OPINION: Opening Bars in Secret Silences Communities

by Mayra Jimenez, Advocacy Manager, California Alcohol Policy Alliance
In 2022, California State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), backed by San Francisco Mayor London Breed, introduced Senate Bill 980. The bill enacted a number of so-called reforms which would supposedly “streamline” the liquor license application process for new bars and restaurants. These changes include:

• Preventing the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) from denying licenses due to proximity to schools, parks, and other youth-oriented areas
• Lifting the requirement that applicants notify all residents within a certain radius of where they planned to open
• Forcing ABC to prove that the new license would disrupt normal standards of quiet and safety, rather than allowing ABC to ask the licensee to prove that it wouldn’t
• Allowing liquor license applicants to withdraw an application then reapply on the same day

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