San Francisco County Municipal Code § 1060.1 Permit Required

(a) Except as provided in subsections (e) and (f), it shall be unlawful for any Person to own, conduct, operate, or maintain, or to cause or permit to be conducted, operated, or maintained, any Place of Entertainment, Limited Live Performance Locale, One-Time Event, Fixed Place Outdoor Amplified Sound Locale, One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound, or Sound Truck in the City and County of San Francisco without first having obtained the required permit from the Director or Entertainment Commission. No Person shall operate a Place of Entertainment between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. without having both a Place of Entertainment Permit and an Extended-Hours Premises Permit. (b) It shall be unlawful for any Person to conduct, operate, or maintain, or cause or permit to be conducted, operated, or maintained, a Place of Entertainment, Limited Live Performance Locale, One-Time Event, Fixed Place Outdoor Amplified Sound Locale, One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound, or Sound Truck for which a permit has been granted (1) after the permit has been revoked or is otherwise invalid or (2) for any period of time during which the permit has been suspended. (c) It shall be unlawful for any Person who is required to surrender a permit upon the sale of a Business as required under Section 1060.24(b) to fail to do so. (d) Any place or premises where a Place of Entertainment Permit, Limited Live Performance Permit, One-Time Event Permit, Fixed Place Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit, or One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit is sought must (1) conform to all existing health, safety, zoning, fire, and other ordinances of the City and County of San Francisco, and (2) must have a valid permit to operate (formerly referenced in this Article as a public eating place permit) from the Department of Public Health, if applicable. The Entertainment Commission, including the Director in the case of a One-Time Event Permit or One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit, may issue a permit under this Article 15.1 conditional upon the applicant receiving the other required permits. (e) No permit shall be required for any Person to own, conduct, operate, or maintain, or to cause or permit to be conducted, operated, or maintained a Limited Live Performance Locale, where any Entertainment ends by 10 p.m., and the Entertainment consists only of a single individual performing without amplification. Any place or premises where this Entertainment occurs must 1) conform to all health, safety, zoning, fire, and other ordinances of the City and County of San Francisco; and 2) have a valid permit to operate (formerly referenced in this Article 15.1 as a public eating place permit) from the Department of Public Health under Health Code Section 452, if applicable. This subsection (e) shall not apply to any premises that does not hold a currently valid permit that is required under this Article 16. (f) No permit shall be required for a school to conduct activities that occur on school premises in the regular course of school operations, including but not limited to school sporting events, school dances, and school music program performances, that would otherwise require a Place of Entertainment Permit, Limited Live Performance Permit, or Fixed Place Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit. A school shall be required to obtain a One Time Event Permit or One Time Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit to engage in activities on school premises that do not occur in the regular course of school operations and that otherwise meet the criteria for such permits.

For purposes of this Section 1060.1, “school” means any Person that is a state-licensed child care center, state-licensed family day care, a public, private, or parochial institution that provides educational instruction for students in any or all of the grades from kindergarten through twelfth grade, or a public or private institution providing post-secondary education as part of a degree program, such as a college or university. (Added by Ord. 193-05, File No. 051027, App. 7/29/2005; amended by Ord. 239-09, File No. 080323, App. 11/20/2009; Ord. 172-11, File No. 110506, App. 9/12/2011, Eff. 10/12/2011; Ord. 100-13 , File No. 130182, App. 6/6/2013, Eff. 7/6/2013; Ord. 82-14 , File No. 140064, App. 6/13/2014, Eff. 7/13/2014; Ord. 163-17, File No. 170443, App. 7/27/2017, Eff. 8/26/2017; Ord. 111-21, File No. 210285, App. 8/4/2021, Eff. 9/4/2021; Ord. 250-23, File No. 230861, App. 12/14/2023, Eff. 1/14/2024, Retro. 1/1/2023; Ord. 237- 24, File No. 240804, App. 10/11/2024, Eff. 11/11/2024)

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this Section 1060.1.1, every person granted a Place of Entertainment Permit, Limited Live Performance Permit, or Fixed Place Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit by the Entertainment Commission shall pay to the Tax Collector an annual license fee on or before March 31, in accordance with the provisions of Section 76.1 of the Business and Tax Regulations Code.*
(b) The amount of the license fee for the 2024-2025 fiscal year shall be as set forth in Section 2.27 of this Code, and such amount shall be adjusted for inflation commencing with the 2025-2026 fiscal year, and annually thereafter, in accordance with Section 2.31 of this Code. (c) Waiver of Initial License Fee. (1) The initial license fee associated with Place of Entertainment Permits, Limited Live Performance Permits, and Fixed Place Outdoor Amplified Sound Permits shall be waived as described in this subsection (c). (2) The following Persons shall be eligible for a waiver of the initial license fee to which they would otherwise be subject under this Section 1060.1.1: (A) A Person who previously held a JAM Permit, and who, during the time period beginning January 1, 2023 and ending June 30, 2025, applies for a Place of Entertainment Permit, Limited Live Performance Permit, or Fixed Place Outdoor Amplified Sound Permit to continue to provide outdoor entertainment and/or amplified sound in the same space as authorized by the JAM Permit; and (B) A Person who, due to Planning Code amendments that take effect on or after January 1, 2023, becomes eligible to apply and applies for a Place of Entertainment Permit or Limited Live Performance Permit on or before June 30, 2025. (3) Any license fee that is waived pursuant to this subsection (c) but that has been paid shall be refunded, without interest, upon request of the payor of the fee. Any refund request under this subsection (c)(3) must be filed in writing with the Entertainment Commission by June 30, 2025. (4) This provision shall not apply to a Person who is applying for an amendment to an existing permit. (Added as Sec. 1060.1-1 by Ord. 193-05, File No. 051027, App. 7/29/2005; amended by Ord. 172-11, File No. 110506, App. 9/12/2011, Eff. 10/12/2011; Ord. 238-11 , File No. 111101, App. 12/15/2011, Eff. 1/14/2012; redesignated and amended by Ord. 163-17, File No. 170443, App. 7/27/2017, Eff. 8/26/2017; Ord. 250-23, File No. 230861, App. 12/14/2023, Eff. 1/14/2024, Retro. 1/1/2023; Ord. 193-24, File No. 240598, App. 7/31/2024, Eff. 8/31/2024)