Businesses Tap Into Alcohol Permits

For two entrepreneurs in San Marino, it was a happy hour at a recent Planning Commission meeting.
The owners and operators of San Marino Café on Mission Street and a multi-unit property at 2000 Huntington Drive each received unanimous approval of their alcohol permits, allowing them to sell beer and wine at their restaurants, pending approval from the state Alcohol Beverage Control office. The permits, which are required for restaurant alcohol sales by San Marino code, did not carry any additional conditions beyond those limitations already imposed.
Commissioners unanimously saw the applications as a way to help stimulate local restaurants here and add flair to the city’s small business community. They had special praise for Linda Zadoian, owner of San Marino Café and a member of the city’s Economic Development Team, for her leadership among the Mission Street business people.
“Linda has a place that is beloved by the neighborhood,” Commissioner Shelley Boyle, who lives near the Mission Street district, said at the Feb. 26 meeting. “They want her to succeed. She’s open to ideas that they have and I think that that is the kind of relationship we’re looking for with our business community and residential community, to create that symbiotic relationship.”
Zadoian, who launched the cafe in 2017, said her request was prompted by customer demand.
“Some people come in for gelato,” she told the Planning Commission. “Some people come in for avocado toast. Now some people want to come in for wine. Several patrons continuously ask if we can have wine and beer.”
Other Mission Street business owners spoke last week in support of the restaurant’s application, adding that the district has in recent years begun to thrive again in large part because of the camaraderie among owners.
“We are very, very happy to have her on our street and we are happy to support her,” said Corina Madilian, owner of both Serafina and Single Stone and also a member on the Economic Development Team.
At 2000 Huntington Drive, the property owner — Beverly Hills-based La Cienega Co. — has subdivided the space into four units and requested beer and wine permits for 2004 and 2006 Huntington, both of which already have restaurant permits. One business has committed to leasing a unit, while another is still in talks with the lessors.
“It is unusual,” Planning and Building Director Aldo Cervantes told commissioners, answering a question on why managers applied for the permit without a restaurant. “This is an approach that the property owner is taking to sort of market his property, being that the conditional use permits have already been secured for restaurant uses.”
Cervantes added that the party in talks with La Cienega for the other space has expressed a desire to sell beer and wine. Additionally, although the permit for beer and wine remains with a property, it would only apply specifically to a sit-down restaurant.
John Dustin, vice chair of the Planning Commission, wholeheartedly supported the marketing concept.
“I think we do need to support our business community and I think this makes perfect sense to me in terms of allowing a landlord to entice new tenants and get them interested,” he said. “This is a really good way to do that, I think.”
Eyeing liability concerns, Cervantes had initially suggested a condition for San Marino Café’s permit that sales be restricted from a portion of its outdoor seats, which sometimes use the public right-of-way. (Some restaurants are allowed to do this to achieve Americans With Disabilities Act compliance.) However, given that it has not been an issue at nearby Julienne, which sometimes has tables crossing into the right-of-way, commissioners declined to enact that provision.
“I wouldn’t want to impose that obstacle on the business owner,” Dustin said.
James Okazaki, an alternate commissioner, also voiced support in lieu of casting a vote last week.
“I think we want to encourage and support the businesses
in San Marino,” he said, then adding somewhat tongue-in-cheek, “Beer and wine to me is just like soda. It’s not hard liquor. It’s not that serious of a drink and I think we have great customers there.”