North Beach Proposes New Ban On Restaurants

North Beach: The latest in the long, long line of North Beach legislation wars has officially arrived, and like some of its predecessors, the new proposal blames the recent debauchery on ... restaurants. We've already seen the neighborhood ban froyo and pizza, and now, possibly all new restaurants and bars:

... the neighborhood’s powerful neighborhood association and the area’s top cop say the number of restaurants and bars needs to be restricted to quell the weekend partygoers.

The legislation to cap the number of eateries, bars and ATMs was introduced by the district's supervisor, Aaron Peskin, and would prohibit those establishments from replacing neighborhood services such as grocery stores, pharmacies and dry cleaners.

Oh yes: eateries on the weekends are the problem. All those European tourists (and their shorts/high socks ensembles) that flood North Beach restaurants on the weekends are an absolute menace. But for some reason, the Golden Gate Restaurant Association thinks Peskin's idea is, in fact, ridiculous.

GGRA honcho Kevin Westlye says the proposal isn't about preventing crime, but rather blocking merchant growth, insisting it's just another big black eye for North Beach's already-terrible reputation as a neighborhood that has "made an art form out of blocking development."

Just when it looked like things might be looking up for North Beach (Swirl Culture, Panta Rei, and Alimento were all approved in recent months), in comes this new proposal. Now, time will tell if it passes. In the meantime, if there is indeed a quandary, has anyone considered dealing with the existing problem bars in a direct way (other than hand stamps, we mean) instead of these hypothetical problem restaurants?
· Has North Beach hit alcohol limit? [SFE]
· North Beach Alcohol Ban: Even NIMBY's Like to Drink [Curbed]
· EaterWire: North Beach Considers Alcohol Ban? [~ESF~]

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