Recommendation to receive and file the application of Norma Mora de Perez, dba Brite Spot Coffee Shop, for an original Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) license, at 412 West Pacific Coast Highway, and submit a Public Notice of Protest to ABC on the bases of high crime in the reporting district, residences within 100 feet of the establishment, and a school within 600 feet of the establishment.  (District 1)
Thank you very much and I salute you both. I'm glad we had the opportunity to hear from you. Public comment. Thank you. Some members have cast their votes on this. We're going to move on to item number 35, back to 35. Item 35, support from police. Recommendation to receive and file the application. A bright spot coffee shop for an original ABC license at 412 West Pacific Coast Highway and submit a public notice a protest to ABC on the basis of high crime in the reporting district residences within 100 feet of the establishment and a school within 600 feet of the establishment. District one. Councilmember Gonzalez. I would like a staff report first. Commander LeBaron. Thank you, Commander. Councilwoman Gonzales and City Council members. Item 35 is an application for an original Onsale Beer and Wine ABC License for a restaurant. The police department has conducted our investigation and recommend that a public notice of protest be submitted to ABC for the issuance of this license. A license to sell beer and wine would create an adverse impact to the neighborhood and the surrounding area. The basis for our recommendations are the high crime statistics in the reporting district residences within 100 feet of the establishment, including a sober living home and a school within 500 feet I'm sorry, 600 feet. Furthermore, this location previously held an ABC license, which was ultimately suspended and later revoked as a result of numerous violations and violent crimes at the location in 2009. The business owner has previously applied for an ABC license in 2010, 2013 and 2016, and the City Council protested the application on all of these occasions and the application was denied. That concludes my report, and I'm available for any questions you might have. Thank you, Commander. I appreciate that. I you know, given the information and having known this location for some time and I understand I is here as well, the business owner, we appreciate you being here and staying and sticking through it. And I appreciate you listening to this as well. But knowing that location and everything that the commander had mentioned, I also do not feel comfortable providing going forward with an ABC license at this time. We have had historic issues. That's probably the most challenging pocket of the district, to be quite honest. And so it's been a struggle for us to just maintain public safety standards and really just ensure that everybody, specifically families that live there, can live with a better and higher quality of life standard. And so I just would like to uphold the the recommendation at this time. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Pearce. CNN. Is there any public comment on this? Please come forward. Oh, my name is Norma. And this is the third time I'm here. And I work really hard. And my husband to. And I think the cramming is everywhere. And next to my business is a restaurant. It's like three blocks from my business. They have a license. They get a light year and a half. And I know I'm a mom, but my son and my daughters work with me. I don't want to increase a crime. You think I'm working? They want to increase the crime? No, because my son, my husband and me work there. And we don't want to close this. I don't know. Because that's hard for me to walk there. You know this right behind my business. I talk every time with the guys in it and about them. You don't have to dream. You don't have to be drunk. I want to sell beer just for my customers. My good customers. I don't have I don't want license to tell everybody. You know, because we have a very we are people when this we're we throw away we don't want the people in my in my business who has been almost. Sorry. Eight years of. I don't. I really, really want the business. They license. The license? Sorry to be open. Not to sell beers. To help me to be. That's the way I want. That's the service. Thank you. And Norm, I'm sorry. Thank you again for being here. And this isn't any reflection of your specific business, because we know we've talked about it. You have great food, you have a good ambiance there and a great environment. It is just really, you know, the surrounding area. And you we know you've been here for some time. I just want to walk through the process, Commander. So for any reason, we decided at any point that we did want to move forward with an ABC license if. Well, let me let me back up if for any reason. We said, you know what? No, we're not. We're going to say no to this as a council to this recommendation. What is the process then? Because it still has to go to ABC with your recommendations, is that correct? Councilwoman That is correct. It would go to ABC with a recommendation for denial. ABC would then hear or hold a hearing with an administrative judge. Representatives from the city would come. The applicant could also come with her representatives and the case would be presented where ABC would make the ultimate decision on that. That decision would then either issue an ABC license with conditions or it would deny the ABC license. And from that point, if an ABC license were issued, the applicant would have to operate under those conditions. But there's also the potential that that could then allow for a person to person transfer, which would make the city much more unable to address some of the issues that might come up with the licensee if it were to change. Right. Absolutely. Okay. Well, we'll up we're going to uphold the recommendation at this time. And I know normally you're going to speak to my chief of staff, Corey, tomorrow, and we'll continue talking to you about the area. Okay. Thank you so much. Okay. Councilmember Granger. Yeah, I just had some questions, if you don't mind. Councilmember or Labor. The alternatives that we have here for for this business owner, I know we always want to support business in Long Beach, especially along that corridor, because it's it's important to sustain it. Are there like in terms of some of the issues with the crime around that area? Is it is it a crime that that is related to maybe the hours that the business is open? For example, where is it? When do they open and when do they close? So, Councilmember Your Honor, the last time that there was an ABC license at this location was 2009. And the actual. Dates and times of the crimes at that time I don't have in front of me. But what I can tell you from our crime breakdown is looking at the total reported crimes in that reporting district during the time it had an ABC license and I can go back to 2008, the total crimes reported in that district were 360 and within five years of the ABC license being revoked. Going down to 2013, that crime, the total crimes dropped from 360 to 189. So it was a significant drop in total crimes in that reporting district, which was in conjunction with the ABC license being revoked. You know, I was trying to provide the owner with maybe some options that you might want to look, revisit your hours of operation, especially if you want to serve alcohol, because as we know, the later of businesses open, the alcohol is offered it up. It requires an opportunity to come with it. So I'm looking forward. I'm going to support the recommendation, but I just want to provide the business owner with some options to consider if they want to stay in business. And then we certainly want to encourage you to stay in business. However, you might want to relook, revisit your your business plan and you're always in operation so that you can be successful. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any other comments, public comments here or none? Please cast your votes on a motion. Ketzel Levine Price. Motion carries eight zero.