Neighbors sent out a notice this week to drum up support for Free Gold Watch, which is facing City Hall next week to answer neighbor complaints.
Free Gold Watch, for the unfamiliar, is the custom tee-shirt printer-slash-pinball arcade at 1767 Waller, right between Shrader and Stanyan. And lately, they're facing pressure from neighbors. Next Tuesday, February 18, Free Gold Watch will have to go before City Hall to answer to complaints filed against the establishment. The substance of the complaint, according to Gold Watcher Matthew Henri, is that the tee-shirt printer, which is zoned and permitted as a retail space, started being a pinball arcade. Henri said that Free Gold Watch, which was established about 5 years ago, started offering pinball machines almost 3 years ago, and significantly increased its offering during the past year. Now, all of those machines are technically for sale. By city law, said Henri, any establishment offering more than 10 pinball machines is deemed an "arcade," and while Free Gold Watch doesn't have an interest in becoming primarily an arcade (the screenprinting shop is active and their core business), Henry said he did want to stay compliant with city rules and permitting. The permit required by the city, amusingly, is a permit allowing the use of "mechanical amusement devices."
The news about Free Gold Watch and their trip to City Hall was announced last week by resident Eric Raymond, who also publicized his own letter to the city and announced the support of the San Francisco Pinball Department (abbreviated as the SFPD).
If you're interested in helping Free Gold Watch stand their ground and make a case to the city, you're invited to do so by the end of the day today, February 13, by sending it to Matt [at] freegoldwatch [dot] com.
Free Gold Watch, for the unfamiliar, is the custom tee-shirt printer-slash-pinball arcade at 1767 Waller, right between Shrader and Stanyan. And lately, they're facing pressure from neighbors. Next Tuesday, February 18, Free Gold Watch will have to go before City Hall to answer to complaints filed against the establishment. The substance of the complaint, according to Gold Watcher Matthew Henri, is that the tee-shirt printer, which is zoned and permitted as a retail space, started being a pinball arcade. Henri said that Free Gold Watch, which was established about 5 years ago, started offering pinball machines almost 3 years ago, and significantly increased its offering during the past year. Now, all of those machines are technically for sale. By city law, said Henri, any establishment offering more than 10 pinball machines is deemed an "arcade," and while Free Gold Watch doesn't have an interest in becoming primarily an arcade (the screenprinting shop is active and their core business), Henry said he did want to stay compliant with city rules and permitting. The permit required by the city, amusingly, is a permit allowing the use of "mechanical amusement devices."
