Council Wants Say on Liquor Licenses

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday voted to support introduction of a state law to give cities more power over the issuance of liquor licenses in crime-ridden areas.

City Councilman Richard Alarcon, who wrote the motion, said the vote means the city will ask its lobbyist in Sacramento to press for such a law. To support his contention that such a law is needed, Alarcon pointed to a recent study by researchers at USC and Arizona State University that found a link between a concentration of liquor outlets in an area and higher crime rates.

Jay R. Stroh, the director of the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, said his department already takes crime rates into account when deciding whether to grant a liquor license. For example, the department’s policy is to deny a liquor license in an area where the crime rate is 20% higher than an adjacent district.

“They are trying to have more control,” Stroh said. “I support them for trying to do that, but there are existing laws they could use, probably very effectively, to accomplish some of the things they are saying here.”

In the motion, the City Council also supported the introduction of state legislation that would:

* Make it easier for cities to revoke conditional-use permits held by liquor stores and bars deemed nuisances. In addition to a state liquor license, a business that wants to sell liquor in Los Angeles must also obtain a conditional-use permit, which allows it to sell alcoholic beverages at a particular location.

* Prevent the owner of a liquor license from selling the license to another person for use at the same site after the outlet’s conditional-use permit has been revoked.