Planning commission approves alcohol sales permit for proposed Wholesome Choice Market

The Planning & Transportation Commission voted to approve Conditional Use Permit CUP 2025-0005, clearing the way for Wholesome Choice Market to occupy a 37,188-square-foot space at 24021 Marguerite Parkway and to apply for a Type 21 off-sale general alcoholic beverage license for off-premises sales.

Staff said the census tract currently has five active off-sale licenses and that the new license would bring the total to six, but concluded that because of the size of the tract, distances between establishments and buffers to residences and the nearby school (staff cited approximately 1,200 feet to the nearest school), the application would not be detrimental to public welfare. Staff recommended approval subject to the conditions in the draft resolution, including required alcohol training for managers and cashiers. "Subject parcels are located adjacent to existing residences to the west...the closest path of travel to the grocery store to any home is approximately 280 feet," the staff presentation said.

During public comment attorney Thomas Aplin, representing the Marilyn June Ryther family trust which owns an adjacent parcel, said a recorded CC&R restricts any occupant of the market space from selling alcoholic beverages for off-premises consumption unless a major regional or national supermarket of at least 19,000 square feet occupies that space; he said his client opposed any CUP amendment allowing off-sale alcohol because of the financial impact on an existing tenant liquor store. City staff responded that enforcement of CC&Rs is a private dispute between property owners and not within the city's authority to adjudicate; staff encouraged the parties to resolve the issue and warned that denying the permit on the basis of the private restriction could invite litigation. The applicant was not present at the vote; the commission approved the CUP as recommended by staff.