COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT OF RETAIL ALCOHOL OUTLETS IN LOS ALAMOS August 20, 2007 Prepared for: Los Alamos community planning project Santa Barbara County Planning Department Prevention Services Santa Barbara County Alcohol and Drug Program Prepared by: Community Prevention Planning Program Institute for the Study of Social Change University of California, Berkeley 1
Table of Contents Introduction and overview of report...1 Part I: Part II: Alcohol outlets and community alcohol problems...2 Retail outlet activity in Los Alamos Definition of terms...6 Map (area)...7 Map (town)...8 Discussion...9 Law enforcement events (SBSO ASIPS Alcohol Outlet Report)...11 Retail alcohol outlets with active ABC licenses (July 2007)...17 Introduction and overview Retail alcohol outlets are a major part of community life in most California communities, and local agencies and community groups play important roles to make sure local outlets operate in a safe and healthy way. Working closely with outlet operators and with the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), local jurisdictions can help manage retail outlets through exercise of local land-use authority, often referred to as local control. Local jurisdictions include many entities that have land-use policies to protect public health and safety: Counties, cities, school districts, special districts such as parks, redevelopment zones, and community development areas such as Los Alamos. Local land-use controls apply to all types of retail alcohol outlets licensed by the ABC. These outlets include all on-sales outlets in the community (bars, taverns, restaurants, etc.) and all off-sales outlets (liquor stores, convenience stores, supermarkets, etc.). Also included are short-term events where alcoholic beverages are sold (county fairs and holiday celebrations, etc.). The State of California leaves a great deal of discretion to local jurisdictions for management of retail outlets through local planning and zoning ordinances. The ABC requires all alcohol retail outlet license applications to obtain local zoning permits before applying for a license (S. 23790). However, most California localities do not take full advantage of their planning and zoning powers to prevent and reduce alcohol-related problems. Much more can be done through local oversight to limit access to under-aged drinkers, to reduce public drunkenness and neighborhood disruptions, to reduce DUIs, and to reduce several forms of violence. Just as each community has its own pattern of these problems, so each community can establish local policies to prevent and reduce these problems through effective management of local retail outlets. This report is provided to help Los Alamos understand preventive local control for retail alcohol outlets. Specifically, this involves local oversight for the type, location and operation of retail alcohol outlets in the community. All retail alcohol outlets must be licensed by the Dept of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC). Accordingly, this guideline distinguishes ABC duties to issue licenses to retail outlets from local functions to issue use-permits for the outlet (also called premises or establishments) where the license operates. 2
Overview of report This report contains (1) basic information linking local health and safety problems to retail alcohol outlets in the community; (2) baseline data describing the current distribution of retail alcohol outlets in Los Alamos and police events associated with those outlets. The first part describes how community-level alcohol-related problems relate to community settings and circumstances for alcohol availability, that is, to places where alcohol is sold and/or used. Retail alcohol outlets are one of three primary forms of community alcohol availability that put the local community at risk for alcohol-related public health and safety problems. This part explains how the risks occur, and identifies points for intervention to prevent and reduce the risks. The second part describes the distribution of alcohol retail outlets in Santa Barbara communities and law enforcement events associated with these outlets. This information can be used to monitor local alcohol outlet performance, to find out which alcohol outlets generate more police calls and community complaints, and to compare Los Alamos experiences with neighboring communities and the entire county. Part I. Alcoholic outlets and community alcohol problems A. Links between alcohol availability and alcohol-related problems How are these problems related to alcohol availability through on-sale and off-sale alcohol outlets? People must first consume alcohol to experience problems. Just as most Californians drink without problems, most community settings and circumstances for consumption are relatively troublefree. Conversely, just as some individuals will experience serious alcohol-related problems, so certain settings and circumstances for consumption will create community health and safety problems. Three settings of alcohol availability have been identified as potential contributors to communitylevel alcohol problems. This report focuses only on retail outlets. However, the police data described in Part II and the planning process described below apply to all three types of settings. Retail outlets. Places where alcoholic beverages are sold at on-sales outlets (restaurants, bars, taverns, etc.), at off-sales outlets (liquor stores, mini-marts, grocery stores, etc.), and at short-term events (county fairs, street parties, holiday celebrations, etc.). These outlets must be licensed by the ABC to sell alcoholic beverages. Public settings. Public settings including public places and public events where drinking occurs (sports stadiums, recreation halls, parks, beaches, public plazas, etc.). Social settings. Social settings including private residences, workplaces, places of entertainment, private social clubs, schools, social and health service agencies, churches, etc. B. Retail alcohol outlets as sources of health and safety problems Retail alcohol outlets contribute to community alcohol problems in three ways: 3
