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Council revokes Benjie's Market liquor permit after LAPD and planning testimony
Summary
After hearing testimony from the zoning administrator and Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles City Council voted to revoke the conditional-use permit allowing off-site alcoholic beverage sales at Benjie's Market, 3901 South Vermont, citing repeated violations including sales to minors.
The Los Angeles City Council voted to revoke the conditional-use permit that allowed Benjie's Market, at 3901 South Vermont Avenue, to sell alcoholic beverages after a public hearing that included testimony from city planning staff and the Los Angeles Police Department.
Robert McNeil, the attorney representing the owner Jimmy Yoon Park, said the store had been in the neighborhood for decades and argued that ‘‘a concerted effort has been made . . . to close him down,’’ calling the record insufficient to justify taking away a man’s livelihood. McNeil asked the council to give the owner 60 days to wind down if the council sustained the committee’s findings.
Emily Gable Luddy, the zoning administrator of record on the case, summarized the planning office’s timeline and findings: earlier hearings in 1994 and 1995 led to conditions and subsequent monitoring; later inspections and reports showed recurring problems including loitering, drinking adjacent to the ABC location and inconsistent removal of graffiti, and a lack of credible documentation proving the required security guard was in place during key hours.
Lieutenant Matthew McWillie, officer in charge of the Southwest Vice Unit, told the council the LAPD had conducted decoy and surveillance operations and documented multiple enforcement incidents, including arrests for sales of alcohol to minors and observed violations of the zoning conditions. ‘‘It’s a continual problem, nuisance problem,’’ McWillie said.
Councilmember Walters, speaking in support of the revocation, said the location’s proximity to schools made the violations particularly troubling and urged a unanimous vote to revoke the permit, calling the documented violations ‘‘egregious.’’
Council prepared the roll and recorded the vote sustaining the committee recommendation; the transcript records the tally as 11 ayes and the action was approved. The revocation removes the establishment’s privilege to sell alcoholic beverages; the market itself may remain in the C2 zone but must cease alcohol sales immediately per the committee’s recommendation.
The council record and testimony cited a history of zoning-administrator actions, Alcoholic Beverage Control sanctions (including a 30-day suspension noted in planning testimony), fines and repeated LAPD decoy operations. McNeil emphasized the financial stakes for the owner and urged compensation if the closure were treated as part of redevelopment acquisition; council members emphasized public-safety considerations and the evidence compiled by planning and police staff.
What happens next: the transcript records the council adopting the committee report and ordering the revocation effective immediately; the council did not record an extended implementation timetable in the hearing itself.
