Posted on September 5, 2008

Wal-Mart Liquor Plan Opposed by Richmond Officials

By Karl Fischer
West County Times

Wal-Mart soon will sell alcohol at its Hilltop Mall store if the city of Richmond allows it, much to the chagrin of community groups that claim another liquor vendor in the neighborhood would fuel crime. A company spokesman confirmed this week that Wal-Mart intends to transfer a state liquor license purchased from a shuttered supermarket in Pittsburg to its store at 1400 Hilltop Mall Road, where it set up shop last year.

"We have initiated that process because of demand we have heard from customers currently shopping at our store. There's a desire from them for us to expand our merchandise to include this offering," Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Loscotoff said. "We are in the beginning stages of that process, and we are currently speaking with community members, community leaders."

Some of those community leaders do not share Wal-Mart's zeal to appease consumers — particularly in a census tract that already includes the maximum allowable number of liquor-license holders, according to city planning law.

"This is just not a place for alcohol," said Ruby Molinari, vice chairwoman of the West County Alcohol Policy Working Group, who worries about "public urination, public drinking, drinking in cars. And at the mall itself, a lot of young people and teens congregate up there. It's also a place where a lot of young families with children go."

Wal-Mart needs a conditional-use permit from city planning for the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to allow the transfer. City planner Janet Harbin said the application arrived this week but remains unassigned. A review will take about six weeks, she said.

Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, for one, would require an extraordinary amount of convincing.

"This is really outrageous," McLaughlin said. "We already have enough liquor stores in that area. To put one in the mall, especially the mall, would be really irresponsible."

McLaughlin learned about Wal-Mart's plans this week, when the president of the May Valley Neighborhood Council mailed her a letter expressing concern about the potential for increased crime that another alcohol vendor may represent. [emphasis added]

"We are opposed to it," Richmond police Chief Chris Magnus said. "Another liquor store in that area is not going to be helpful. There's a challenge already with three existing liquor licenses in the immediate area. And there's an added concern about a business selling liquor directly at the mall ... where people could purchase alcohol and immediately open and consume it, either inside the mall or in the parking lot."

Police department records show four robberies and a total of 73 crimes reported in the immediate area during the past 90 days, mostly auto burglaries and auto thefts.

"The police department can apply some restrictions, such as limiting the hours that the licensee can sell alcohol or the kinds of beverages sold," said Scott Spicer, program manager for the West County Alcohol Policy Working Group.

The group learned about the May 28 request to the police department this summer, Molinari said. ABC records show the license, which would allow off-site sales of beer, wine and distilled spirits, previously belonged to an Albertsons store on Railroad Avenue in Pittsburg. That store closed in 2006, and Wal-Mart bought the liquor license, Spicer said.

Richmond police submitted a list of conditions for the transfer to the ABC in July, which Magnus says should not be interpreted as support for alcohol sales at the mall.

The agreement includes prohibitions against selling single beverages, 40-ounce malt liquor bottles or chilled alcoholic drinks. Police also would ask Wal-Mart to maintain a high-resolution video surveillance system.

Staff writer Katherine Tam contributed to this article. Reach Karl Fischer at 510-262-2728 or kfischer@bayareanewsgroup.com.