Anaheim : Strict Law Sought on Mini-Mart Liquor Sales

Owners of gasoline station mini-marts in Anaheim may see more restrictions before they are allowed to sell beer and wine after city officials Tuesday asked their staff to write a new ordinance.

The council decided against an outright ban on the sale of alcohol at gas station mini-marts. Instead, the majority agreed to place specific conditions on all marts applying for permits to sell both gas and alcohol.

The ordinance the council will consider includes requirements that would ban video and electronic games from the site, prohibit alcohol advertising outside the building and include signs inside the building that would discourage drinking and driving.

Drunk driving was a primary concern with the many speakers who addressed the council during Tuesday’s 2 1/2-hour public hearing.

“We’re concerned about the price we may have to pay as a community,” said Colleen Vallas, chairwoman of the Alcohol Advisory Board of Orange County. The board, after surveying 679 people attending three of the county’s drunk driving schools, found that, of those questioned, 51% had bought both alcohol and gas at the same site and 43% drank the alcohol immediately.

Council members also heard from representatives of Thrifty Oil Co. and Arco Petroleum Products Co., who discouraged the city from restricting the alcohol and gas sales and, on the other hand, representatives of organizations such as Community Against Substance Abuse that urged the council to do away with the joint sale of alcohol and gas altogether.

Mayor Don Roth said there was inconsistency in banning alcohol sales at mini-marts but allowing them at supermarkets. Councilman Irv Pickler, echoing most of his colleagues, agreed that drunk driving is a problem but disagreed with the ordinance requested by the Planning Commission, which has traditionally denied requests for the joint sale of alcohol and gas.