California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Says Record Liquor License Applications in California
The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) says there has been a record number of applications for liquor licenses. Once every year, ABC issues new licenses in counties where the population has increased enough to allow more licenses.
Between September 8 and September 19, 2003, the window for applications to be submitted, a total of 792 applications were taken for new licenses by ABC district offices throughout California. This is a dramatic increase over last year when only 578 applications were taken.
In some counties where there are more applications than new licenses allowed, a “priority drawing” will be held to see who gets the new licenses. Under state law, a county can only have one on-sale general liquor license for every 2,000 people, and one off-sale general liquor license for every 2,500 people. This year, there will be 20 “priority drawings” in 17 different counties, versus seven drawings last year.
Los Angeles County leads the list with a total of 172 applications filed. Of those, 110 were for the 25 available on-sale liquor licenses, 55 for the 25 off-sale licenses, and seven for inter county transfers to bring licenses from other counties into Los Angeles County. Other counties where priority drawings will be held include Butte, El Dorado, Fresno, Kings, Madera, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Sutter, Tulare, and Yolo. The dates and times of the drawings can be obtained by contacting the local ABC district office.
ABC Acting Director Jerry R. Jolly said ABC will be holding drawings in counties where they have never been held before. Said Jolly, “It would appear that a lot of new alcohol related businesses will be starting up in California over the next few months.”
To get more information about the number of license applications received in your community, contact your local ABC supervisor, listed below. For more information about the processes involved in giving local input on alcohol licenses and permits, call the Marin Institute at 415-456-5692.
New CA Liquor Licenses by County for 2004:
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