
Finally, the legislation would require nightclubs with extended hours - usually from 2 to 6 a.m. - to produce security plans to be approved by the director of the Entertainment Commission.
Four homicides occurred outside nightclubs in 2007, and there have been two more this year. Fifteen percent of all assaults in the city take place in or around nightclubs, the mayor's office said.
The Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice convened a special meeting in January on the issue, and representatives from 250 live music venues, nightclubs and comedy clubs attended and helped craft the legislation.
The announcement Thursday was similar to one made by the mayor in the fall of 2006, when he outlined new safety crackdowns along the Broadway corridor in North Beach, where fights, muggings and underage drinking were all increasing.
At that time, he announced there would be extra police officers patrolling the neighborhood. Also, the Sheriff's Department would have a van stationed there to transport people who were arrested to the County Jail, and authorities would visit nightclubs to ensure that alcohol laws and noise ordinances were being obeyed.
"We're very successful there, but it's just very labor-intensive," Newsom said, noting that the Broadway efforts will continue but that the new legislation would bolster the city's efforts to crack down on violence.
Brit Hahn, owner of City Nights and Club Envy, both in the South of Market neighborhood, and Rouge in North Beach, said he supports the new legislation.
He said more people are coming to his clubs - not to pay the cover charge and party inside, but to hang out on the street outside or in adjacent alleys. He said they break into cars, start fights and bother people waiting in line.
"The city and the industry need tools to deal with what's been a growing problem in the past few years," he said.
