Santa Ana Looks at Way to Reduce Liquor Licenses

In a town that averages 14 liquor-selling establishments per square mile, a Santa Ana gas station owner who wants to sell beer and wine may have come up with a unique way to decrease the number of places that sell alcohol there.

Craig Yamasaki has offered to buy two liquor licenses from existing Santa Ana businesses and retire one. The catch: He wants to transfer the other to his Arco AM-PM gas station on East Dyer Road.

City officials are split on whether the idea is an empty gesture that would be impossible to enforce or a stroke of brilliance that would help Santa Ana reduce the number of alcohol-selling businesses in town.

“It sounds on face value like a good idea,” said Joseph Edwards, Santa Ana’s planning director. “We have more than our fair share of liquor licenses ... but we need to do more homework to see if it will work.”

The city’s Planning Commission rejected the idea, but the City Council is scheduled to consider it Monday.

The proposal has stimulated debate on whether it would be an effective way to reduce liquor licenses in Santa Ana and other older cities that began issuing liquor licenses long before laws were adopted to prevent an over-concentration of alcohol-selling establishments.

In the 1980s, Santa Ana began scrutinizing liquor license applications and took steps to close down some downtown bars. In 1997, the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control began requiring cities to explain the approvals of licenses in areas deemed to have an over-concentration of alcohol-selling permits -- a number derived in part from census tract data.

Santa Ana’s 14 licenses per square mile tops all Orange County cities. Only Anaheim has more alcohol-selling outlets than Santa Ana -- 481 to 379. However, Anaheim is nearly 50 square miles, almost double the size of Santa Ana, and includes the hotels and entertainment facilities around Disneyland.

Latino Health Access, the Santa Ana-based nonprofit agency, is among those fighting new licenses in the city. Research by the group and UC Irvine showed there were more accidents involving alcohol at North Main Street and East 1st Street in Santa Ana than at any other intersection in Orange County.

Yamasaki -- who is seeking a license in an area considered to be over-concentrated -- has overcome some criticism because his plan is tied to a reduction in licenses.

Several council members have expressed an interest in using Yamasaki’s idea as a model for other businesses wanting to land a liquor license.

“I like the idea. It would allow us to continue to reduce the number of liquor licenses while getting the applicant what he wants,” said Councilman Jose Solorio. “But we need to do this in a way that we can enforce it.”

Others have their doubts.

John Nicoletti, Anaheim’s public information officer, said his city approved a Mexican supermarket, Gigante, only after the store bought an existing license and transferred it. But it might be hard to find many license holders who want to sell, he said.

Edwards said he is concerned that the people who sell the licenses could turn around and buy new ones. Critics are also uncertain whether the city has the power to require Yamasaki to buy the two licenses as a condition for a liquor license at his gas station.

Yamasaki declined to talk about his proposal.

Although Latino Health Access founder America Bracho is intrigued by the idea, she said further debate is needed.

“All liquor licenses are not made equal,” said Alex Sanchez, a Latino Health Access health promoter. “One license can be used to sell a lot and another to sell a little. So the deal should depend on how sales would be affected.”

Carl DeWing, spokesman for the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, said Yamasaki’s proposal might work in Santa Ana but that in other cities it might be too expensive because license prices vary.