Cops Propose Plan to Regulate Liquor Sales
City Takes Hard Look at Off-Site Sale of Wine, Beer, and Spirits
At a time when craft breweries, wine tasting rooms, and artisanal gin mills appear to be keeping Santa Barbara’s central business district economically afloat, Anthony Wagner, the Santa Barbara Police Department’s civic engagement coordinator, is proposing an ambitious new plan to give City Hall the authority to regulate the off-site sale of wine, beer, and spirits from liquor stores, corner markets, gas stations, and grocery stores.
Currently, that authority rests with one of three enforcement Alcoholic Beverage Control officers now responsible for ensuring compliance from more than 7,600 licensees now operating in the tri-county area. Wagner’s proposal is to require city conditional-use permits for all new off-site sales license holders. Whenever such establishments are sold, conditional-use permits would also be required for any party accepting the transfer.
Right now, there are 146 such enterprises operating within city limits. Although calls for service have dropped significantly in the past three years, Wagner said that these establishments accounted for 5 percent of all calls for service in the past five years. That costs City Hall, he said, about $800,000 a year.
