No beer and wine sales at 99 Cents Only store, Costa Mesa planners decide

Members of the Costa Mesa Planning Commission turned aside a request Monday that would allow the 99 Cents Only store on Harbor Boulevard to sell beer and wine, saying they were concerned about creating an overconcentration of places where alcohol could be purchased.

On a 4-1 vote, with Chairman Stephan Andranian dissenting, the commission overturned an earlier decision by the city’s zoning administrator to sign off for the store at 2180 Harbor Blvd. to get a license from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

Costa Mesa Principal Planner Minoo Ashabi said the department “will not issue a license without city support.”

City review of the application was necessary because there are four retailers in the same census tract that are already licensed to sell alcohol for off-site consumption, according to city staff.

The 99 Cents Only store was seeking to do the same.

Mayor Katrina Foley requested a Planning Commission review of the zoning administrator’s decision.

Planning commissioners said they weren’t inclined to allow another permitted alcohol vendor so close to existing ones.

“If these guys were going to be the third one in line, I wouldn’t have a problem with it, but they’re going to be the fifth, and I am sensitive to overconcentration,” said commission Vice Chairman Byron de Arakal.

Some residents shared similar concerns with the commission or said they were worried that allowing another alcohol retailer could lead to an uptick in crime in the area.

Andranian said he leaned toward granting the request because he didn’t “necessarily think that the sale of beer and wine has caused all the problems in this neighborhood.”

“I think the problems are a little bit deeper than that,” he said.

He added that he didn’t think granting the request would necessarily exacerbate crime.

No one from 99 Cents Only attended Monday’s meeting to discuss the application, to the disappointment of Commissioner Jeffrey Harlan.

“I have a lot of questions for them, and if you’re going to be asking for something, some discretionary approval, it would be appreciated if you showed up and made your case,” he said. “That might sound a little harsh, but quite frankly, they’ve operated all this time without it and I imagine they would continue to do so.”

luke.money@latimes.com

Twitter @LukeMMoney