PLACENTIA : Gas Station Loses Bid to Sell Alcohol
City Council members refused to allow a gas station owner to sell beer and wine at his business, saying it is inappropriate for the business and that alcoholic beverages are already sold at many sites around the station.
Council members voted unanimously last week not to let Placentia Shell at 1820 Placentia Ave. sell alcohol, although the owner argued that it was necessary to step up business at his site.
“A service station and a . . . liquor license, the combination just doesn’t work,” said Mayor Arthur G. Newton.
City officials said nine other businesses in a half-mile radius of the service station already sell beer and wine. Several neighbors also complained that the sales would be too close to an elementary school and that they would add to traffic on weekends.
But Saibe Hamidi, an owner of the station, said that residents’ fears were exaggerated and that most of his customers would buy alcohol for moderate consumption.
“The way that I hear people talk about it is that it will be just a bunch of drunk people who want to buy beer there,” he said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
