Commission Revokes Stratos Night Club’s Entertainment Permit

The San Francisco Entertainment Commission voted to revoke Stratos Night Club’s entertainment permit at a hearing Tuesday evening.

The night club located on Ocean Avenue by San Jose Avenue has been under scrutiny after multiple violent incidents inside and outside the club led the commission to discover multiple violations of the conditions of its permit.

Entertainment Commission Executive Director Maggie Weiland cited seven violations in regard to the handling of security concerns at the club over the last 18 months.

“The evidence makes clear that considerations of public safety warrant revocation in this case,” Weiland said. “Stratos has shown a pattern of failure to comply with permit conditions based on the large number of violent incidents at the business and their failure to fix security problems and communicate as required with city officials even after repeated Entertainment Commission and SFPD outreach and citations.”

Violations included security guards not having up-to-date guard cards and the lack of use of metal detector wands as stated in its security plan, which forced the commission to place the club on a 72-hour public safety suspension by the commission in JuneThe commission found that the entertainment permit holder, Jose Montecinos, failed to notify the commission of any SFPD responses to the club, which is a violation of their place of entertainment permit and the Good Neighbor Policy that requires these incidents to be reported to the commission within 24 hours.

The public provided comments about the matter.

“It’s a community place,” said a long-time patron who did not provide their name during public comment. “On Sundays you’ll see that it’s like a family place. We all know each other. We all take care of each other. We take care of Stratos. We want Stratos to be in San Francisco and they deserve another chance.”

Mission Terrace resident David Hooper said safety is huge issue.

“If somebody can’t do it right, it puts a terrible reflection on every other business that is trying to survive and have an entertainment license,” Hooper said.

After nearly three hours of hearing from both sides and taking into consideration that the club is a vital community hub to many, the commission moved to revoke Stratos’ entertainment permit.

Commission President Dori Caminong expressed deep disapproval of the club and said the residents of the area deserved a business that respects safety.

“You are across the street from a church,” Caminong said. “You are across the street from a skate park where there are tweens, teens and young adults who use that space. You're located by a police station, the BART station and multiple schools in that area and if you do not take seriously the fact that you are responsible for the safety of the community; it's shocking.”

Stratos retains its liquor license and remains in business. Its owners have ten days to appeal the commission’s decision.