The Berkeley City Council decided in its Tuesday meeting that further public discussion is necessary to come to a decision over a conditional use permit for the sale of alcohol at a local Walgreens in South Berkeley.
After the city’s Zoning Adjustments Board’s decision to grant the permit for the Walgreens located at 2801 Adeline St. was appealed by local resident Berry Gardner in May, the issue was brought before the council for discussion at Tuesday’s meeting. The council took only limited action on the matter, voting unanimously to set a public hearing for the issue.
Robert Nicholas, the attorney representing Walgreens, said at the meeting that the request for a permit stems from its business model of “one-stop-shopping.” Though Walgreens is commonly known as a drug store, it is increasingly competing with the likes of Safeway and Costco, which, according to Nicholas, provide shoppers with prescription and health services, as well as many other retail services.
Councilmember Max Anderson dismissed the business interests of Walgreens, saying at the meeting that the council’s “chief responsibility is to the health and safety of people in our community, and if we let corporate interests override that, we are playing a dangerous game.”
In a recommendation from City Manager Phil Kamlarz to council members, city staff expressed concern that the Zoning Adjustments Board’s April decision to grant the permit violates the Berkeley Municipal Code requiring that the applicant not have previous alcohol-related violations. According to the recommendation, Walgreens is the holder of 18 alcohol licenses with violations.
During the meeting, staff cited a section of the code that includes the five findings of “Public Necessity and Convenience” necessary to grant a permit for the sale of alcohol. The code specifies that the findings are only required when there is another establishment “other than a food service establishment with incidental service of beer and/or wine” within a 1,000 foot radius of the site in the same category of alcohol sales.
As a result, confusion arose during the meeting regarding the status of the Roxie Delicatessen — located about three blocks south of Walgreens — in light of this requirement.
“(The deli) is strictly a quick food deli, and as such, a food service establishment with the incidental service of beer and wine,” said Nicholas, adding that therefore Walgreens should not be subject to the special findings.
City Attorney Zach Cowan refuted this claim.
“The basis of (Walgreens’) argument that the finding (of Public Necessity and Convenience) is not required is that (Roxie Deli) is a legal food service establishment that sells beer and wine, and they aren’t. That’s not their status,” Cowan said at the meeting.
According to Cowan, the deli has a license that allows for the sale of beer and wine for off-site consumption, but it is not a legal food service establishment that can serve beer and wine.
“We have referred the Roxie Deli to the enforcement process because they, by all accounts, clearly appear to be serving alcohol when they’re not allowed by their ABC license or their permit,” he said.
City staff recommended that a public hearing be set to decide the Walgreens permit either by overturning the zoning board’s decision to grant a permit or by amending the relevant section of the Berkeley Municipal Code to allow for a permit for cases in which the applicant has previous alcohol violations.
The council voted to set a public hearing but did not specify when the hearing would be held.
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