PANORAMA CITY : Security Guard Rule Angers Store Owners

A city zoning board decision to require owners of a Panorama City convenience store to hire two full-time, armed guards as a condition of granting the store a liquor license has satisfied area residents but incensed the store’s proprietors, who said the ruling will make it impossible to stay in business.

This week, the Los Angeles Board of Zoning Appeals considered an appeal from the Panorama West Neighborhood Assn., which opposed the city’s February approval of a liquor license for the owners of Smiley’s Market, 14715 Parthenia Blvd.

Smiley’s was looted and torched during the 1992 riots, but was rebuilt by owners Jeff and Roy Muchamel on the same property as part of a new mini-mall.

At the hearing, members of the association maintained that prior to the riots, the store, which had a liquor license at the time, was a magnet for loiterers, gang members and drug dealers.

After the store was rebuilt and before its owners received city approval for a new liquor license, neighbors said crime in the vicinity decreased noticeably, and linked the improvement to the lack of sales of alcohol.

“We love the store. We want the store, but not with the liquor sales,” said Deborah Wolarik, who lives across the street.

Wolarik works for Ronald A. Litt, a lawyer representing the neighborhood association. Litt contested the liquor license approval, saying a list of conditions imposed wasn’t tough enough.

Though one of the 18 conditions included hiring a security guard, Litt demanded that the store hire two full-time, armed security guards to ensure the security of the neighborhood. Tuesday, zoning officials gave Litt what he asked for, requiring guards at Smiley’s to be armed.

The decision outraged Jeff Muchamel, who vowed to fight the decision.

“There is no way anybody could afford to pay two armed guards,” Muchamel said, estimating the expense would cost him nearly $600 a day. “It’s really not fair.”

Muchamel said former security problems in the store’s area were due to the nature of the neighborhood, which he described as “a little tough.” But, he added, he has been willing to work with the demands of the community--to a point.

“I have no problem with the earlier operating hours. No single can sales, no miniatures, no half-pints, OK. I will hire a guard for night hours. But there is no way anybody could live under this requirement.”

Leslie Yamashita, director of the neighborhood association, said residents do not intend to put Muchamel out of business. “Really, the goal was . . . we don’t want them bringing to the neighborhood what they brought in before. We don’t want a repeat of the crime we had in the past. This decision guarantees it won’t.”

The store’s liquor license will be reviewed by zoning officials in six months, Yamashita said.