Liquor licenses in Sacramento area exceed limits as leaders exploit loopholes
http://www.sacbee.com/news/investigations/the-public-eye/article10897994.html
Communities across California have exceeded state limits for the number of businesses selling alcohol, raising questions about the approval process for liquor licenses. A Sacramento Bee analysis of data from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control found that 49 of 58 counties have exceeded limits for on-sale licenses, off-sale licenses or both. On-sale licenses cover bars and restaurants where alcohol is consumed on site; off-sale covers stores where alcohol is bought for consumption elsewhere....
The city, however, has regularly approved such licenses during the moratorium. That’s because communities can exceed the population-based quotas for liquor licenses by finding that a new liquor license would serve “public convenience or necessity,” even when under a state moratorium. Localities differ in how they make the decision. In Sacramento, the police chief decides, and his decision can be appealed to the Planning Commission. In Sacramento County, the Board of Supervisors makes the decision, based partly on a recommendation from the sheriff....
ABC spokesman John Carr said the department “is aware there is undue (license) concentration in some communities in California.” He said the department works closely with local governments to try to reduce problems. An undue concentration of liquor sales can “increase calls for local police services to address alcohol-related problems such as public drunkenness, noise and other possible problems that may negatively impact a community,” he said.
Sacramento County sheriff’s Deputy Chuck Price, one of two part-time deputies assigned to liquor license enforcement in the unincorporated areas, said stores selling alcohol can be magnets for nuisance crimes, such as public intoxication and urination. He said stores selling single cans of beer in low-income neighborhoods are more likely to have such problems.
