With regard to the hole between the restaurant and the club, what if you just went ahead and did it? It seems likely that a city with this level of disorganization and incompetence would never find out, let alone do anything about it if they did, right?
Ooh, but there are undoubtedly fines to be had if he goes ahead and does construction work without a permit. I'm sure they'd be all over that in a heartbeat.
I'm sure there are fines, but how would they even know with this level of disorganization? Do you know how much un-permitted construction happens in SF?
As the above commenter said: going without permits may work in a residence, but not in a club. Especially one that already has some unfriendly neighbors (read his blog). They will complain, and you'll be liable to get your liquor license pulled. End of story.
They will complain, and you'll be liable to get your liquor license pulled.
Serve the liquor anyway. Get some crazy bootlegger to distill it and have it delivered "Smokey and the Bandit" style if you have to.
OK, maybe not really, but damn is the idea awfully appealing. Government in this country is ridiculously out-of-control, and so totally corrupt, evil and heavy-handed that it would be funny if it weren't real. :-(
It's out of control until you live across the alley from the evil twin of the DNA Lounge (jwz's club), which serves to minors, who puke outside your back door, and which winks at the coke dealers who operate out of the alley behind the place. Then, it turns out, you do want someone to complain to.
Well, for one, putting both your businesses at risk for the sake of a door is a bit of a deep play. A former landlord of mine is just now getting busted for putting in an illegal apartment seven years ago. I personally wouldn't want something like that hanging over my head. What if I want to do more construction in the future?
It would probably be fine for most businesses, but not for a nightclub or bar -- the SFPD, ABC, and city government have lots more ability to arbitrarily shut the place down (by pulling the liquor license) than they do with other businesses. Read jwz's blog for the entire saga.
Someone (Ron Conway? Mark Pincus? Jack Dorsey? Drew Houston?) should talk to Ed Lee about how the nightclubs and entertainment industry are WHY startups choose to be in SF vs. down in Silicon Valley.
