June 9, 2025
Thank you for your response. However, we find it deeply frustrating that community members are repeatedly forced to document and report violations with no visible follow-up, enforcement, or accountability from your or any other involved agency.
This correspondence is limited to sound and entertainment-related conditions under the jurisdiction of the Entertainment Commission. We (and others cc’d here) are aware of broader noncompliance issues, but this message is focused solely on the misuse of HVNA’s outdoor amplified sound permit.
The Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association (HVNA), acting as the permit holder, is not in compliance with multiple core conditions of their entertainment permit. Specifically, they routinely fail to meet the following:
- Condition #5: There is no on-site staff member during events who can produce a copy of the permit or explain its conditions — including approved sound limits.
- Condition #6: No contact phone number has been posted or made available to neighbors. Community concerns raised in real time go unacknowledged and unaddressed.
- Conditions #9 and #10: There is no visible security presence, posted contact information, or permit signage. There is no mechanism for public recourse or onsite verification.
It is insulting that, week after week, neighbors and small businesses must act as de facto enforcement only to see these violations ignored. Your office has outlined clear expectations yet there appear to be no consequences for repeated noncompliance and no accountability record. Where are the checks and balances?
We are formally documenting this as baseline correspondence and request that these concerns be entered into the public record. Given that this permit was issued in January and amended in March, we note that none of the outlined conditions have been met at any point since issuance including during weekly sound events. In light of this sustained noncompliance, we respectfully request that HVNA’s amplified sound and entertainment permit be revoked immediately. We will continue to make this request as long as this pattern of disregard persists.
This is part of a broader and troubling pattern in which the select permit holders are routinely exempted from oversight, while the burden of enforcement is shifted onto residents and small businesses. That is neither sustainable nor acceptable particularly for those who rely on a functional and safe corridor to conduct business.