400 block of Hayes Street
UPDATE: December 16, 2025
At the Entertainment Commission hearing, support for the HVNA sound permit came primarily from three HVNA board members, with additional supportive comments from callers outside the neighborhood. Opposition came from long-term Hayes Valley residents. No businesses spoke in support of the permit.
Several residents attempted to participate via the meeting chat and were told those comments would count as public comment, limiting the opportunity to speak verbally.
The permit was approved despite:
- Ongoing noncompliance issues related to the street closure
- Documented community opposition to the closure itself
- An Entertainment Zone Management Plan that remains in progress
What You Need to Know
The Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association (HVNA), which controls the Hayes Street closure, has filed for a year-long amplified-sound permit for the 400 block of Hayes Street.
If approved, amplified programming would run every Friday and every Saturday, from December 19, 2025 through November 28, 2026, for up to 6 hours per day.
Why This Matters
Many neighbors and businesses only learned of this proposal days ago, despite being directly impacted by weekly amplified sound on a dense residential and commercial block.
Approving weekly, commercial-scale programming for a full year:
- Normalizes an entertainment zone model before any broader policy decisions are made
- Overlaps procedurally with the street-closure renewal in ways that undermine transparency
- Creates a standing entertainment environment every weekend — not occasional events
- Reduces predictability for residents and small businesses, especially those relying on calmer Saturdays
- Consolidates control over public space under a single private group
- Imposes noise impacts on families, renters, and upper-floor homes located directly above the street
- Overlaps with existing Friday entertainment permits held by Anina and Brass Tacks, creating duplicative amplified sound on the same block and bypassing safeguards applied to licensed businesses.
For years, Hayes Valley has struggled with parallel, opaque permitting processes that bypass affected neighbors. This proposal continues that pattern — but now, the Commission has confirmed it has broad discretion to prevent it.
What the Commission Confirmed
In response to our inquiry, the San Francisco Entertainment Commission has now confirmed:
✔ They have full authority to reduce hours, dates, and frequency.
The 6-hour window is not fixed.
EC can approve less: fewer hours, earlier end times, reduced days, or a shorter initial term.
✔ They can reject weekly year-round programming.
The One Time Outdoor Event framework allows them to deny a weekly cadence and instead approve a seasonal or occasional schedule.
✔ The sound permit cannot exceed the street-closure permit.
If SFMTA modifies, shortens, or revokes the Shared Spaces closure,
the sound permit must legally be amended or rescinded.
These clarifications matter — they confirm the Commission has broad discretion and that nothing in this application is guaranteed.
This permit is not inevitable and not an entitlement. It can, and should be scaled back to protect those most affected.
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
The Commission has confirmed it has full authority to reduce hours, limit days, and reject weekly programming, meaning public input can directly influence the outcome.
1. Attend the Hearing
- Speak for up to 2 minutes
- Share how this impacts your business, home, or quality of life
- Ask the Commission to reduce hours, limit amplified sound to Saturdays only (no Fridays), reject weekly year round programming, and protect residents and small businesses.
2. Submit Written Opposition
Below is a ready to send template.
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, renters, and upper-floor residents
- Economic harm to small retail businesses
- Need for balanced, transparent neighborhood planning
- Lack of enforcement or accountability in existing closure operations
Anina and Brass Tacks already operate under Friday Entertainment Commission permits with defined conditions. Approving additional Friday amplified sound through HVNA would duplicate entertainment uses, elevate noise impacts, and sidestep the safeguards applied to licensed operators. HVNA programming should be limited to Saturdays, if approved at all
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:
Official posting available on the Entertainment Commission site -> here
the submission period has ended