Who saw this one coming? Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Gerardo Sandoval have been quietly working on an ordinance to ban new alcohol selling establishments in both North Beach and the Excelsior district. This seems a little extreme in one of the city’s most nightlife-heavy districts, but there it is.
The proposed ordinance, due to go before the San Francisco Planning Commission today, would not only prohibit new alcohol sales within the North Beach Commercial District, it would extend the control to 1/4 mile from the district’s border. That includes Chinatown, the Embarcadero and the Marina.
According to the text of the ordinance,
A concentration of alcoholic beverage establishments in a neighborhood disrupts the desired mix of land uses that contribute to a livable neighborhood and discourages more desirable and needed commercial uses in the area. A concentration of establishments selling alcoholic beverages in an area may therefore contribute to the deterioration of the neighborhood and to the concomitant devaluation of property and destruction of community values and quality of life.
In addition to implementing a North Beach ban, the ordinance also establishes a so-called Alcohol Restricted Use District in the Excelsior, along Mission Street from Silver Avenue to the Daly City border.
The hearing is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. today. The proposed alcohol ban is item no. 15. We’ll be bringing you more news on the issue as it progresses. Meanwhile, you can take a look at the ordinance yourself below, as well as a post on the topic from Curbed SF.
Full text of ordinance PDF [SF Board of Supervisors]
CurbedWire: Peskin to Ban Alcohol, Screw With Zoning Map [Curbed SF]
Planning Commission Agenda, Jan. 24, 2008 [SF Planning]
San Francisco Zoning Map [SFgov]
