North Hollywood : Liquor Permit Denied for Colombian Eatery

A city zoning official on Monday denied a Colombian restaurant owner’s request to serve beer and wine at her establishment near Van Nuys Boulevard and Valerio Street, citing an already high crime rate in the area.

Associate zoning administrator Albert Landini observed that 1,070 crimes were reported last year in the crime reporting district that includes Cali Viejo restaurant, compared to a citywide average of 404 crimes.

Landini also ruled that Cali Viejo was too large to qualify for an exemption that would have allowed it to serve alcoholic beverages without a conditional use permit. Under city zoning rules, a restaurant that seats 50 or fewer customers and meets other conditions can get permission through an expedited approval process.

In her permit application, restaurant owner Blanca Cruz said Cali Viejo’s capacity was 48 people, but a planning inspector disagreed and put the capacity at 62. While Cruz said that the restaurant’s booths could only seat two people, the inspector said they could seat four.

Cruz’s case was hurt by the fact that she had difficulty speaking English and that her interpreter never showed up. Citing her broken English, Cruz declined to rebut arguments by homeowner activists that Landini should turn down Cruz’s permit application.

“I just wanted a permit so that customers could have drinks with their food,” Cruz said through a friend who served as an impromptu interpreter. The restaurant owner said she had hoped the liquor permit would boost her business, which she said has been slow.

Activists from the Van Nuys Homeowners Assn. and the San Fernando Valley Alcohol Policy Coalition, who opposed the permit, said it was the first time they had attempted to block a liquor permit by invoking a new state law that requires the state to deny liquor licenses to establishments in areas with high crime or several liquor stores.

Before Landini’s decision, Tom Henry, deputy to Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs, said he was “leaning against” the permit.