COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO CALIFORNIA #55 For the Agenda of: March 10, 2015 Time: 2:15 p.m. To: From: Board of Supervisors Department of Community Development Subject: PLNP2014-00204. Walmart. ABC License Hearing To Determine Whether Public Convenience Would Be Served By Issuance Of A Liquor License To Walmart Located At 8915 Gerber Road, Sacramento, CA 95829 Supervisorial District(s): Nottoli Contact: Manuel Mejia, Senior Planner (916) 874-7934 Overview The Board of Supervisors (Board) hears requests for public convenience/necessity (PCN) applications for liquor licenses within the unincorporated area, prior to issuance of a license by the State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) if the site is located within an overconcentrated census tract or a specified high crime reporting district. The applicant, Walmart Stores, Inc., requests an Off-Sale General (Type 21) license at the Walmart which, once built, will be located at 8915 Gerber Road, on the northeastern corner of Gerber Road and Elk Grove- Florin Road. This Walmart location will be a 24-hour store. If approved, Walmart will be located in a census tract that has an over concentration of Off-Sale liquor licenses (Type 20 and Type 21) as set by ABC. There are only two other PCN s (Type 20) within a one mile radius which is a key factor. This circumstance is unusual because the census district is large and currently a semi-rural area with urbanization planned. The site is not located in a sector designated as high crime by the Sheriff s Department (Sheriff), based on 2013 crime statistics. The Sheriff will withdraw their opposition to the issuance of an additional liquor license in the census tract if all the conditions listed in their letter dated September 2, 2014 are met. The Vineyard Community Planning Advisory Council (CPAC) recommends approval by a vote of 6-0 with one absent. Recommendation Make a Finding of Public Convenience for a Type 21 liquor license for Walmart, located on Gerber Road, on the northeastern corner of Gerber Road and Elk Grove-Florin Road. Measures/Evaluation The success of this decision can be measured by applying conditions for operations. Fiscal Impact Costs are covered by application fees.
PLNP2014-00204. Walmart. ABC License Hearing To Determine Whether Public Convenience Would Be Served By Issuance Of A Liquor License To Walmart Located At 8915 Gerber Road, Sacramento, CA 95829 Page 2 BACKGROUND The applicant comes to the County pursuant to the provisions of the Business and Professions Code Sections 23958 and 23958.4, which provide that the ABC shall deny an application for an on-sale/off-sale license if issuance of that license would tend to create a law enforcement problem, or if issuance would result in or add to an undue concentration of licenses. The present formula for determining excess licenses within the same census tract is based upon one on-sale license per population of 947 within the census tract and one off-sale license per population of 1,524 within the census tract. The Board has adopted a process for receiving applications, noticing of a public hearing by the Clerk and review of the applications. This process, as specified by the State, requires a letter from the Sheriff to be sent within 15 days that typically requests standard conditions be applied. The Board s findings of Convenience are based on these standard conditions, which will be applied by ABC on the license. The Board can also choose to deny the request. DISCUSSION Walmart is applying for an Off-Sale General (Type 21) license at 8915 Gerber Road, at the northeast corner of Gerber Road and Elk Grove-Florin Road in the Vineyard Community (Attachment 1). The justification letter (Attachment 2) is provided. The applicant, Walmart Stores, Inc, currently has five other locations and one under construction in the unincorporated area. There are a total of 12 stores including the incorporated cities in Sacramento County. All the existing stores have Type 21 licenses. The store s amount of shelf space and cooler area devoted to beer, wine, and liquor will occupy less than two percent of the total floor area. Walmart desires to provide a one-stop store to provide convenience to the community that may result in fewer vehicle trips and less traffic congestion and do not expect customers to shop there, solely to purchase alcohol. Analysis related to over-concentration. The requested license location is within Census Tract 92.01. This census tract is large and covers approximately 18 square miles and is currently a semi-rural area with some planned urbanization. Its boundaries are Gerber Road to the south, Elk Grove- Florin Road to the west and Jackson Road to the northeast. Based on the population standard at the time of application, this census tract permits one off-sale license and there are currently seven existing within the tract. The approval of this PCN will be the eighth establishment to sell off-sale alcohol within the census boundaries and the tract would continue to be in the over-concentrated category. In addition to the standard analysis by Census Tract, staff included a map showing all Type 20 and Type 21 licenses within a one-mile radius (Attachment 3). There are a total of two establishments that sell alcohol in this radius both of them have Type 20 licenses. Walmart would be the only establishment in a one-mile radius to have a Type 21 license. These numbers have been cross checked with the information provided by ABC. Analysis related to crime. State law requires that if a liquor license is proposed to be located within a crime reporting district which exceeds the average for all such reporting districts within the jurisdiction by 20 percent, a finding of public convenience is required from the local governing entity. Census Tract 57.01 is shown as a not high crime area based on the Sheriff s 2013 crime maps.
