Restaurant Loses Bid to Sell Alcohol : Pacoima: A zoning official sides with community leaders who say there are too many liquor outlets in the area.

A Los Angeles planning official Friday refused to grant a permit for a Pacoima restaurant to serve alcohol after community leaders opposed the request, saying it would add to a heavy concentration of liquor outlets along Van Nuys Boulevard.

City Councilman Richard Alarcon and Police Capt. Tim McBride were among those who attended a hearing at the Van Nuys Woman’s Club Friday morning.

“As a new council member, I want to make it clear I’m opposed to that kind of concentration of alcohol distribution in the community,” Alarcon said.

McBride, the commanding officer of the Police Department’s Foothill Division in Pacoima, said the number of alcohol-related incidents is high in the vicinity of the restaurant at 13500 Van Nuys Blvd., where 14 bars, liquor stores and restaurants are clustered together.

“This will just contribute to the problems,” he said.

Representatives of the Haddon and Mercer Homeowners Assn. and other nearby residents turned in petitions with more than 300 signatures opposed to the sale of alcohol at the restaurant, recently renamed La Casa de la Langosta (The House of the Lobster).

One Oneida Street resident, Francisco Flores, brought photographs of nearby liquor establishments and listed a litany of complaints on each one, ranging from drunk-driving incidents to public urination.

“I’ll be the first one there eating to support your business,” Flores told the owner, Victor Montano, who was seated in the audience. “But no beer and wine in that neighborhood.”

The request was also opposed by members of social services agencies, including VOICE (Valley Organized in Community Efforts), El Proyecto del Barrio and Victims of Lost Loved Ones.

Zoning Administrator John J. Parker sided with the community members, saying he could not allow the serving of alcohol.

“I think clearly this can’t be granted,” said Parker, who will issue a written decision within a month.

Montano vowed to appeal the decision, in part because he believes the newly remodeled restaurant will help improve the community’s economic climate.

“The community needs more establishments to create jobs,” he said after the hearing.