A recent study commissioned by San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener found that nightlife contributed more than $4 billion in consumer spending. Now Wiener is proposing another measure that he thinks will help popular spots add even more to that vibrancy.
The Ramp is a San Francisco institution. Just south of AT&T Park, the restaurant dishes up food and on the weekend live music. Now owner Joanie Robins hopes to bring in a DJ.
"It will be more affordable for us quite frankly and give us more opportunity to diversify quickly," she said.
Wiener introduced legislation Tuesday that will put DJs in the mix when it comes to live music permits.
"If you have an art gallery or a cafe or a restaurant where you want to have a DJ in the background in the day or early evening, right now you have to get the same permit a nightclub has to get, which is a major expensive, lengthy process," Wiener said.
He says his proposal would make it cheaper and more efficient for businesses to get a permit, allowing DJs to perform until 10 p.m. once the noise level passes a city sound test.
"I will definitely apply for a permit," said Santiago Rodriguez, who owns Frjtz Restaurant on Valencia Street in the Mission.
"DJs are ambassadors of music and they really make a contribution to a space, especially a restaurant or a bar," Rodriguez said.
The legislation would also create a new permit making it easier for neighborhood groups and merchants to offer ongoing live music in plazas and other outdoor spaces.
And it would give the San Francisco Entertainment Commission more authority to crack down on violators.
"If someone does something we don't approve of, we have citation ability, we have suspension ability and we can actually revoke," said Jocelyn Kane of the Entertainment Commission.
Hearings will be held on the proposal in the coming weeks.
