San Fernando Expected to Extend Alcohol Permit Ban

The San Fernando City Council indicated Saturday that it will extend a moratorium on new alcohol sales permits to give planners more time to write an ordinance that would strictly limit the number of outlets selling alcohol in the tiny city.

The council enacted an emergency moratorium July 6 in response to a growing number of residents who complained that San Fernando, only 2.1 square miles, is home to an unusually high concentration of liquor outlets--roughly one for every 428 residents.

With only 23,850 residents, San Fernando has 32 stores that sell liquor and 23 restaurants and bars that serve it.

“San Fernando is a super-saturated area,” said Ray Chavira, a member of the Los Angeles County Commission on Alcoholism. “It has the kind of ratio that we see in South-Central Los Angeles where they are trying to rebuild without alcohol outlets.”

Chavira was one of more than a dozen speakers who offered suggestions to the council at a morning workshop on the proposed ordinance.

Several speakers reminded the council that alcohol has been tied to a variety of problems, from drunk driving to high crime rates. “The more alcohol that is available in a community, the more problems that community will have,” said Juana Mora, a professor of Chicano studies at Cal State Northridge.

A public hearing is scheduled for Aug. 17, after which the council will vote on whether to extend the moratorium to a full year, said Director of Community Development Howard Miura. The council could not take official action at the informal workshop, but most council members indicated they would support extending the moratorium for a year.

The number of liquor outlets has grown, several speakers said, partly because the city has no guidelines for granting alcohol sales permits.

City planners drafted some guidelines three months ago, recommending, for example, that no alcohol sales licenses be granted to stores within 600 feet of a school or 300 feet of church.

But residents such as Lenor Ramirez, a member of VOICE, a San Fernando Valley residents group, called for more restrictive measures at Saturday’s workshop. In fact, restrictions recommended by the group would make San Fernando’s laws tougher than measures in Los Angeles or the county, she said.

Ramirez asked that permits not be issued to outlets located within 1,000 feet of another establishment that serves alcohol, or churches, schools and public playgrounds. Ramirez also requested that the number of permits not exceed one per 1,000 residents.

“We want to protect the community as well as give clear standards to the business community as to what’s permitted,” Ramirez said.

Xavier Flores, executive director of Pueblo Y Salud Inc., a social service agency with alcohol prevention programs, said the city should single out neighborhoods with high concentrations of liquor outlets and make it harder to obtain sales permits in such “high risk” areas.

Currently, 22, or nearly half of the city’s alcohol permits have been granted to stores and restaurants located in the rectangle formed by Truman Street, O’Melveny Avenue, Hubbard Street and Fox Street, Flores said.

The proposed ordinance would mainly apply to future requests for alcohol sales permits, but city planners say they may add provisions to control establishments that already have such permits.

For example, a store owner who substantially remodels his building would have to apply for a new permit, allowing the city to impose the stricter guidelines, Miura said.

Saturday’s workshop focused on permits for liquor stores. On Monday, the council will set a date for a second workshop to cover proposed guidelines for bars and restaurants.