SAN FERNANDO : Group to Celebrate Ban on Liquor Sales

A group that pushed through an ordinance to ban liquor sales by most new businesses will commemorate its passage with a short ceremony today in front of City Hall, the same day it goes into effect.

“It really is history,” said Raul Godinez, a member of the San Fernando Residents Council, who will be among those attending the 6:30 p.m. news conference. “We want to celebrate the victory.”

The City Council adopted the ordinance in April, which prohibits new liquor stores from opening until the city nearly doubles in population. Members of the residents council and the Valley Organized in Community Efforts hailed the ordinance as a unique tool to reduce the high concentration of liquor outlets in the city.

Just a few blocks away at Saraerrols Greek Restaurant at 7 p.m., owner Regina Sancho-Bonet will host a fund-raiser to mount a legal challenge to the ordinance’s provisions limiting the distance of restaurants that serve liquor to some public buildings. Sancho-Bonet cannot apply for a permit to serve alcohol because her Maclay Avenue restaurant is within 600 feet of Morningside Elementary School.

Virginia Barragan, a member of the San Fernando Residents Council, said the organization has no position on the possible legal challenge. “Those are legal matters for the city. There is nothing we can say or do,” she said.