Board denies RK Grocery request for liquor-license convenience letter amid over-concentration, crime concerns

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors on July 22 denied a request for a Public Convenience or Necessity (PCN) letter from RK Grocery and Food Market to support an ABC type 21 off-sale beer, wine and spirits license at 4901 Auburn Boulevard.

Why it matters: County staff recommended denial after analysis showed the census tract already exceeded the baseline number of off-sale licenses and the store sits in a high-crime reporting area with several sensitive uses (schools, day care and social services) within a one-mile radius. Residents and neighborhood leaders told the board they do not want additional off-sale liquor outlets in the corridor.

What the board heard: Diane Keefer, vice president of the Foothill Neighborhood Association, told supervisors the neighborhood already counts a dozen established off-sale outlets within about two miles and described persistent public-safety and quality-of-life problems in the area. “We would rather see a grocery store without the use of any liquor licenses,” Keefer said. Mike Baker, representing the newly created Foothill Farms CPAC, told the board that the earlier Carmichael CPAC recommendation did not reflect Foothill Farms’ views because the prior panel had no Foothill Farms members.

Applicant response and sheriff conditions: Attorney Jeff Kravitz, representing the applicant, said the business has an active prepared-food operation and that the applicant has filed for a conditional license at the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC). He provided a signed petition that Kravitz said includes sheriff’s suggested conditions (restricted hours, lighting and other controls) and said those conditions would be on any conditional license ABC issues. County staff explained that the county cannot itself place conditions on a PCN letter; ABC holds authority to impose conditions on licenses, and ABC sometimes declines to include suggested conditions.

Board action: Supervisor Desmond moved staff’s recommendation to deny the PCN request and the board voted unanimously to deny it. The clerk recorded the outcome as “unanimous vote with those members present.”

What was not decided: The board’s denial is a county land-use advisory outcome; ABC retains exclusive state authority to issue and condition liquor licenses. The denial does not itself bar the applicant from pursuing a license through ABC’s processes, and ABC could consider a conditional license application directly.

Ending: Residents said the denial reflects neighborhood concerns about crime, saturation of off-sale vendors and proximity to sensitive uses; staff and the board cited the census-tract over-concentration and the sheriff’s protest as primary factors in the decision.