LANCASTER : Tough Alcohol Sales Measure Advances

Los Angeles County supervisors tentatively approved a tougher alcohol sales ordinance Tuesday, a decade after it was first proposed by an Antelope Valley resident.

The ordinance revisions must return to the board for a second vote, which planning officials said probably would not occur for a month.

Lancaster resident Ray Chavira, a member of the county Commission on Alcoholism who first proposed the revisions, said the ordinance was milder than he would have liked, but nonetheless is a significant step forward.

The ordinance requires that new liquor stores and restaurants serving alcohol obtain a special conditional use permit, which would include requirements such as: buffer zones between the outlets and residences, a review of the effect on nearby churches, schools or parks, and proof that the outlet is more than 500 feet from any other alcohol sales outlets.

The revisions were temporarily sidelined last Thursday when a representative of Korean businesses damaged during the April riots said the stricter ordinance would unfairly penalize those stores.

The conditional use permit is also required of businesses vacant for more than three months.

But county officials said Tuesday that only two liquor stores and one mini-market were affected by the ordinance and that both liquor stores had a history of law enforcement problems and community complaints.