Practice problems: Practice problems occur at outlets where the owner and/or operator of the establishment do not diligently observe ABC laws, zoning requirements, health and safety codes, and other regulations applicable to the premises and its operations. Density problems: Density problems occur in three ways: Population overconcentration (too many outlets per population); Geographic overconcentration or bunching of (too many outlets in too small an area); and commercial overconcentration (too many commercial outlets in given area selling alcoholic beverages in comparison to other retail goods and services). In contrast to practice problems, these density problems, or overconcentration issues, are due more to shortcomings in planning and oversight than to individual operator behavior. Proximity problems: Proximity problems involve incompatible land-uses, such as placing bars next door to churches and placing liquor stores next door to high-schools or children s parks. Proximity problems also occur when alcohol outlets infiltrate new types of settings, such as fast-food outlets and movie theaters. Proximity problems also occur when alcohol sales and drinking activities expand to fill an entire facility, rather operate only in a specially-controlled area of the facility, such as placement of mini-bars in hotel rooms rather than just in the bar in the lobby, or expanding alcohol sales to all seating areas of a sports stadium or concert facility, rather than in special kiosks located away from the main activities. C. Managing problems at related retail outlets Each of the above problems related to retail outlets can be mitigated through a combination of local land-use policies and alcohol-safe operating standards. Practice problems: Assure compliance with appropriate operating standards through use-permit conditions and zoning requirements delivered through education of outlet mangers and staff, compliance checks, and enforcement. Education and compliance include formal training in the responsible sales and service of alcoholic beverages (RBS training). Density problems: Restrict overconcentration through zoning requirements, development standards and use of ABC provisions for restricting retail outlets in areas affected by overconcentration by population, and by higher crime rates (S. 23958.4). Proximity problems: Restrict overconcentration through zoning requirements, development standards and use of ABC provisions for minimum distances to residences and to other sensitive uses (schools, playgrounds, hospitals). D. A community planning approach Since local jurisdictions already have the powers they need to establish appropriate local control, the real tasks facing local jurisdictions are establishment of a local oversight process. An aid designed by the authors of this report to help establish local oversight may be found at the Prevention by Design website under the title Taking Charge: Managing Community Alcohol and Drug Risk Environments. The Taking Charge planning manual is available at no charge to help local agencies, community organizations and concerned groups to tailor the community oversight process to meet local needs (Please visit the website preventionbydesign.org and go to the community prevention tab). Historical precedent. Managing problems related to retail alcohol outlets at the community level is woven into the our national history of community development. Local control of retail alcohol outlets began in Colonial times, when taverns and roadhouses were central gathering places that served several 4
community functions. The expression mind your p s and q s comes from the practice of chalking up a patron s pints and quarts for everyone to see when neighbors drank in a communal setting. Local control assumed its modern form during the Jacksonian era (1830s) when small towns found the need to regulate drinking places that sprang up during rapid expansion to the west and vast increases in per-capita drinking as part of the expansion of trade. The rise of local and state action to control drinking places and drinking practices occurred during the latter half of the 19 th century, entwined with progressive initiatives for labor rights, voting rights for women, and protection of children. This work laid the groundwork for our modern state control system following the thirteen-year noble experiment of Prohibition, repealed in 1933. After repeal the modern state alcoholic beverage control agency (California ABC) came into being primarily to regulate the newly-legal alcohol industry s business practices and to keep crime out of the business. Alcohol-related health and social well-being issues were addressed by state treatment and prevention agencies starting in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Interest in local control at the municipal level re-emerged in the late 1970s as it became clear that state ABC agencies alone were not up to the tasks of assuring trouble-free operation of retail alcohol outlets at the community level. Establishment of a local