VAN NUYS : Board OKs Plans for Liquor Warehouse

A proposal to open a warehouse-style discount liquor store on Saticoy Street has won approval from the Los Angeles Board of Zoning Appeals.

Howard Meister, owner of the Gourmet Pantry in Encino, wants to move his business to a larger shop in the 16900 block of Saticoy in Van Nuys and run it as a warehouse liquor outlet.

Last summer, Los Angeles Zoning Administrator Albert Landini denied Meister’s application for a liquor license for the new store after more than 100 people, many of them active in a local neighborhood watch group, signed a petition saying they didn’t want any new liquor licenses in the area.

But the denial was unanimously overturned by the appeals board on Tuesday, with the proviso that Meister, who plans to call his store the Wine and Liquor Depot, only sell liquor by the case, not the bottle.

Police, although they were officially neutral on the issue, backed up the neighbors to the extent that they testified that there are plenty of liquor outlets already operating in the area.

“We are one of the finest operations you could have in terms of a liquor store,” said Meister. “We don’t sell fortified wines, Zig-Zags, lottery tickets, rolling paper . . .”

But Senior Lead Officer Mark Pryor, of the LAPD’s West Valley Division, said that many neighbors still feel strongly that a discount liquor outlet would be bad for the neighborhood and may appeal.

Meister said he is changing the type and location of his store to keep his business alive.

He said that if all goes as planned he will move into the new building on Saticoy Street in January.