I’m really bad at addresses so when I walked past a vacant store front on Webster Street and saw a Korean name attached to a permit application and the word “grocery” I though excitedly, “omg, Webster Street’s getting one of those mini Korean grocery stores” turns out, not so much. In the old Malaya Botanical shop apparently Santos Liquor wants to move in that spot and it’s not 1000 feet away from the next liquor store. So the City Council will be taking up the possibility of amending the liquor store ordinance on Tuesday to accommodate Santos Liquor needing to move because of landlord issues. This is part of a referral from Trish Spencer.
Look, I don’t have a ton of thoughts on this particular issue, I’m not a drinker, I don’t go to liquor stores and I would much prefer that business to have been a Korean grocery store with Korean snacks so I don’t have to make the schlep to Koreana Plaza or H Mart. But, yeah, if the City Council has made the rules flexible for other alcohol serving establishments in the past and this is not technically adding a new liquor store on Webster Street I don’t really care.
Blogging Bayport Alameda 
That’s an interesting and seemingly arbitrary rule. I wonder what the original intent was? Why not do like gas stations and have 2, 3 or 4 at the same intersection? I can understand having some hard limit on the total number or maybe total per capita or some metric, but why not 2 liquor stores within 1000′ of each other? Besides cannabis, I wonder if there are limits on the number of restaurants, gas stations, or any other business. Seems pretty great for liquor store owners to be protected by the city from competition regardless..
Comment by bjsvec — March 20, 2023 @ 9:52 am
I used to live about 50 yards from Santos Liquors, and I can tell you spreading out liquor stores is a good thing. Litter, noise etc
Comment by dave — March 20, 2023 @ 10:37 am
That’s probably the history of the ordinance. Seems like a heavy handed attempt to solve a noise and litter nuisance issue tho. It is VERY specially targeted: 30-12.4 – Location of Liquor Stores.
A liquor store shall not be located within one thousand (1,000′) feet of another liquor store within the following boundaries: Atlantic Avenue to Central Avenue and Sixth Street to Eighth Street, including the area therein if the streets were extended to intersect one another.
Comment by bjsvec — March 20, 2023 @ 10:50 am
I am pretty sure this ordinance was passed during the Navy’s times on the base. Webster street was very much a differant community then. There were a lot of complaints about noise and public drunkenness etc.
Comment by Al P — March 20, 2023 @ 11:03 am
Al P, you hit it right on the head, Webster street was quite unruly when the Navy was here, that as I remember is why we had these rules in place. It is obviously a different era now. So Dave did you move to the East End or were you thrown out of my West End. 😁
Comment by John P. — March 20, 2023 @ 4:37 pm
I liked the West End.
I love the East End.
Comment by dave — March 21, 2023 @ 6:05 am
I always thought it was ironic that while the city was limiting the bars on Webster st. Park Street business were promoting things like the Pub crawl an annual event.
Comment by Alan p — March 21, 2023 @ 7:08 am