24 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY april 13-19, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com sellers into signing a listing agreement. “In the liquor license business, there is no one regulating,” Harris observes. He even struggles with the vernacular used by the industry. “‘Broker’ sounds more attractive,” he says. “Deep down, I’m a finder. We chase the sellers. We’re not purchasing licenses.” The U.S. has had a long and complicated relationship with alcohol. On the one hand, Americans consumed an astonishing amount through the nation’s early history—7.1 gallons of absolute alcohol per person in 1830, according to research by National Archives senior curator Bruce I. Bustard. On the other, there were recurring efforts to curb such behavior. This temperance movement culminated with Prohibition—the 18th Amendment, which went into effect in 1920 and gave rise to lawbreaking and organized crime until its repeal in 1933. The constitutional ban on alcohol failed, but the impulse to impose control over the substance remained. In the wake of Prohibition, states began to address the issue, resulting in a hodgepodge of laws. It gets messy. Bartenders at Utah restaurants not grandfathered in by a 2012 law cannot make cocktails in front of their customers. Stores in Oklahoma can only sell refrigerated low-alcohol beers; the rest must be room temperature. Texas set standards for bottle size and labeling that affected what could be approved for sale in the state. Massachusetts made happy hour illegal. And it would take pages to describe the limits set by just Pennsylvania. Liquor license regulations are the product of post-Prohibition concerns. Unless and until some broader change happens, or a huge population influx boosts the number of available licenses, the secondary market will persist. “It’s just another cost of doing business,” Montgomery says. Yet a prospective licensee can easily become tangled in the layers of state and local oversight. There are hard lines—jurisdictions may ban bars within a certain distance from a school, for instance—and ones that can be crossed with a little effort. Harris recalls working with the owner of a gas station in Turlock who wanted an off-premises beer and wine license to compete with three nearby stations already selling six-packs. A beer and wine license could be easily had, but the city balked on a permit, arguing the area had more than enough sites to satisfy public convenience. Things changed once Harris learned the owner was Syrian. Census information showed a number of Syrian residents in the area. Harris and the gas station owner returned before city officials, explaining that Middle Eastern wine would be on the shelves. Public convenience proven. The ABC and its population-based format is not something that can be readily circumvented. San Francisco’s windfall of five new licenses seven years ago came thanks to a state law signed by then Gov. Jerry Brown that applied only to underserved commercial corridors and were both neighborhood- and venue-specific. Yet in the state’s calculation of one additional license per 2,000 new residents, there are numbers missing—people who attend local bars and restaurants at a greater rate than residents. As Harris pointed out, Monterey County’s population doesn’t warrant more licenses. There are, however, a steady stream of tourists to the area. Around 4 million people visit the county each non-Covid year. Although their stays may be short, divided over 365 days their presence amounts to at least 12,000 residents, likely more, which would call for a significant release of new full licenses from the state. Monterey city officials estimate the population more than doubles on busy weekends, from 30,000 to 70,000, thanks to tourism—but the number of liquor licenses remains the same. “[The system] needs to be reevaluated,” Montgomery says. She advocates for actual use—the volume of customers using bars, restaurants and other establishments—to drive the number of permits allowed by the state. Zoning can provide the necessary local limitations. “We had to have the license,” Montgomery says. “Now it’s an asset. It shouldn’t be an asset.” 432,858 Population of Monterey County in 2022 984 Total active retail on-premises liquor licenses in Monterey County, as of March 2023 These include: “Monterey doesn’t have the population to support new licenses.” Omar Garcia, the beverage director at Kona Steak & Seafood, gives a cocktail an exuberant pour. The restaurant’s soft opening took place before the liquor license was approved by the state. Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Liquor Licenses By The Numbers $160,000 Price recently paid on the secondary market for a Type 47 license 402 Restaurant/bar, beer and wine only 234 Restaurant/bar, full liquor 2019 The last time a new liquor license was granted to Monterey County (one Type 47, one Type 48) $17,335 Application fee for a newly issued Type 47 license from the state ABC
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