Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Drugstore booze permit still in limbo

CVS in O.B. hopes for approval of ABC

Two bright red banners at the former Apple Tree market in O.B. read “CVS Pharmacy – Coming Soon” but the future has become unclear because of protests to a pending application to sell beer, wine, and hard liquor.

Citizens have submitted their objections to the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), the agency that has final say over whether a license is granted for the store at 4949 Santa Monica Avenue.

The building has been vacant since the end of 2012, when Apple Tree lost its lease. CVS officials have said the pharmacy chain will not move in if denied the ability to sell alcohol.

For now, expect CVS to move forward in getting the building ready to become a drugstore, said Steve Laub, a project manager overseeing the endeavor.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“As far as I know, the schedule is unchanged,” Laub said in an email. But Laub did not respond to a follow-up question asking for an estimated move-in date.

CVS applied for the liquor license May 15, and citizens had the right to submit protests until June 26.

ABC lawyers must review the protests first and determine whether they have been lodged for legally valid reasons, said ABC district administrator Jennifer Hill. Once validated, the protests advance to the department's Hearing and Legal unit, where they are processed for investigation.

Hill said the protests don't become public information until they reach the investigation stage. But she did confirm “more than one” has been submitted.

Even though alcohol had been available for years at Apple Tree, the prospect of booze for sale by an incoming tenant at the location whipped up standing-room-only crowds when CVS asked for support from the Ocean Beach Planning Board late last year. Some dissenters didn't want more alcohol in an area the state had determined to be already oversaturated with liquor licenses. Others didn't want to support CVS when another drugstore chain, Rite-Aid, is located four blocks away; some wanted to wait for another grocery store to move in.

The board voted in support, but only after CVS agreed to a “community benefits package,” the terms of which were negotiated with the Ocean Beach Town Council and Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association.

But support from community groups doesn't lessen the obligation of the ABC to investigate all valid protests, Hill said.

“Any correspondence or agreement made with outside entities doesn't have any bearing on ABC's procedure,” she said. “Everyone gets input, but only ABC makes the decision.”

In the course of an investigation, protests are often resolved by adding operational conditions to a license, Hill said.

CVS did consent to some alcohol restrictions in the community benefits package; among other measures, the corporation agreed to refrain from selling kegs, shot-sized bottles of spirits, and single cans of beer. However, CVS didn't offer to make these restrictions a condition of getting a liquor license.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Was Reddit ghost sighter hired by Hotel del Coronado?

Parking 1/2 mile away and complaints of vandalism
Next Article

Rapper Wax wishes his name looked like an email password

“You gotta be search-engine optimized these days”

Two bright red banners at the former Apple Tree market in O.B. read “CVS Pharmacy – Coming Soon” but the future has become unclear because of protests to a pending application to sell beer, wine, and hard liquor.

Citizens have submitted their objections to the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), the agency that has final say over whether a license is granted for the store at 4949 Santa Monica Avenue.

The building has been vacant since the end of 2012, when Apple Tree lost its lease. CVS officials have said the pharmacy chain will not move in if denied the ability to sell alcohol.

For now, expect CVS to move forward in getting the building ready to become a drugstore, said Steve Laub, a project manager overseeing the endeavor.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“As far as I know, the schedule is unchanged,” Laub said in an email. But Laub did not respond to a follow-up question asking for an estimated move-in date.

CVS applied for the liquor license May 15, and citizens had the right to submit protests until June 26.

ABC lawyers must review the protests first and determine whether they have been lodged for legally valid reasons, said ABC district administrator Jennifer Hill. Once validated, the protests advance to the department's Hearing and Legal unit, where they are processed for investigation.

Hill said the protests don't become public information until they reach the investigation stage. But she did confirm “more than one” has been submitted.

Even though alcohol had been available for years at Apple Tree, the prospect of booze for sale by an incoming tenant at the location whipped up standing-room-only crowds when CVS asked for support from the Ocean Beach Planning Board late last year. Some dissenters didn't want more alcohol in an area the state had determined to be already oversaturated with liquor licenses. Others didn't want to support CVS when another drugstore chain, Rite-Aid, is located four blocks away; some wanted to wait for another grocery store to move in.

The board voted in support, but only after CVS agreed to a “community benefits package,” the terms of which were negotiated with the Ocean Beach Town Council and Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association.

But support from community groups doesn't lessen the obligation of the ABC to investigate all valid protests, Hill said.

“Any correspondence or agreement made with outside entities doesn't have any bearing on ABC's procedure,” she said. “Everyone gets input, but only ABC makes the decision.”

In the course of an investigation, protests are often resolved by adding operational conditions to a license, Hill said.

CVS did consent to some alcohol restrictions in the community benefits package; among other measures, the corporation agreed to refrain from selling kegs, shot-sized bottles of spirits, and single cans of beer. However, CVS didn't offer to make these restrictions a condition of getting a liquor license.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

How to make a hit Christmas song

Feeling is key, but money helps too
Next Article

Yellowtail show off La Jolla, Big tuna south

Spiny lobster doing well
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader