Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Restrictions on Alcohol Sale to Take Effect Immediately

Worried that businesses planning to sell or serve alcohol would rush to open before new regulations take effect, the Palmdale City Council met Monday to put the rules into effect immediately.

The ordinance, restricting how and where alcohol can be served and sold, received tentative approval from the council last Tuesday. The law was scheduled to face a final vote June 10, then take effect 30 days later.

But after last week’s meeting, several business owners contacted the city about getting their stores or restaurants approved before that deadline, Planning Director Molly Bogh said.

Because of such inquiries, the council met in a special session at noon Monday and voted 4 to 0 to adopt the alcohol rules as an urgency ordinance, which took effect immediately. Mayor Jim Ledford, as part-owner of a local sports bar, abstained, citing a conflict of interest.

Ray Chavira, a Lancaster resident who serves on the Los Angeles County Commission on Alcoholism, was pleased by the council’s vote. “It is quite important and reveals that the council is dead serious about reducing the proliferation and undue concentration of alcohol outlets in Palmdale,” he said. “It’s about time.”

Chavira said more than 120 businesses sell or serve alcohol in the city. The new law will not affect outlets already in business.

The law imposes distance requirements to separate such businesses from areas it describes as “sensitive,” including schools, churches, parks and residential areas. Businesses whose primary purpose is to sell alcohol and other outlets that cannot meet the distance rules now must get a conditional use permit from the city before they can open.

Before the new law took effect, some alcohol outlets could open merely by purchasing a city business license, local officials said.

The law also imposes new rules on convenience markets, such as banning the sale of alcohol from drive-up windows.

Similar laws have been adopted in the county and in neighboring Lancaster.

The law states that Palmdale needed to regulate businesses selling and serving alcohol because such outlets could lead to increased crime--including drunk driving--and have an adverse impact on nearby facilities such as parks and schools.