oversight process: Modern planning to manage AOD risk environments has evolved beyond the political approach characterized approaches to local planning for alcohol outlets I the 19 th century. The politics are still present, but today we can have the advantages of a rational and technical approach based on scientific methods. Today local communities have much better theory to describe alcohol/drug problems than we did before, and we have a growing body of evidence to support local action. We also have much better data to describe the empirical relationships between retail alcohol outlets and community level health & safety problems. These data set the stage for an empirically-based, data-driven, rational planning approach to decide local political debates and controversy over values that frame discussion about alcohol and drugs at the local level. Select priorities and build a constituency for action Plan specific initiatives to reduce (mitigate) and prevent the problems Implement the plans (monitor and modify as needed to achieve objectives) Evaluate the results (sustain the successes, modify or discard the disappointments) Establish a community coalition to focus on retail alcohol outlet issues. Identify local organizations already concerned about alcohol/drug issues: Educate and organize regarding the contributions of retail outlets to local concerns using reliable data to explore the relationships between outlets and problems Mobilize for action on the problems by identifying priorities (which problems merit action); by building local capacity (who cares about these problems and who has something to offer); and by planning specific initiatives to address the problems. Sustain initiatives with technical and operational support from local agencies (law enforcement, planning/zoning, code enforcement, public health, alcohol/drugs, etc.). Create a local working group of public agencies to oversee outlets. Several local agencies have responsibilities that involve retail alcohol outlets, and can support each other to discharge these responsibilities through a standing workgroup. These agencies include: Law enforcement for community policing: (education compliance enforcement) and on work with the ABC and other agencies. City attorney for establishment of appropriate ordinances and regulations Planning and zoning for setting standards and expectations for outlet operations 5
Code enforcement for compliance and diligence in meeting standards Parks, recreation and community services for linkage to local groups, organizations Community development for planning future outlets as problem-free elements of future projects Housing for special alcohol/drug needs of residents that receive housing subsidies SB County Alcohol and Drug Programs (ADP) agency provides support for community-level prevention work, and can provide links to other county agencies and state ADP training/technical assistances, including access to internet resources. Part II: Retail outlet activity in Los Alamos This section is provided to support local discussion of health and safety issues associated with retail alcohol outlets in the Los Alamos area. What community health and safety issues are suggested by these data? The following material is provided to help local agencies and community groups identify local issues by assessing their problem experiences with alcohol outlets, and to identify needs for additional information. Headings are based on discussion in Part I above on ways retail alcohol outlets can contribute to community health and safety problems. Definition of Terms related to retail alcohol outlets License Outlet Retail alcohol license issued by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Licenses are issued only by the ABC, but will not be processed until after the license applicant has obtained local zoning approval for the outlet. All local retail outlets must have an active license from the ABC before the outlet can sell alcoholic. Physical place in which retail alcoholic beverages are dispensed to customers. Outlets are typically synonymous with a facility identified as a particular land-use. For example, Mack s Tavern on the old high-way by the bridge. Or the mini-mart at the Shell Station on Main Street. An alcohol outlet may be one of several uses in a larger complex, for example, there may be two restaurants, a bar, and three off-sales outlets in vendor spaces at a regional shopping center. The terms premises and establishment are also used to refer to outlets. The ABC uses the term premises to refer to an outlet in terms of the address to which a license is issued (e.g., the premises at which Mr. Jones operates a Type 21 license ). The term establishment is used to link the outlet to its owner/manager (e.g., the owner s establishment at 123 Main Street ). Address A street address (usually a number on a street) that is the legal location where the outlet conducts business and meets with customers. A single address might contain two or more outlets, for example an off-sale store on the street and an on-sale restaurant in the rear under the same management and sharing the same address; or two separate establishments under different management located in different units/suites. Maps 1. Los Olivos area map shows few outlets with few problems in proximity to Los Alamos. 2. Los Alamos town map shows outlets evenly distributed along Bell Street 6
