The Entertainment Commission’s Committee on Entertainment in Western SoMa will hold its first meeting tonight at 4:00 p.m. in Room 479 of City Hall. The committee consists of promoter Audrey Joseph, (Vice Chair and Industry Representative), entertainer Glendon (Anna Conda) Hyde (representing the interests of neighborhood associations and groups) and Bryant Tan, a new Mayoral appointee from CCDC who is supposed to represent Urban Planning.
The discussion will focus on entertainment in the Western SoMa Community Plan. Commissioner Joseph will give us a brief history of entertainment in Western SoMa and someone from the Planning Department is supposed to inform us on the impact of current and future zoning in Western SoMa.
Since the original Draft for Citizens Review of the Plan was released on October 22, 2008, the Western SoMa Task Force has invited the Entertainment Commission and the leadership of the California Music and Culture Association (CMAC), the lobbying arm of the local entertainment industry, to participate in 18 separate discussions of modifications to the entertainment element of the Plan (as detailed in this collection of meeting announcements). They’ve ignored us. To say that their 11th hour interest in the plan is overdue is an understatement. If they had participated in this three year review of the Plan, they might not be so confused about what’s actually in the Plan.
Has anyone in the neighborhood been notified of tonight’s meeting? If not, send an email to Jocelyn.Kane@sfgov.org requesting advance notification before this committee meets again.
Jim Meko, chair
SoMa Leadership Council
soma leadership council 
Any follow up from the meeting?
This was the first of three meetings. Commissioner Joseph was surprised to learn that the buffer zones in the area south of Harrison Street only apply to three or four residential enclave districts, not all residences, and as a result leave lots of room for the growth of entertainment. Industry flacks continue to argue that’s “not good enough” and now bemoan the lack of public transit as an obstacle to the spread of nightclubs in that area. Outstanding issues still to be discussed include, why are the buffers zones 200 feet (it was an attempt to preserve some quality of life for those already living in the neighborhood) and why didn’t we apply “special” zoning to the 11th Street corridor (because Terrance Alan from the Late Night Coalition, in an attempt to establish trust with the neighbors, ruled out the creation of an entertainment district right at the beginning of our process).