Panel OKs Liquor Permit Despite Neighbors’ Protests

A newly opened ethnic market in Van Nuys won approval from a city panel Tuesday to sell a limited amount of liquor despite community protests that the neighborhood is plagued by crime and already saturated with liquor establishments.

The Los Angeles Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously approved a permit to allow owner Arega Yirdaw to sell beer and wine at his shop specializing in African and Arabic foods as long as 50% of the liquor is imported from Africa or the Middle East.

“If this were a routine request for a full line of alcohol, I would quickly and conclusively deny this,” said board member Joseph D. Mandel, citing the owner’s intent to sell mainly foreign brands of liquor to complement the store’s specialty foods. “But this is different.”

The conditional-use permit approved by the board nonetheless prohibits Yirdaw from selling single bottles or cans of beer, or wine with twist-off tops. The liquor must be unrefrigerated so as to make it unappealing for immediate consumption.

Earlier, a zoning administrator had denied the permit because of police reports of intense crime in the area around the shop, located at 7400 Van Nuys Blvd. The owners appealed the decision to the board.

Councilman Ernani Bernardi and the Van Nuys Homeowners Assn. objected to the permit Tuesday.

“This is a crime hot spot in the community,” said David Mays, Bernardi’s chief deputy. “Selling liquor here would be a small step in the wrong direction.”

Homeowners said they will continue to protest to the full City Council, which must approve the zoning permit before the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control will grant a liquor license.