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# Officials may change alcohol permit rules
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/officials-may-change-alcohol-permit-rules/
- Published: 2002-01-31T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-22T23:59:49.000Z
- Author: Andrew Fixmer
- Tags: Crime, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless

*City has highest number of alcohol permits in the state*

Call it an intervention. Planning Commissioners want the city to take a good look at itself and ask if it has a problem with alcohol.

At its most recent meeting, the commission heard from Santa Monica Police vice officers, the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control office and city planning officials about the difficulties they encounter because of the city’s high number of bars and liquor stores.

Santa Monica has the most liquor licenses — 295 — of any municipality in California. And after Beverly Hills and San Francisco, it’s the third highest in ratio of population to the number of establishments allowed to serve alcohol.

One suggestion has been to require anyone seeking a new alcohol permit from the city to attend a free four-hour training class offered by the state and the Los Angeles Police Department. The programs detail liability issues to owners and teaches them how to spot intoxicated patrons and fake drivers licenses.

“My plan is that we start making changes,” said Kelly Olsen, chair of the planning commission. “I would like to see all alcohol permit holders, including their servers, required to go through one of these extensive training programs.”

For every three people arrested by the Santa Monica Police Department in 2001, one is alcohol related. A recent review of arrest records over the past three months show that there is a DUI arrest made almost every two weeks, commission members said. And during the weekend, scores of people — many of whom are homeless — are arrested for public intoxication.

Police officers told the commission they patrol areas with the highest concentrations of nightlife to curtail alcohol problems, said commission members.

“They say it’s very predictable in the surrounding areas where enforcement is needed,” said planning commissioner Jay P. Johnson.

“But that could just be a function of traffic patterns rather than one specific thing or another.

“I’m most concerned about people driving under the influence,” he continued. “That is the single greatest threat to public safety as far as I’m concerned.”

According to city officials, most of the city’s alcohol licenses were granted before stricter laws were enacted. When restaurants and bars are sold, their new owners retain the licenses so long as no significant expansions are made. said Amanda Schachter, the city’s principal planner. “And the licenses that were grandfathered in make up most of the city’s total number” of alcohol permits.

The Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce plans to address the commission’s concerns on alcohol at its executive meeting next week.

“I would imagine if we take a position — and we haven’t — it would be to not limit particular businesses,” said Kathryn Dodson, executive director of the chamber. “You have to be careful who gets limited and who has access. We’ll have to first study this and learn exactly what the city has in mind.”

Some officials fear any plans to cut the number of alcohol permits in the city could counteract the city’s plans to attract new restaurants to the Third Street Promenade, where in recent years retailers have replaced many of the eateries.

The city has enacted a moratorium preventing space currently occupied by restaurants to be converted into shops while a taskforce looks for ways to attract more eateries.

“The role of the planning process is to balance community benefits against impacts and concerns. There's a big difference between a rowdy bar in a neighborhood and a dinner restaurant on the Promenade,” said Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McKeown. “Certainly a responsible alcohol policy would retain flexibility, allowing lower-impact uses and appropriate locations."

Planning commissioners hope any changes they would propose to the city council would not hurt businesses or the city’s efforts to draw in more restaurants.

“We are concerned with promoting restaurants on the Promenade and tourist-dependant areas of the city,” said Johnson. “I don’t think we want to do anything to hurt (those businesses). Due diligence is critical to how we manage our alcohol facilities.”

But Olsen said he hasn’t seen any convincing evidence that making alcohol permit holders go through a training program would hurt business.

“If you want to serve alcohol we’re asking you to do the same thing as you would have done to set up shop in Los Angeles,” he said. “In Santa Monica, we’re way behind the curve.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 31, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/013102.pdf?ref=smdp.com)