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Discussion: Potential alcohol outlet issues 1. Practice problems: Operation of individual alcohol outlets Refer to data from SB County Sheriff s Office and California Dept of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) following this discussion. Thirteen retail ABC licenses are operating at Los Alamos addresses as of July 2007. Twelve outlets are along Bell Street and one is on Leslie Street accessible from Bell Street. One license (Ghostriders) has been surrendered and is not currently operating. A fourteenth outlet operates at Cat Canyon Road. Number of on-sales and off-sales: Type of license Off-sales On-sales Beer-Wine (20) 5 General (21) 1 Restaurant (41, 47) 6 Bar (42, 48) 2 Totals 6 8 These outlets generated few police reports during CY 2006 and almost no activity involving specific alcohol and drug offenses. A total of 46 calls for service were recorded by SBSO deputies during CY 2006. Most calls were at off-sale outlets (Off-sale = 27 calls, on-sale = 19 calls). The 46 calls included two alcohol/drug offenses, and three arrests. One off-sale outlet generated 17 calls for variety of problems involving nuisances and assistance, one tobacco violation (sale to a minor) but no alcohol/drug offenses. This low numbers in this profile suggest either that Los Alamos retail outlets generally follow responsible operating practices and conform to ABC laws, or that law enforcement resources are minimal for this area. These numbers are low compared to CY 2005, when Ghostriders was operating. There were a total of 66 incidents (27 off-sale, 39 on-sale), but no alcohol/drug violations. There were 18 incidents at one off-sales, Los Alamos Gas & Mart. At on-sales outlets, Ghostriders accounted for 13 incidents, and Uncorked wine shop accounted for 10 incidents. 2. Density problems: High alcohol license population density The population density for retail licenses in Los Alamos appears high because of its small population in a remote area (14 licenses for 1,372 population, or 98 licenses per 10,000). Location Outlet Density (Outlets per 10K Pop n) Los Alamos 98.00 Santa Ynez Valley 74.20 Santa Barbara County 30.61 Statewide 17.92 9
The population figure does not reflect patrons from the surrounding unincorporated area or travelers stopping off Route 101. The statewide density is about 18 licenses per 10,000, the Santa Barbara County density is about 31 licenses per 10,000, and the Santa Ynez Valley density is 74 per 10,000 (includes Buellton, Los Alamos, Los Olivos, Santa Ynez and Solvang). Typically smaller communities show higher densities, and figures often do not show patronage from surrounding areas. Therefore the high level of availability shown here should not be assumed to indicate high levels of consumption among Los Alamos residents. Retail outlets spread along Bell Street are not geographically concentrated and do not appear to create a commercial over-concentration situation. More information is needed about other commercial activity to assess whether these alcohol outlets challenge the local commercial environment. 3. Proximity problems: Incompatible uses and infiltration Close proximity to the highway poses risks for motorists who drive after drinking at a restaurant or who purchase an alcoholic beverage at a gas station. More information is needed about development plans for the area to assess whether development projects will pose alcohol outlet-related health, safety and tranquility issues to Los Alamos. Generally, more outlets mean greater levels of consumption in the local population. Additional outlets usually impose greater demands on the surrounding, especially police services. Development activities that anticipate high levels of drinking (entertainment / tourism / casino activities) pose heightened prevention challenges. RBS (responsible beverage service) research has shown that oversight consisting of high levels of management oversight, community contact, and law enforcement response are important factors for preventing and reducing alcohol and drug-related problems related to retail outlets. Establishing such oversight is of particular concern for locations where public resources are few and the local population is small. Under these conditions it is difficult to assure that outlet management will diligently maintain high operating standards for sale of alcohol, conform to zoning conditions, and meet health and safety code requirements. It is also difficult to address violations quickly once they occur (rapid response to violations is critical to effective compliance and enforcement). Development planning for such activities needs to address these issues at the outset. Retail alcohol outlet data 1. Law enforcement events (SBSO ASIPS Alcohol Outlet Report). These tables show SB County Sheriff police events to retail alcohol outlets in Los Alamos. The events are based on call-for-service reports from the SBSO CAD system. Summary tables are organized by Alcohol Outlet Address (by street number), by Total Events, by AOD events, by Alcohol Events, and by Drug Events. The Problem Group table shows specific Problem Groups for all retail outlet addresses in Los Alamos that generated calls for service. As discussed above, there were few law enforcement events to report for Los Alamos. Reference: Santa Barbara County ASIPS Data for CY 2006, prepared by the author of this report for the Santa Barbara County Alcohol and Drug Program. 2. Retail alcohol outlets with active ABC licenses (July 2007)Alcohol outlet data. This list shows current retail alcohol licenses listed by the ABC (California Dept of Alcoholic Beverage Control) at its website. All licenses are active except for Ghostriders as noted above. Reference: Google Calif Dept of Alcoholic Beverage Control and go to Reports tab. 10