IRVINE

By adding alcohol to its list of home delivery products, Homegrocer.com has been forced to open its doors to on-site liquor sales.

The company’s new liquor license requires the grocery home delivery service to put up a 532-square-foot public sales counter to display and sell alcohol. The Irvine warehouse, at 10 Whatney, serves solely as a distribution site.

“You order online and they deliver to your house,” said Eric Rubery, consultant to the city. “But being retail, they have to have a location where people can walk in off the street.”

Planning commissioners, who called the state requirement “wacky,” consented last week to Homegrocer.com’s request for a liquor license.