400 block of Hayes Street
What You Need to Know
A new year-long amplified-sound permit has been filed by the Hayes Street closure permit holder (HVNA) for the 400 block of Hayes Street.
If approved, amplified programming would run every Friday and Saturday from December 19, 2025 through November 28, 2026 — up to 6 hours per day.
This is a separate process from the Shared Spaces street-closure renewal, and it is moving forward with minimal notice and almost no outreach to the businesses and neighbors most affected, many of whom had no idea this was happening.
Why This Matters
Many neighbors and small businesses never received notice until now, despite being directly impacted by year-round amplified sound on a dense, mixed-use corridor.
This application:
- Normalizes ongoing commercial-scale programming before any neighborhood policy decisions or safeguards are in place.
- Overlaps procedurally with the street-closure renewal in ways that undermine transparency
- Creates an entertainment environment every weekend, not occasional events
- Reduces predictability for residents and small shops, especially those who rely on calmer Saturdays
- Reinforces a pattern of gatekeeping, where a single private group dictates major decisions for a public street
This is exactly the type of parallel, opaque process that has frustrated neighbors for years.
When the Permit Will Be Heard
Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2025
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: City Hall, Room 416
REMOTE ACCESS:
Participate or watch live on Microsoft Teams:
https://shorturl.at/a5uAK
The above link should take you directly to the meeting but if needed:
Meeting ID: 223 229 986 647 0
Passcode: 53Kj3e7w
To access by telephone, call +1-415-906-4659 and enter the Meeting ID 427 382 840#.
Participants using the telephone who wish to speak on a particular item on the Entertainment Commission’s agenda can stay on the phone line and listen for the item to be called. Please waitfor staff to announce the public comment portion. If your agenda item is called and you would like to speak in public comment on your phone, dial *5 and this will show a raised hand; staff will enter you into the meeting when it is your turn. To unmute or mute yourself, dial *6
CLICK HERE FOR AGENDA
What You Can Do
1. Attend the Hearing
- Speak for up to 2 minutes
- Share how this impacts your business, home, or quality of life
- Ask for normalcy on our business corridor and a stop to conversion of an entertainment zone
2. Submit Written Opposition
Below we have an email template that you can send in now!
A Note on Timing
It is no coincidence that this notice arrived immediately after the closure was renewed. For months, we were told outreach had occurred, yet many of the most impacted neighbors received no notice outside of our efforts. This sudden notification confirms our core concern: important decisions about our neighborhood are being made without the community at large; moreover the lack of any participation outside of the HVNA on this matter is problematic.
This permit also overlaps with the newly adopted Entertainment Zone, yet the EZ’s Management Plan has not been completed. That means there are no rules, no enforcement structure, and no protections yet in place for residents or small businesses. Granting weekly amplified sound for a full year before those safeguards exist puts the neighborhood at unnecessary risk.
At the same time, the current street closure continues to operate with long-standing compliance failures — blocked emergency access, safety lapses, and repeated violations that have gone unaddressed for over a year.
The City should not expand privileges for a program that is still failing at the basics.
Key Concerns We Are Raising
- Parallel permit processes excluding affected stakeholders
- Programmatic creep turning Hayes into an entertainment corridor
- Noise impacts on families and upper-floor residents
- Economic harm to small retail
- Need for balanced, transparent neighborhood planning
- Lack of enforcement or accountability in existing closure operations
We Deserve Better
Hayes Valley thrives when a majority has a voice in shaping public space, not just the permit holder of the street closure. Amplified programming every weekend for an entire year should not be decided by a private group alone.
Send your letter to the Entertainment Commission:
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Official posting available on the Entertainment Commission website: https://www.sf.gov/meeting–december-16-2025–december-16-2025-entertainment-commission-meeting