SHERMAN OAKS : Gas Station Seeks Alcohol Sales Permit

A Los Angeles zoning official next week will consider an application by a businessman to sell beer and wine at a proposed mini-mart located at the intersection of Burbank and Sepulveda boulevards.

Valencia businessman Jack Khangura has applied for a conditional use permit to sell alcoholic beverages at a 24-hour market that he wants to add to his Shell station at 5556 Sepulveda Blvd.

“We have not yet taken a position” on the project, said Bonnie Kopp, an aide to City Councilman Marvin Braude. “We are talking to the police and trying to figure out what the impact on the community would be.”

Kopp said she heard that a local homeowners association has expressed concerns about the proposed market, which would be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Many community activists oppose the sale of alcohol at gas stations, fearful that it might encourage drinking and driving.

According to Khangura’s application, there are now two liquor stores within the Shell station’s so-called census tract, a designated area of residents surrounding it. The state Alcoholic Beverage Control Department allows six liquor licenses in a census tract, Khangura said.

The businessman said in his application that he would like to sell beer and wine coolers in single cans if he is allowed to do so by the city.

There are five parking spaces at the site.

The hearing will take place at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 24 at the Sherman Oaks Woman’s Club, 4808 Kester Ave., in Sherman Oaks.