AFTER THE RIOTS : Measure to Speed Rebuilding OKd

A proposal to speed the rebuilding of businesses in riot-torn sections of the city--while maintaining close scrutiny of controversial operations such as liquor stores--was approved Wednesday by the Los Angeles City Council.

The ordinance waives public hearings for businesses typically not opposed by neighbors, such as supermarkets and gas stations. It also defers Planning Department fees on all stores that are rebuilt.

But the law leaves in place existing regulations for “conditional uses,”--such as liquor stores, auto repair shops and pawnshops. Owners of those businesses will be forced to undergo public hearings before they can rebuild and will potentially face the imposition of conditions ranging from shortened hours of operation to the installation of outdoor lighting and the hiring of security guards.

Although the ordinance applies to a wide range of businesses, debate in the last week has focused on liquor stores, dozens of which were burned in riots that swept the city beginning April 29.

South Los Angeles residents who oppose reconstruction have been at odds with mostly Korean-American merchants, who say the rioting should not be used as an opportunity to tighten restrictions on businesses they have owned for years.

That debate promises to rage on in the coming months as, one by one, the liquor store owners face public hearings before they can rebuild.

“What this action means is that this battle will be fought out on a case-by-case basis,” said Councilman Michael Woo. “We are concerned about an over-concentration of liquor stores, at the same time that we want to support business people who want to stay in the area.”

Several black ministers made an emotional appeal to the City Council to rid their neighborhoods of liquor stores that one called “incubators of violence, disrespect and riots.” They described scenes of loiterers and drunks outside the stores, harassing women and children.

But city officials told the community leaders that an outright ban on liquor stores is impossible because only the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control can regulate alcohol sales.

The ministers, in turn, pledged to bring their parishioners out in force when hearings on the individual liquor stores begin.

“The greater part of the work is ahead of us,” said the Rev. Carolyn E. Tyler, a pastor of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. “We can organize and mobilize our people and tell them that we don’t need any more liquor stores.”

If the stores are rebuilt, the ministers said, they will try to get church members to boycott them, said the Rev. Frank J. Higgins, president of the Baptist Ministers Conference of Los Angeles and Southern California.

“We are going to teach people not to go back into those stores,” Higgins said. “These (merchants) don’t do anything for our community, but pack up and go home every night with their profits and leave us with their problems.”

Korean-American merchants told city officials they fear that increased regulation could drive them out of businesses that represent their life savings.

“It will be a problem,” said Taiyoun Kang, whose Crenshaw District market sold liquor until it was looted and burned. “I am a small business and if it costs too much, I cannot stand it.

“They killed people in the riots,” she told the council. “Now they are trying to kill me economically.”

Stuart Ahn, a spokesman for the Korean Chamber of Commerce, said merchants are relieved that the council didn’t approve a more onerous ordinance.

“I think this is the best we could have hoped for, given the situation, with many neighbors wanting us out altogether,” Ahn said. “What is reasonable will have to be worked out at the hearings.”

The ordinance approved Wednesday, which takes effect immediately, would also permit businesses that planning officials believe benefit neighborhoods to reopen in temporary quarters for up to a year on vacant lots while owners rebuild.

In addition, business owners would be allowed to rebuild structures like those destroyed in the riots, even if the buildings are larger than permitted under current zoning regulations.

Councilwoman Rita Walters, a co-sponsor of the rebuilding proposal, said she hopes the city can take more stringent steps to prevent liquor stores from reopening. She suggested that city zoning officials more strictly enforce current regulations to revoke permits of store owners who fail to comply with operating conditions.

But permit revocations can only proceed after substantial evidence has been compiled that a store has failed to comply with the city’s orders, a cumbersome process. Only one or two liquor stores have had operating permits revoked in the last 1 1/2 years, said Robert Janovici, the city’s chief zoning administrator.

A separate measure to control liquor stores has been proposed by Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas. Under that plan, merchants would be offered economic incentives, such as grants and low-interest loans, to reopen their stores without liquor sales.

Details of that proposal remain to be worked out.