7 Businesses Cited in Liquor Sales : Alcohol: Six Pacoima bars and a drive-up dairy outlet were referred to city officials in an effort to curb drunk driving.

Los Angeles police this month referred six Pacoima bars and a Sylmar drive-up dairy to city zoning officials in a continuing crackdown on businesses they say contribute to drunk-driving accidents in the northeastern San Fernando Valley.

The Pacoima bars were accused of serving intoxicated customers and hiring B-girls who encourage male patrons to buy drinks. The dairy store allegedly sold alcohol to a minor. Sgt. Rick di Stefano, a vice supervisor in the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division, said Thursday that he had named the businesses in a Jan. 3 letter to the city’s Office of Zoning Administration.

The actions were part of a continuing campaign against public drunkenness in Pacoima. The Foothill Division--which includes Pacoima and Sylmar--has led the city in alcohol-related traffic accidents.

In December the Los Angeles City Council ruled that three Pacoima stores could no longer sell cold beer or wine, single cans or small bottles of alcoholic beverages. The council also required earlier closing times for the stores. The council acted after police and zoning officials heard complaints from nearby residents and found evidence that drunkenness and crimes stemmed from liquor sales at these stores.

Di Stefano said officers believe the additional businesses targeted this month continued to serve intoxicated patrons, based on interviews with suspects arrested on alcohol-related charges.

“That’s the reason why we’ve been hitting these bars,” he said. “We wanted to get to the root of the problem. We’ve talked to them over and over again. It still goes on because there’s a tremendous profit” in alcohol sales.

The Pacoima bars cited by police are El Capri, El Norteno and El Parian, all on Van Nuys Boulevard; El Palenque and El Michoacano, both on San Fernando Road; and the New Top Hat Bar on Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Also cited was the Alta-Dena drive-up dairy on Foothill Boulevard.

A spokesman for El Parian declined to comment. Owners or managers of the other businesses could not be reached for comment.

To curb abuses, the city can impose new zoning restrictions on such businesses, including limiting their hours, requiring them to use state-licensed security guards and prohibiting B-girls, said associate zoning administrator Jon Perica, who received di Stefano’s letter.

If undercover officers continue to find illegal activity, the city can shut down a business, he said.

Perica said the Los Angeles City Council in December upheld his decision to place two liquor stores and a food market, all in Pacoima, on six-months probation in an earlier crackdown on businesses considered a public nuisance.

He said he is awaiting a Jan. 31 council vote that would pay for more zoning staff members to investigate the latest seven businesses targeted by Foothill officers.

The same seven are also facing administrative charges by the state Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control, said F.J. (Jim) Smith, the ABC’s Van Nuys district administrator. He said the ABC has already suspended licenses at two of the bars--El Capri and El Norteno--for serving obviously intoxicated customers.

The ABC can seek suspension or revocation of a license to serve alcohol, but Smith said city zoning officials have broader authority and can crack down on a business more quickly.