'Undue Concentration' of Liquor Licenses in Encino Keeps Protests Flowing

Prompted by concerns from hundreds of residents that too many businesses in the community are being allowed to sell alcoholic beverages, the Encino Neighborhood Council plans to review its policy for recommending the approval of liquor licenses.

The state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has the ultimate authority to issue liquor licenses, but it usually receives a recommendation from the Neighborhood Council as part of its review process.

The Neighborhood Council is scheduled to discuss its position on the issue at its meeting Wednesday at the .

[UPDATE: The council has not yet taken a position and will continue to research the issue.]

A recent report by the ABC shows that Encino has an "undue concentration" of 82 active liquor licenses, 77 of which are in five census tracts along Ventura Boulevard. (For details, see chart below.)

Board members of the Homeowners of Encino (HOME) recently voted to oppose the issuance of new liquor licenses in census tracts along Ventura Boulevard that exceed the ABC's stated limits. The board also recommended that the Neighborhood Council establish a policy to oppose the ABC's issuance of new licenses wherever there is an overconcentration of permitted liquor sales.

The ABC is not legally bound by the Neighborhood Council's recommendations, which are advisory only.

The effort to protest all new liquor licenses has grown out of  hundreds of residents' objections to plans for a CVS Pharmacy to move into the Encino Marketplace space currently occupied by the Barnes & Noble bookstore at Ventura Boulevard and Hayvenhurst Avenue.

CVS, which expects to move into the space in early 2011, is currently seeking a "Type 21" liquor license to sell a full line of alcohol for off-site consumption. The company is also requesting a permit for 24-hour operation and an extension of alcohol sales from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., which it says it needs to compete with the nearby Ralphs grocery store. The usual hours for liquor sales are 7 a.m. to midnight.

According to more than 720 residents in the area who signed a petition against the approval of a liquor license, the sale of liquor at CVS is not convenient or needed.

"CVS is simply not welcome at this location by the residents of Encino," said Robin Permaul on the Save Our Encino Barnes & Noble Facebook page and new Web site. "There's already an overwhelming number of drugstores and liquor stores in the area."

The ABC-approved ratio for liquor licenses is one on-sale general license for every 2,000 persons per census tract. Similarly, one off-sale general license is allowed for every 2,500 persons in a census tract. However, the ABC can make exceptions for establishments that serve "a public convenience or necessity," said ABC District Administer Armando Gonzalez.

ABC staff is still reviewing the CVS liquor license request, taking into consideration the residents' petition, reports from the Los Angeles Police Department on the crime rate in the community, and other analysis from its own investigative department, Gonzalez said.  

The census tract in which Encino Marketplace is located (1397.01) is allowed three Type 21 licenses for the sale of alcohol for off-site consumption, according to ABC Investigator Esmeralda Reynoso. Four Type 21 licenses have already been issued  in that area.

 Gerry Silver, president of Homeowners of Encino, said the group's board decided that a blanket protest of all new requests, instead of on a case-by-case basis, would be the best course of action until a solution is identified to fix the over-saturation of alcohol sales on Ventura Boulevard. 

"HOME has been involved with alcohol liquor licenses for decades along Ventura Boulevard," Silver said. "We've tracked traffic accidents, DUIs. We've debated many times that our basic position is that we don't want the ABC limits exceeded. Whenever a liquor license has come up we have virtually opposed granting those excesses."

The Encino Neighborhood Council has set up an ad hoc subcommittee to gather data and find out if neighboring councils have a policy for voting on liquor licenses.

"What we want to try to do next is validate what we understand to be the limit for ABC standards for census tracts," said John Arnstein, a member of the four-person subcommittee.

Silver acknowledged that the inability to gain a liquor license could adversely affect some businesses whose clientele want alcoholic beverages.

"Will it negatively impact jobs? It would, but that's not unusual,"Silver said. "The positive side is it would keep down DUIs, property damage and similar alcohol-related issues. You have to recognize there are reasons for the limits."

For more data about liquor licenses in Encino, see the table below, the map attached or visit http://www.abc.ca.gov/datport/SubscrMenu.asp.

CENSUS TRACTS ALONG VENTURA BLVD. IN ENCINO

POPULATION

ALLOWED ON-SALE (restaurant, bar, tavern)

ACTUAL ON-SALE

ALLOWED OFF-SALE (liquor stores or markets)

ACTUAL OFF-SALE

1396.00

4547              

4

22

3

4

1390.00

4776

5

2

3

2

1414.00

4286

4

10

3

3

1397.01

4571

4

22

3

4

1395.02

2887

3

4

2

4

 *These numbers are approximate, according to the ABC's License Query System online.

All of the census tracts in Encino are: 1390, 1392, 1395.01, 1395.02, 1396, 1397.01, 1397.02, 1397.03, 1414, 1415