City Official Backs Limits on Store Hours

A city zoning administrator Friday favored limiting the hours of operation for a large grocery market and drugstore planned for a 100,000-square-foot development at Vineland Avenue and Ventura Boulevard.

Saying crime levels in the largely residential area are higher than the Los Angeles average, city Associate Zoning Administrator Leonard S. Levine said a 24-hour operation might be inappropriate and called for the anticipated operating hours to be 6 a.m. to midnight.

Von Der Ahe Property Co. had proposed that a 24-hour Ralphs Grocery and a drive-through drugstore be included in the development, along with a restaurant and an assortment of other stores.

But local residents at a public hearing on the issue said they worried about the consequences of a business operating around the clock.

“We won this one,” said Tony Lucente, president of the Studio City Residents Assn. “They need to realize the project is directly adjacent to a large residential area.”

The proposal is in its early stages.

Representatives for the developer said they expected the issue to come up again.

“Ralphs will probably appeal because most of their stores are 24-hours,” said Pauline Amond, a legislative advocate for VDA Property. “It’s a benefit to have a drugstore in a community open 24 hours a day.”

Levine also approved a license for the grocery and drugstore to sell alcohol.

Another public hearing will be scheduled regarding a liquor permit for the proposed restaurant.

“We are concerned about blanket approval of alcohol permits,” said Ann Marie Roos, who was representing City Council President John Ferraro. “We need to look at these individually because we don’t know what will go in there.”