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Planning Commission Approves Café Expansion;
Business Must Meet 46 Conditions
By Jaime San Felippo
The Café, a popular nightspot in the Castro, received a conditional use approval from the San Francisco Planning Commission on March 20 in regards to its application to make improvements to the club as well as build an extension in the back of the building and open up a small take-out restaurant.
The application was approved with 46 conditions.
“The hearing went well,” said Rick Crawford, the San Francisco Planner who worked with the Café on its application. “They had a lot of support from neighbors by the time of the hearing. They have a lot conditions and a lot of expectations for them to be a good neighbor.”
Tom Hutachinda, owner of the Café, will now be able to build a four-story extension on the 17th Street side of the building that will provide space on the ground floor for a small, self-service restaurant, expand the existing bar on the second floor and create new retail space on the third floor to develop a business service use.
The Café will also now be allowed to have amplified music and dancing from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week. They will be subjected to six-, 12- and 18-month reviews to make sure they are in compliance with all conditions.
During the first nine-month period, the Planning Department code enforcement staff will team up with the Entertainment Commission’s sound technician to conduct two unannounced sound checks. The outcome of these visits will be reported back to the Planning Commission during the six-month follow-up public informational hearing.
Hutachinda and the Café’s manager, Louis Caputo, faced fierce opposition from neighbors when they initially submitted their application. Neighbors complained that the club was not abiding by their already existing conditions of use. They were told by the Commission to work with neighbors and abide by their existing conditions for at least six months before re-applying.
Neighbors reported that Caputo and the head of security at the Café, Willy Adams, did a lot of reaching out, meeting and working with neighbors in those six months.
Any resident with a comment or complaint for the Café can reach Louis Caputo on the Café hotline at (415) 244-4459.
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