San Bernardino planning commission continues Arco gas station alcohol-license request after notice, crime and concentration concerns

The City of San Bernardino Planning Commission on a unanimous vote continued consideration of a conditional use permit (CUP 23-01) and a public convenience or necessity review for the Arco gas station and convenience store at 189 West Highland Avenue.

Staff recommended denial, citing census-tract oversaturation of off-sale alcohol outlets and elevated crime in the subject reporting district. The applicant asked the commission to approve the sale of alcohol under a reduced set of conditions; commissioners asked staff to re-evaluate and return with additional analysis and proposed conditions, including a requirement for the store’s surveillance system to link with San Bernardino Police Department systems if feasible.

Angeline Mendoza, planning staff, told commissioners the application originally appeared in staff files as a request for a Type 21 (full liquor) general license and that the census tract limit is five active off‑sale licenses; the parcel currently sits in a census tract the ABC records allow five off‑sale licenses while staff counted seven active licenses in the tract, an overage of two that triggered the public‑convenience review. Mendoza also said police crime statistics were weighed in the recommendation: the reporting-district average crime rate for the area was 71.78, while the subject reporting district logged 144 crimes during the reporting period—about a 100.61% higher rate than the average—facts staff cited in support of denial.

Erica Diaz, a planner with Woods Diaz Group representing the applicant, said the applicant had narrowed their request during processing to beer and wine only (Type 20) and proposed conditions such as reduced hours and locked coolers to mitigate impacts. Owner Kevin Vivian said the operator runs multiple franchise sites, uses ID‑scanning point‑of‑sale software, requires employee ABC training and locked coolers, and urged approval, saying the license would bring tax revenue and that the operator would work with police on security measures.

San Bernardino Police Department Lieutenant Jason King said the department is deploying a voluntary camera‑linking program that businesses can join; he said the system is near operation and that linking cameras to PD is a tool to increase public safety. Commissioners asked staff to explore making connection to PD camera feeds (or future flock camera systems) a condition should the application be approved.

Commissioners also flagged a noticing discrepancy: staff’s written report was prepared on the basis of a Type 21 (full liquor) application while the applicant said they had reduced the request to Type 20 (beer and wine). Planning staff recommended continuing the item to allow time to resolve the public‑notice/license‑type inconsistency and to re‑examine whether the staff denial recommendation would change under the lower‑intensity license and after updated PD data.

A motion to continue the item to the Planning Commission’s August meeting, and to include consideration of a condition requiring technical connection between the business’s cameras and the police system, passed unanimously.

The commission did not make a final decision on the CUP or on whether to recommend approval to the city council; staff will rework the file to reflect the corrected license type, update crime data and notice as needed, and bring the item back for a noticed hearing in August.

What’s next: Staff will confirm the license type on the official application, update PD crime information and the census‑tract license count, and return the item at the relocated, re‑noticed hearing date. The commission requested staff to pursue attaching a condition to any future approval that the applicant cooperate with PD camera integration if feasible.