CITY OF BANNING
STAFF REPORT

Discussion and direction to staff on the Alcohol License Restriction Strategy submitted in partnership with Blue Zones Project.

Blue Zones has partnered with the City in requesting City Council consideration of a coordinated ordinance package intended to reduce alcohol outlet density and associated crime, nuisance, and public health harms in Banning. The proposal, titled "City of Banning, California - Alcohol License Restriction Strategy: Policy Analysis, Comparative Review, and Draft Ordinance Language" is attached and forms the basis of this report.

The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) issues and regulates retail alcohol licenses statewide, but state law grants cities substantial local authority to shape where, how, and under what conditions alcohol is sold — through zoning ordinances, conditional use permits, undue-concentration findings, Public Convenience or Necessity (PCN) determinations, and deemed-approved ordinances for legal nonconforming outlets. Blue Zones' proposal is built around this local authority and is modeled in part on ordinances already adopted by the cities of Riverside and Palm Springs.

Blue Zones' proposal consists of three coordinated components:

• Ordinance 1 — Comprehensive CUP Requirement: Amends the Zoning Code to classify all alcohol-related land uses as Conditional Uses in every commercial zone, requiring Planning Commission approval before any new ABC license may be issued in Banning. The draft includes denial criteria (e.g., location within 600 feet of a school, park, playground, library, church, or residential zone; location in an over-concentrated census tract or high-crime reporting district; applicant history of ABC violations) and standard conditions of approval (e.g., no off-sale after midnight, no chilled single-serve containers, RBS-certified staff, video surveillance, no-loitering enforcement, annual performance review). NOTE: this would require a CUP for grocery stores and restaurants selling alcohol and may adversely hinder and/or delay some economic development. 
• Ordinance 2 — Deemed Approved Ordinance (DAO): Applies performance standards to existing, legally nonconforming outlets that predate the CUP requirement, allowing them to keep operating only while they comply. Establishes a complaint-driven administrative hearing process, with three or more verified police calls for service in 12 months creating a rebuttable presumption of non-compliance, and provides that loss of Deemed Approved status is reported to ABC and can result in license non-renewal.
• Ordinance 3 — Zoning Code Density Standards: Codifies a local cap of no more than one off-sale general (Type 21) license per 5,000 residents per census tract and a 1,000-foot separation requirement between new and existing off-sale outlets, shifting the burden to the applicant to demonstrate compelling public benefit where a standard is already met.

The proposal also recommends that Public Convenience or Necessity (PCN) determinations — required by ABC in over-concentrated or high-crime areas under Business and Professions Code Section 23958.4 — be vested in the City Council rather than a staff designee, and that the Council adopt a PCN Policy Resolution establishing a rebuttable presumption against issuance in over-concentrated tracts.

The proposal benchmarks its recommendations against ordinances already in effect in the cities of Riverside and Palm Springs:

Consistent with standard zoning ordinance amendment procedure and Section 3 of the draft CUP Ordinance itself — which vests CUP approval authority in the Planning Commission — this item asks the Council only to authorize staff to prepare the proposal for formal review. The draft ordinances would first go to the Planning Commission for a duly noticed public hearing and a recommendation, and would return to the City Council only afterward for introduction, first reading, and adoption. No ordinance would take effect without both steps.

There is no fiscal impact associated with receiving the Blue Zones proposal itself. City Attorney review and refinement of the draft ordinance language will be billed under the City's existing legal services arrangement. Any fiscal impact associated with future enforcement — including possible cost-recovery permit or inspection fees — will be analyzed and presented if and when the Council considers formal ordinance adoption.