Karaoke ban lifted

The problem is that outside promoters brought excessive crowds to certain locations in the past few months. Now police are planning to introduce an ordinance in May to require vendors to give police advance notification of such events. That way, background checks could be performed on the promoters and police could be adequately prepared to deal with any massive crowds.

The ordinance will be part of a larger live entertainment policy the Police Department is currently crafting.

Fusia owner Lin said Friday's hip hop event was the first and last one he'll hold - he said he only did it to tide him over financially while awaiting word on whether he would be able to finally open his karaoke rooms.

"We needed a way to get by," Lin said. "It was costing us a lot of money to keep going."

City officials lifted the 45-day ban on karaoke rooms last night and enacted an ordinance that requires private entertainment rooms to have windows that will illuminate what's going on inside.

"To get this to work it's going to rely on operators performing frequent observance of the rooms, or they run the risk of losing their license," said Councilman Jack Matthews.

The temporary ban was put into effect when police found the rooms were dens to illegal activities like prostitution, gambling and drug dealing. Although such problems had never been cited at Fusia, owners were prevented from opening four new karaoke rooms as a result of the ban. The new ordinance also requires that there be no locks on doors to private entertainment rooms. Lin said installing new, bigger windows on the doors to the room won't be a problem - he's just happy to finally be able to open them for business. He said it will probably take about two months to reapply for all the city certificates.

"We're just beginning to learn how to work with police," Lin said.

Meanwhile, Manheimer said the new undertaking to create a comprehensive live entertainment policy is part of an effort to encourage downtown growth.

"It's complementary to attracting retail and a critical part of our future," she said. "We don't want them to be afraid when going downtown."

Yunmi Choi can be reached by e-mail at yunmi@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 109. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.