Store Won’t Get Liquor Sales Permit

The City Council this week denied a request by Thrifty-Payless Inc. to sell liquor at its store on Harbor Boulevard because the area is saturated with establishments that sell alcohol.

In the vicinity of the Thrifty Drug Store, five businesses already sell beer and wine and three sell liquor, said Planning Services Manager Andrew Perea. The drugstore currently sells beer and wine.

The Planning Commission in June approved the company’s request to sell liquor because the panel found it would not create an “undue concentration” of businesses that have such licenses. One of the factors was that a Vons supermarket in the same shopping center had recently closed.

But a council majority found no public need or public convenience since a number of nearby establishments sell liquor.

Councilman Guy Carrozzo said that 120 businesses in the city sell liquor.

“I feel that the council has the right to say: ‘That’s enough. We don’t want any more liquor licenses,’ ” Carrozzo said after the meeting.

Mayor George B. Scott and Councilman James D. Petrikin voted to allow the store at 16141 Harbor Blvd. to sell liquor.

“This is another example of government getting into business’s hair where we don’t belong,” Scott said.

In other council action, the council scheduled an Aug. 6 public hearing to review permit modifications for Music City, a restaurant and nightclub at 18774 Brookhurst St. In June, the Planning Commission rejected conditions to limit the type of entertainment and approved business hours to 2 a.m. daily.