PLNP2014-00204. Walmart. ABC License Hearing To Determine Whether Public Convenience Would Be Served By Issuance Of A Liquor License To Walmart Located At 8915 Gerber Road, Sacramento, CA 95829 Page 3 Security Measures. Walmart complies with all education/certificate requirements for the State of California, and conducts internal training and refresher training programs in addition to state required education for all their cashiers. There are security cameras strategically placed on the alcohol displays and throughout the interior and exterior of the store. The footage is monitored from the internal security post. Walmart s state-of-the-art cash registers employ technology to help cashier s confirm a customer s age as a part of every alcohol sales transaction. Their submittal indicates the registers are programmed to automatically prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages between the hours of 2 and 6 a.m.; however, because of Sacramento County s conditions, they will program the registers at this store to prohibit sales between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. All surveillance footage shall be saved for a minimum of sixty days and made available to the Sheriff s Department upon request. The parking lot is designed to be well lit which should discourage loitering. All of the above items will be placed as conditions on the business license. Walmart s internal policies and procedures are designed to ensure that the sale of alcoholic beverages will not cause or contribute to crime in the area. Shopping Carts. The maintenance of shopping carts has become a problem in the Sacramento region. The County is working with retailers that have shopping carts for the convenience of their customers. This is because shopping carts are being taken from commercial properties and are used as transport vehicles for the homeless and their belongings. The County would like retailers to reclaim their carts so that the cost of replacing them is not passed on to the consumer and to reduce or eliminate costs to County taxpayers for collection from the public right-of-way. To address this concern, Walmart has agreed to use locking wheels on their shopping carts at this location. They are able to install the necessary equipment because this site will be under construction. Additional conditions will be added to their business license to address the collection and storage of their carts. This store will be open 24 hours, so the securing of the carts overnight during store closing will not be necessary. Conditions. Conditions referenced below are listed in the Sheriff s letter (Attachment 4) and will be added to the future Business License. Both sets of conditions are necessary due to the individual enforcement power of ABC and the County of Sacramento: Sheriff Department Conditions: Maintain parking lot and grounds free of litter Post signage no loitering Post signage no open container on premises or sidewalk No single sales of beer Wine coolers sold in factory four pack No wine or distilled spirits sold in containers less than 750 ML No alcohol sold past 10 p.m.
PLNP2014-00204. Walmart. ABC License Hearing To Determine Whether Public Convenience Would Be Served By Issuance Of A Liquor License To Walmart Located At 8915 Gerber Road, Sacramento, CA 95829 Page 4 Business License Conditions: Security cameras shall be placed on the interior and exterior of the building. The tapes shall be kept for a minimum of 60 days. Operator shall register cameras with the Sacramento County Sheriff database. Inflatable/portable/A-frame signs are prohibited. All Sacramento Development Code standards including parking, fencing and landscaping shall apply. No more than 50 percent of any window shall be obscured with signage or blocked in any way with portable or fixed furniture. Parking lots shall meet the minimum requirements for lighting. Shopping carts shall be equipped with a locking device and collected on an hourly basis during business hours. Once a week, employees shall tour the area within a mile to collect carts. Following are additional comments and recommendations: A. Community Planning Advisory Council (CPAC): This application was referred to the Vineyard CPAC and heard on January 6, 2015. Planning staff, Sheriff Department and the applicant all gave presentations. The council and neighbors were in support of the request but did have concerns with the additional traffic that will be generated with this use and other future commercial development in the area. Because the item before the Board is only the PCN and since the Walmart is a permitted use, this report does not focus on those issues. The CPAC members voted 6-0 to recommend approval of the PCN to the Board (Attachment 5). B. Environmental Management Department - Environmental Health Division: The Environmental Health Division had no negative comments about this application, nor any recorded history of problems with the applicant. C. Treasurer-Tax Collector - Business Licensing Division: The applicant does not have a current Business License. They will need to obtain one before the store is operational. D. Sheriff's Department: In his letter dated September 15, 2015, the Sheriff agreed to withdraw his opposition if the applicant agrees to the conditions listed in the letter including no single sales and no alcohol sales after 10 p.m.
PLNP2014-00204. Walmart. ABC License Hearing To Determine Whether Public Convenience Would Be Served By Issuance Of A Liquor License To Walmart Located At 8915 Gerber Road, Sacramento, CA 95829 Page 5 Conclusion Board approval of a PCN application is necessary due to over-concentration. The approval of this application would continue the current over-concentration of liquor licenses by allowing a total of eight. The Sheriff recommends withdrawal of their opposition if conditions are placed on the license. The applicant is in agreement with all conditions listed on the Sheriff s letter and those that will be placed on the Business License. The CPAC has recommended approval and their comments are attached. Staff, therefore, recommends approval of this application for a Finding of Public Convenience and Necessity. MEASURES/EVALUATION The success of this decision can be measured by applying conditions for operations. FISCAL IMPACT Costs are covered by application fees. Respectfully submitted, APPROVED: BRADLEY J. HUDSON County Executive LORI A. MOSS, Director Department of Community Development BY: ROBERT B. LEONARD Chief Deputy County Executive Attachments: 1. Project Location Map 2. Letter of Justification 3. One-mile Radius Map 4. Sheriff s Condition Letter 5. CPAC Referral Letter
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