City Presses Fight Against Mixing Gas, Alcohol Sales

In the wake of a new state law that abolishes Glendale’s blanket ban on the sale of alcohol and gasoline from the same location, city planning commissioners recommended this week that the city begin individually reviewing applications for such outlets.

Case-by-case reviews are allowed under the 2-month-old state law that Glendale officials battled unsuccessfully this year. The legislation outlaws new bans on dual sales of alcohol and fuel after Jan. 1, 1988. Existing bans in Glendale and about 30 other cities must end by Jan. 1, 1989. At the same time, however, it enables cities and counties to deny individual applications for such businesses or to impose restrictions on the operation or design of a particular outlet.

Unanimous Recommendation

At the direction of City Council members, Glendale officials drafted an ordinance establishing standards for stores that sell alcohol and gasoline. Planning commissioners voted 5-0 Monday to recommend it to the City Council.

If approved, the new city ordinance would apply to retailers who already sell both products as well as to those who may want to in the future. The ordinance would prohibit outlets from advertising alcoholic beverages at fuel pumps, from selling such beverages from a drive-in window and from displaying wine, beer and liquor in ice tubs.

Also, the city could attach further restrictions on a particular application of the business or proposed business.

“We can put lots of things in the conditional-use permit,” Mayor Ginger Bremberg said after commissioners voted in favor of the ordinance.

“They have chosen to violate our community standards,” she said of the businesses with concurrent sales, ‘ . . . so, by like token, they can take the requirements we impose upon them.”

Adoption of the ordinance by City Council would void Glendale’s ban that was adopted in April, 1986, at the urging of Glendale community leaders and parents. City officials imposed the ban in an effort to curb accessibility of alcohol to minors and to prevent drivers from “filling both tanks at once,” Bremberg said.

While other cities permitted existing businesses to continue dual sales, Glendale ordered its estimated seven outlets that sell gas and liquor to stop by May 27, 1987.

But, before the ban could take effect, Superior Court judges in Burbank and Los Angeles ordered Glendale officials in separate rulings last May to stop enforcing the ban against three gas station mini-marts that filed suit against the city. Glendale officials are appealing those rulings, said Assistant City Atty. Scott Howard. In the meantime, officials decided to hold off on enforcing the ban.

A separate provision of the proposed city ordinance approved by planning commissioners would prohibit service stations from eliminating existing restrooms and would require new service stations to provide restrooms.

That provision of the ordinance would not apply to stations that do not now have restrooms.