El Cajon City Council passes alcohol regulation ordinance

EL CAJON – The City Council this week approved a new alcohol regulation ordinance for the City of El Cajon to provide greater local control of problem liquor stores.

Hundreds of community members attended the council meeting to support the new ordinance. After comments at past public meetings about airline bottle shots littering the streets and serial inebriates approaching shoppers as they walk down the street, community members testified that they felt the ordinance will help solve alcohol-related problems in El Cajon.

The Deemed Approved Ordinance (DAO) will be put in place for all existing off-sale alcohol outlets, which include liquor stores, markets and convenience stores. Any new off-sale retailers are required to operate by standards put in place by a Conditional Use Permit (CUP). Both the DAO and CUP provide the city with tools to better reduce crime and nuisance activities around businesses that sell alcohol.

The DAO provides responsible operating guidelines which include controlling graffiti, not selling to intoxicated individuals or minors and not allowing people to drink in public on their premises.

The CUP creates requirements for new liquor businesses that want to get established in the City. These include hours of operation, the size and alcoholic content of certain drinks to be sold, display and signage guidelines, and a required 600-foot distance from other alcohol-related businesses, churches, parks or schools.

Chris Parks, a representative from 2nd Street Alliance for a Better Community (ABC), a business coalition on Second Street, said she hopes the ordinance will help resolve various issues in the neighborhood where she runs her tax business.

“My hope would be that the ordinance will stop alcohol consumption on the street. I believe it will slow down the sales here and it will slow down sales to minors, which is a concern not just for Second Street, but for the whole community,” said Parks.

According to research conducted in Ventura, CA, “the number, density, location and operational practices of alcohol outlets affect the level of community violence, drinking and driving incidents, injuries, underage drinking, and public nuisance activities among other social problems.” Community members and police told the council that all of these have been observed in the City of El Cajon.

As an area with a high density of alcohol outlets and a number of alcohol-related problems, El Cajon can benefit from the Deemed Approved Ordinance, community members agree.

Despite efforts from alcohol retailers over the past few months to conduct their businesses responsibly, there have been continued irresponsible business practices such as selling to minors and serial inebriates. The El Cajon Police Department values the ordinance as a tool that can be used to stop these practices and reduce crime and nuisance-related activities that tend to cluster near alcohol outlets.

“I do believe the majority of owner-retailers are responsible business owners. However, owner-retailers are not on scene 24-7, and despite their best intentions, the problems persist. This ordinance provides the oversight tools necessary to address alcohol-related public nuisance crime related to off-sale retail stores,” said Police Chief James Redman of the El Cajon Police Department at Tuesday’s meeting.

Referring to a past comment by the Neighborhood Market Association about the ordinance being a ‘kiss of death’ for off-sale alcohol retails, Parks said, “It may be the kiss of death of certain liquor stores that are not compliant, but if this ordinance isn’t passed, it will be the kiss of death for professional businesses in El Cajon.”