WOODLAND HILLS : Granting of Liquor License Held Back

A Woodland Hills merchant won approval for his proposal to build a gas station, carwash, detail shop, snack shop and office on the corner of Penfield Avenue and Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills Monday, but a zoning official stopped short of granting him the alcohol sales permit he had requested.

Instead, Daniel Green, associate zoning administrator, told applicant Bhupinder Mac that more details were needed on how many businesses already provide liquor in the area. Green said he would make a final decision after July 6.

The liquor license was strongly opposed by neighbors of the site, and by Cindy Miscikowski, chief deputy for 11th District Councilman Marvin Braude, who said the sale of beer within two blocks of William Howard Taft High School would worsen an existing problem with teen-agers loitering and damaging property nearby.

Opposition to the project also came from Miles Raskoff, who represents the 400-member Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization. Raskoff opposed the sale of liquor on the site, saying the neighborhood is already overrun with taggers and under-age drinkers.

“It’s become a serious problem because of what’s happening with the young people around here,” he said.

But Dave Bullen, land-use consultant for Mac, the applicant, countered that any application for a liquor license is “a political football these days.” He said opposition to the license, which would allow the 24-hour snack shop to sell beer and wine, was off-base because the alcohol would not be consumed at the gas station, and so would not increase problems of drunken driving.