SANTA ANA : City Using Tougher Alcohol License Rule

It will be tougher for businesses in crime-plagued areas of Santa Ana to get liquor licenses from now on, Police Chief Paul Walters announced at a press conference this week.

The city, in cooperation with the state Department of Alcohol Beverage Control, has implemented a rarely used rule that makes it possible to deny new liquor licenses in areas with a crime rate that is 20% higher than the city average.

The rule is also applicable in areas where there is an over-concentration of businesses licensed to sell liquor.

Walters said the city is taking a tougher stand on liquor licenses because there is a direct link between drinking and crime.

“This is just a way for us to try and prevent problems in the community,” Walters said. “It’s not a moratorium and isn’t saying that Santa Ana isn’t allowing any more liquor licenses.”

A majority of the areas affected by the rule are in the city’s central corridor. They have been identified as high-crime areas by computer data that must be updated annually by the Police Department.

The above-average crime rate is based on homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and theft.

In California, only eight cities and one county have decided to implement the policy, and nearly half of them are in Orange County. They include Buena Park, Garden Grove and Seal Beach.

In 1989, the Santa Ana police processed 14 liquor licenses that could have been subject to this rule. Currently, three businesses have applications pending which could be affected by it, Walters said.

The rule doesn’t apply to the 504 existing businesses in the city that are already licensed to sell liquor. Santa Ana has the second highest number of businesses with liquor licenses in Orange County. Only Anaheim, with 560 such businesses, has more.

Councilman Miguel A. Pulido Jr., who worked with Walters and the state to implement the rule, said, “If we had this before, we wouldn’t have gotten into the situation where there is a liquor store at every corner. You just can’t have a bar at every corner and have a nice city.

“It is my hope that we can really tackle the crime problem at the source. There are parts of town that just don’t need another bar or liquor store.”