City looks at banning high-octane booze in more areas Mayor's staff discussing voluntary ban with distributors

Steel Reserve, Natural Ice, Keystone Ice and Hurricane Ice Malt Liquor are all beers now banned in Seattle alcohol impact areas. Steel Reserve, Natural Ice, Keystone Ice and Hurricane Ice Malt Liquor are all beers now banned in Seattle alcohol impact areas. Photo: Joe Raedle/seattlepi.com, Getty Images Photo: Joe Raedle/seattlepi.com, Getty Images Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close City looks at banning high-octane booze in more areas 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

Stores that sell fortified beer and wine in Seattle neighborhoods with chronic street drunks may soon be asked to join a program that would limit such alcohol sales.

Mayor Mike McGinn's Office is working with three distributors to create a voluntary plan that would prohibit sales of some alcohol products between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m. in Lake City – and potentially Beacon Hill and Sodo – though the efforts to enact such a plan are in the very early stages.

The program, which would be in place seven days as week, would not include bars and restaurants and could begin as early as May. McGinn's staff has been discussing the idea for months, though planning is preliminary.

"We want these businesses to be successful in a number of ways, just not basing your whole business model on these products," Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith said last Thursday at a public meeting in Lake City.

He said there have also have been discussions with the city's office of Economic Development to help create a tool kit showing other options for small businesses that now rely on selling large amounts of fortified beer and wine.

If the idea progresses, the city and some alcoholic beverage distributors would have a voluntary agreement by April 1, and that month retailers would be visited by distributors and encouraged to participate in the voluntary program. If a retailer did not sign a form agreeing to the voluntary program, there could be a subsequent visit from distributors and the city to encourage participation.

Smith said at the public meeting that community organizations could be notified of businesses that didn't participate. The distributors also would periodically notify the city of progress on the voluntary program and would create signs for retailers explaining the voluntary ban in partnership with the city and Police Department, he said.

"All of these operations at some point or another have to go to renew their liquor licenses. The city can object to their liquor license based on their behavior. If they're not participating we might say, 'You know, they've not been a good business partner in this effort'. The Liquor Control Board takes that very seriously."

Seattle police have said fortified liquor and cheap beer is a big problem in some Seattle neighborhoods, leading to fights and property destruction.

In Lake City, neighbors have consistently complained about problem drunks around the post office, and at the public meeting last week, some neighbors who have continually called 911 told Smith that dispatchers seem to know street disorder is a neighborhood problem.

Some neighbors have been collecting empty cans of Colt 45 – a malt liquor with a 6.1 percent alcohol content – and have found dozens left around Lake City.

Police spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said he hadn't heard of the voluntary program idea being discussed, and neither had State Liquor Control Board spokesman Brian Smith. But if the voluntary program moves forward and doesn't succeed, Smith said the city could create an alcohol impact area in troubled neighborhoods.

Voluntary ban or alcohol impact area

Under the plan being discussed by the mayor's office, fortified wine and some beers would not be sold voluntarily at retailers in problem areas. But if a new alcohol impact area was established, retailers would be prohibited from selling the products.

Seattle already has two such areas where specific high-alcohol products are banned: parts of the University District including 'The Ave' and the downtown central core.

"We're not saying we won't eventually establish an AIA; we're just saying this is potentially a better approach," Darryl Smith said at the public meeting. "So the ultimate stick is, we could put an AIA in your area and then you can't sell anything. So you really should participate in the ban."

Several cities have appealed to the Liquor Control Board for mandatory bans through alcohol impact areas, including Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia and Spokane. Smith said Tacoma has reported the best reduction in street disorder from their two alcohol impact areas, and Vancouver now has a voluntary ban on high-alcohol products and some small retailers.

Products often bought by street drunks are prohibited, including Thunderbird wine, MD 20/20, several Ice beers, St. Ides and Steel Reserve. Download a PDF of the full list here.

Police data shows Seattle's two alcohol impact areas have reduced the number of street drunks and public safety problems, but city leaders acknowledge the areas haven't solved the problems.

The banned product list is updated infrequently and because only the specific names are prohibited, a manufacturer can slightly alter the name of the product and have it sold in the alcohol impact area. According to the Liquor Control Board data, the Seattle list hasn't been updated in three years.

The proposed voluntary ban could also be complicated by Initiative 1183, which allows liquor sales by private retailers beginning June 1. Through Monday, more than 30 distributors have applied for licenses with the state for distribution centers at 75 locations.

The city is suggesting limiting sales of fortified beer and wine and, with a few exceptions, liquor retailers must have at least 10,000 square feet. But Darryl Smith said during the public meeting that the city has had conversations with three main distributors.

If a grocery store in an area known for alcohol problems began moving significant amounts of hard alcohol, a city would have to show a link to the specific problem liquor for it to be added to the alcohol impact area list, Smith said.

"Typically it hasn't been the hard liquor that has been the problem," he said. "It's links to high- octane beers and fortified wines."

City has targeted problem establishments before

There were discussions of an alcohol impact area in Lake City in 2009 when police said the notorious Rose Garden tavern there was a drug haven and detriment to community safety.

After a drunk customer stabbed an employee, police started a months-long investigation during which police "quickly and easily documented undercover purchases of narcotics, including several purchases from an employee," then-North Precinct Capt. Mike Washburn wrote in the letter to the Liquor Control Board.

Police asked the State Liquor Control Board not to renew the Lake City bar's liquor license and the bar was eventually sold. It's now the site of El Norte Mexican restaurant, a successful bar that has turned the location around.

Seattle police also took similar action in 2010 to have the liquor license revoked at Angie's Cocktails, a Rainier Valley bar that for years had a problem with drugs and occasional violence.

In late 2009, South Precinct liaison attorney John McGoodwin cited a list of police incidents and the alleged failure of the bar owner to address issues there. In early 2010, the State Liquor Control Board's license division director decided not to renew the bar's liquor license, the bar eventually closed.

Also in 2009, neighbors in Wedgwood petitioned to have the liquor license of the SP Mart convenience store pulled after police said the business allegedly sold alcohol to minors on several occasions.

Last year in Belltown, the V bar Noodle Bar and Lounge had its liquor license revoked after the Liquor Control Board received complaints from police and several neighbors.

Darryl Smith told neighbors in Lake City their continued participating and attention to problem retailers will be a key partnership in solving neighborhood problems.

While he discussed the idea at a public meeting with roughly 25 people, Smith noted that retailers hadn't been notified and asked that neighbors not relay information that distributors would eventually discuss with those businesses.

It would be distributors that would present the voluntary ban information in conjunctions with the city, Smith said.

"They actually are pretty eager to do this because it doesn't necessarily help them to have another AIA either, it just means that some of their products can't be sold," he told the crowd.

"They believe that they can be more proactive and partner with these businesses and get them to actually break the cycle of behavior that we've seen in a lot of neighborhoods."

Casey McNerthney can be reached at 206-448-8220 or at caseymcnerthney@seattlepi.com. Follow Casey on Twitter at twitter.com/mcnerthney.