The owners of the Hole In The Wall Saloon face the city planning commission today for a hearing circa 5pm in room 400 at City Hall that could determine whether they are allowed to reopen their existing bar in a new location they purchased on Folsom St .

As noted in an April post, the bar intended to vacate their previous location, and move to 1369 Folsom, between Dore and 10th. Despite a long history of leather & liquor co-mingling on Folsom, a newly empowered residential regime in the rapidly NIMBY-fied SOMA district may not allow a simple license transfer even though their liquor license is in perfect standing with the State’s ABC…

Read on about the “hard mitigations” and the Hole In The Wall bar vs the self appointed Western SOMA Citizens Planning Task Force after the jump…

After running at a rented location in poor repair for over a decade, owner John Gardiner and his partner Joe decided to purchase their own building nearby for $1.2 million. As soon as they methodically went about applying for a license transfer & renovations, signs of trouble appeared. Some folks began raising questions as to whether 1369 Folsom was a suitable location for a bar. Last year local entertainment commissioner and neighborhood czar Jim Meko began “advising” against the new owners attempting to use their new building for their business, and this has lead to stalling the work, and has threatened the economic survival of the small business at stake.

Meko, through his city sanctioned bureaucratic maneuvering, and “neighborhood activism” carries weight at city hall, and a campaign of ill will has been created on both sides of this issue at this juncture. At one point it was claimed Meko publicly accused the Hole In The Wall operators as being dishonest and not good neighbors, claiming in recent editorial that they “operate right at the edge of what’s legal and acceptable” . Meko has said that the site is inappropriate since their are so many residents in the area, and there’s even a nearby drug/alcohol rehab facility that I suppose he feels might somehow see all it’s clients streaming out the door in droves to grab beers. I guess the prospects of a Hole In The Wall Saloon moving a couple blocks down Folsom is just too tempting for rehab denizens, despite the fact that just two doors away from 1369 Folsom sits The Powerhouse, a similar gay bar that’s been there for years.

How ironic that Meko and his posse of “activists” have threatened a biz that helps anchor a long standing community, does benefits every month, and fosters the livelihoods of a total of 21 employees. The employees of The Hole In The Wall/Eagle Tavern are unique in that unlike most bar employees in this town, they actually have an employer who offers full health insurance coverage and workers get get paid vacation time. Believe me, after working in town in clubs for close to 20 years, I can say assuredly that’s a real rarity.

Here’s an excerpt from a letter to their customers from John and Joe asking for community support.

Despite Mr. Jim Meko’s characterization of it as a nuisance, The Eagle
Tavern raises tens of thousands of dollars for charities and civic
organizations each year. Finally, we can’t count how many gay men have
sworn they met their life partner at the Hole In The Wall Saloon and
consider it a sacred place. We’re proud of these things and believe
ourselves to be far from “bad bar owners”.

The Hole In The Wall ’s permit case is expected to be heard post 4 pm. Come on down if you have an opinion one way or the other…

Commission Chambers - Room 400
City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place

After the hearing head on down to the Eagle for Thursday Night Live

It’s all part of the 11th annual Mission Creek Music Festival featuring the infamous
EXTRA ACTION MARCHING BAND
as well as The Dead Hensons
and Borts Minorts