New proposal aims to make Front Street San Francisco’s entertainment district – NBC Bay Area
New Orleans has Bourbon Street, Las Vegas has the Strip, now San Francisco wants to add Front Street to that list of entertainment venues.
A newly announced proposal aims to take advantage of a new state law that allows the city to create “entertainment zones.”
Part of Front Street in downtown San Francisco is usually the party spot on St. Patrick’s Day, but a new proposal aims to make it the year-round street party spot.
“This entertainment zone will provide an opportunity to make it easier to get to yes, to make it easier for us to create those opportunities,” said Mayor London Breed.
She said the block might feel like the first Thursday event the city held downtown on Wednesday night, only more frequently.
The idea is to close the block and transform it into a regular entertainment zone.
Essentially the first of its kind in the city and state.
A recently passed law authored by Senator Scott Weiner would allow bars and restaurants on this block to serve alcohol to customers on the street.
This is something state law prohibits doing during a street fair or other special events.
“You can bring in an outside vendor to sell beer with a special license. But the family, the local, locally owned bars and restaurants down the street cannot participate,” he said.
SB-76 changes that rule, but only affects San Francisco. And the city still needs to approve an ordinance that describes what will be allowed in that special entertainment zone.
Breed said she wants to waive fees for events like street fairs and this special zone.
Local business owners say if approved, it could breathe new life into the neighborhood.
“I think it will initially be a one-off event here, try to get some regularity, maybe like a First Thursday or First Friday. Then maybe it’s all weekend,” Duncan Ley, co-owner of Harrington’s Bar and Grill , said.
The city already has a special area for daytime dining just a few blocks away, on the commercial street.
But the idea of the nighttime entertainment zone on Main Street is to give people who work downtown a reason to stay there after work and attract more potential residents to the area.
The proposal still needs to be approved by the Board of Supervisors, said Chairman Aaron Peskin: “We have been very supportive of the Downtown Partnership CBD’s efforts to activate entertainment programming in key areas – and my office has been working with them since last year on legislation to streamline a master permitting process for this type of use. My team met with the Mayor’s Entertainment Director yesterday to see how we can collaborate on these types of activations throughout downtown and I feel very positive about it. things done for the city when we collaborate!”
