Julius’ Castle can reopen on Telegraph Hill

Julius’ Castle, the long-dormant Telegraph Hill landmark where generations of San Francisco families celebrated wedding anniversaries and graduations, will get a new lease on life after the Planning Commission voted Thursday to allow the restaurant to reopen.

The vote was 7-0 despite a litany of complaints from Telegraph Hill residents who said the reopening would create a sleep-disrupting horror of traffic congestion, idling Ubers, noisy garbage trucks and drunken revelers.

“That is city life,” said Commissioner Kathrin Moore. “We are not living in the suburbs, where everything has to be quiet 24/7. This is the reactivation of something that has been here longer

than any of us have been alive.”

Italian restaurateur Julius Roz opened the hillside restaurant at 302 Greenwich St. in 1924. He created a fanciful Gothic revival structure with pointed arched windows, medieval-style battlements and interior wood paneling from the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The words “Julius’ Castle” were spelled out in redwood at the entrance.

When Roz died in 1943, the property passed through several owners, until it was closed in 2007. Current owner Paul Scott, a Telegraph Hill resident, bought the property in 2012 and has been working since then to reopen it as a restaurant.

Scott said he has agreed to mitigation measures in relation to traffic, parking and noise requested by the Telegraph Hill Dwellers neighborhood association. The Planning Commission approval includes an agreement that Scott will limit trash pickup to after 6:30 a.m. and delivery hours to between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

“There is no debate there will be an increase in traffic when you open a restaurant on a residential street, I understand that,” Scott said. “We have a plan in place to address the concerns that people have raised, and I am willing to abide by those conditions.”

John Lee, who lives at 1406 Montgomery St., said the Planning Department report on the project “understates the severity of noise and traffic problem this project would create.”

Robert Bigler, who owns five properties clustered around the restaurant, said that the closure of Julius’ Castle created a “beautiful quiet neighborhood.”

But resident Ashley Simmons said Julius’ Castle is an important part of city history — a place where her grandparents celebrated milestones and where her parents held their engagement party.

“Yes, occasionally you’ll have a speeding cab or some loud voices,” she said. “That is part of what it means to live in a city.”

Commissioner Rich Hillis said historic places like Julius’ Castle make San Francisco special.

“It gives those of us who don’t have the luxury of living on Telegraph Hill an opportunity to go up there and have a meal,” he said.