Crenshaw Blvd. has lost an icon.
8th District Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson announced on his Twitter account yesterday that the city voted to revoke the conditional use permit for a popular liquor store at the corner of Crenshaw and Stocker.
Today, the City Council revoked the conditional use permit to sell alcohol at the Liquor Bank. For nearly a decade, the Liquor Bank served as a hot spot of crime, drugs, and violence. Today, we said enough is enough, our community deserves better.
It appears #DestinationCrenshaw doesn’t include a stop at the Liquor Bank and Southern Wines & Spirits has lost a long-standing account.
Related: Harris-Dawson Introduces Social Equity Ordinance
The councilman is sending mixed signals to the community, about what the community deserves, especially citing drugs as an issue, for he introduced and voted in favor of an ordinance for a social equity program to allow recreational weed sales in the city.
“This is the most aggressive social equity program that we’ve seen anywhere,” said Councilmember Harris-Dawson. “Voters overwhelmingly supported legalization and explicitly voted to end policies that have arrested 15 million African-Americans across the nation. Now, we can make sure communities most impacted by targeting are not edged out of this newly decriminalized industry.”
Publicly, there have only been plans to transform the site across the street, on the property now known as the Baldwin Crenshaw Mall, into an oasis filled with condos, hotel and an outdoor mall. No plans have been publicly revealed, as to whether the city has designs on the prime parcel the Liquor Bank stands on.
Councilman Harris-Dawson just endorsed eminent domain, on prime parcels on Manchester and Vermont, citing the need for affordable housing and a new transit training hub. With less than a weeks notice, after the county publicly mulled the idea, the matter was on the Board of Supervisors (BOS) agenda in days. This action initiated the eminent domain process, citing similar reasons the permit for liquor bank was revoked.
Here is a snippet of the councilman’s comments at the BOS public hearing:
Harris-Dawson said the vacant land had suffered “criminal neglect” that had fueled mayhem including fires, attacks and shootings.
With the Crenshaw/LAX extension near completion, and Metro having a stop up the street, could another eminent domain discussion be on the horizon?
2UrbanGirls reached out to liquor license/permit lobbyist, Rob Katherman, to inquire if he was retained to appeal the council’s decision. He has not made a comment at this time.
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There was a time in the past this description of the site would have been correct and relevant. That time has passed. Unless they reveal crime statistics and incidents, get ready for more of this type designation along Crenshaw. Let’s see what ends up here and who owns it.
Notice he only mentioned the last decade, which would equate to the time when events were ramping up to build the new train connector. What makes a high volume, cash based business like marijuana, safer than a liquor store? We see armed guards in/around dispensaries, liquor stores not so much.