Area’s Fight Against Liquor Sales Lives On

For 15 years, Efren Olvera Flores fought the granting of liquor licenses to businesses in Pacoima.

The neighborhood already had enough places selling alcohol, he felt.

In January, he was waging a battle against the Superior Super Warehouse market when he died of a heart attack at age 68.

Community members recently held a candlelight vigil in front of the market in Flores’ memory, vowing to continue the fight.

“We’re not against Superior being here, but we’re against them selling alcohol in our neighborhood,” said Maria Calleros, alcohol project coordinator for Pueblo y Salud, a community group that is part of the Pacoima Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Policy Coalition. “We really feel we can’t deal with another alcohol license in this area.”

Pacoima has long been plagued by alcohol-related crimes, and in the last several years Flores helped to reduce the number of alcohol outlets, Calleros said.

“We’re fighting Superior’s license because we don’t want the number to go back up again,” she said.

Five stores in Superior’s neighborhood sell liquor. If Superior is granted a permanent liquor license, there will be six--two more than state law allows, said Tim Clark, district administrator for the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

A state law passed in 1995 determines how many liquor licenses are allowed in a specific geographical area, known as a census tract. The number is determined in part by the area’s population and crime rate. Liquor licenses obtained before 1995 are not affected by the regulation.

It’s not uncommon for an area to exceed its liquor-license allotment. “It happens in lots of locations throughout the state,” Clark said.

Superior opened its Pacoima store on Laurel Canyon Boulevard a year ago without a liquor license. But in August, the Los Angeles City Council decided the store could sell alcohol as a “public convenience or necessity.”

Such a determination is required when the neighborhood is considered a high-crime area with an undue concentration of liquor outlets, Clark said. As a result, the alcoholic beverage control agency granted the store an interim permit, good for 120 days. Superior is on its second renewed temporary permit.

Council President Alex Padilla, who represents Pacoima, was instrumental in allowing Superior to get the temporary permit and believes the store is beneficial to the community.

“The Superior market is in an area traditionally underserved by grocery stores,” said Padilla’s spokesman, David Gershwin. “It’s a real top-of-the-line grocery store.”

Mimi Song, who owns the 13 Superior stores, said it’s unfair to expect a full-service grocery store to thrive without a liquor license. “I think beer and wine are for when families gather. We try to provide that for the convenience of our customers,” she said.

The store’s request for a permanent liquor license will be considered at hearings today through Thursday at the Van Nuys State Building, 6150 Van Nuys Blvd.

Los Angeles Police Department officials consider the neighborhood surrounding Superior a high-crime area but not the worst one in the Foothill Division, Capt. Kris Pitcher said. From Jan. 1 to Feb. 28, the area accounted for 2% of violent crime in the division, he said. And the store itself has not been a big source of problems.

“The statistics are showing there is relatively minor activity happening on the store’s premises,” Pitcher said. Police received 13 calls for service to Superior in 2001 and six so far this year--relatively low for a liquor-selling establishment, Pitcher said.

Police say it’s hard to determine whether alcohol sales at the market directly contribute to the area’s crime. But some residents believe they do.

At the vigil, Tom Castro of Arleta pointed to the apartment complex next to Superior where he said drunken vagrants gather.

Foothill Senior Lead Officer Julian Almarez said there are often fights and stabbings at the apartments.

“It’s an ongoing problem that keeps getting worse,” Castro said. “In any other community where people are wealthier, you don’t have this kind of problem.”

Lucy Alvarez, 60, who lives half a mile from Superior, said her fence is often hit by drunk drivers. “We love the store, but they don’t need an alcohol license,” she said.

Not everyone agrees. Shopper Cruz Varraza, 65, of Pacoima says he appreciates Superior’s cleanliness and affordable prices. He doesn’t think the liquor license should be denied.

“They have alcohol all over; it doesn’t matter to me,” Varraza said. “But where there’s poor people, there’s alcohol; that’s part of life.”

Organizers of the vigil said Superior’s presence isn’t helping the community. El Tigre market across the street and Food 4 Less a few blocks away already provide the same services, said Edmundo Delgadillo, alcohol prevention specialist for Pueblo y Salud.

While Pueblo y Salud members hope Superior will not become simply another place to buy alcohol, the community will remember the stand taken by Flores.

“There’s no one to replace him in Pacoima,” said Reyna Salas, who knew Flores for 20 years.