Rest of City Exempted--for Now : Council OKs Liquor Curb in Southeast, Downtown

After a lengthy debate that left some council members confused, the San Diego City Council on Tuesday voted to enact a pilot program that would regulate the sale of alcoholic beverages by stores and service stations in the downtown and Southeast areas of the city.

The program, which was enacted in the form of an ordinance, will begin in 45 days and its effectiveness will be reviewed after one year, when council members will decide whether to scrap it or extend it to all areas of the city. The measure was passed at the urging of Councilman William Jones, who represents the areas affected by the legislation.

A second ordinance passed by the council will regulate the sale, display and advertising of alcoholic beverages at convenience stores that also sell gasoline. This measure, which also will be enforced only downtown and in Southeast San Diego, is intended to stop people from drinking and driving, said Jones, who introduced the measure.

When the ordinances go into effect, all new establishments selling alcoholic beverages will have to obtain a conditional use permit from the city Planning Department. Department officials will have the authority to approve, deny or approve with conditions the opening of these establishments.

The measures require an evaluation from the Police Department, and planning officials will consider whether the business will adversely affect the health and safety of neighborhood residents before issuing a permit. Officials will also consider whether the proposed establishment will contribute to an “undue concentration” of liquor-selling businesses in the area.

The permit will be denied if the establishment is within 300 feet of a public park, church, school or hospital.

Although the first ordinance was widely viewed as affecting mostly new convenience stores, it applies to all new establishments, including restaurants, with less than 10,000 square feet of floor space that intend to sell beer and liquor.

A Planning Department spokeswoman said the new measures will not apply to existing businesses unless the operators change liquor licenses or modify an establishment to increase the sale of alcoholic beverages. However, the council directed the department to study the possibility of forcing existing businesses to apply for conditional use permits in the future, said the spokeswoman.

Opponents of the measures, most of them from the convenience store industry, called the ordinances “a back-door approach to prohibition.”

Jones replied that he was not advocating outlawing liquor and said that he introduced the measures in an attempt to reduce crime in downtown and Southeast San Diego.

Jones and other supporters of the measures charged that the proliferation of liquor stores and establishments that sell alcohol in downtown and Southeast San Diego are contributing to a sharp increase in crime.

Several speakers urged the council to make the ordinances applicable to all areas in the city but council members chose to wait and study the results of the one-year experiment before expanding it.

Passage of the first measure means that city planners will have to consider a service station’s impact on the surrounding community and the impact that beer sales will have on local residents if an operator wants to sell beer and gas at the same establishment.

Speakers for several convenience store chains, including 7-Eleven stores and Circle K markets, complained that their stores were being made scapegoats for the problem of drinking and driving. Some markets from both chains sell gasoline and alcohol.

A spokeswoman for the Southland Corp., operator of 7-Eleven stores, charged that “mom and pop and liquor stores and bars encourage public drinking and related crimes.” She said it is a “totally false assumption” that drinking and driving are encouraged by convenience stores that sell beer and gasoline.

A spokesman for Circle K said “it is a silly assumption that a lot of people buy gas and alcohol at the same stop.”

Before the debate began, Councilwoman Gloria McColl excused herself from voting on the issue because of a possible conflict of interest. McColl told the council that she owns an interest in a convenience store.

Nevertheless, the measures passed 5 to 1, with Councilman Bill Cleator in opposition. Cleator said he did not think the measure could be enforced because the Planning Department does not have the staff or money to enforce it.

Councilman Uvaldo Martinez, who is on an out-of-town trip, was excused from voting.

Some council members tried to make Jones’ second proposal applicable throughout the city but failed when Councilmen Mike Gotch and Ed Struiksma joined Cleator in opposing the measure. The vote to apply the second measure citywide failed in a 3-to-3 tie, with council members Judy McCarty and Abbe Wolfsheimer supporting Jones.

Gotch opposed applying the measure citywide on grounds that the council was attempting to regulate morality. He said it was not necessary to police all convenience stores that sell beer and gasoline. Gotch and Struiksma said they agreed to support the measure in the target areas because of their high crime rate, much of which is allegedly related to alcohol.