July

July 29, 2020

Restaurant Beverage Program Needs Your Help!

Friends, 

I hope you are all safe and well.

As many of you know, the City of Los Angeles is considering a new program that would simplify the zoning approval for restaurants that wish to serve alcoholic beverages. If you need a refresher on the Restaurant Beverage Program (RBP), you can review my previous posts here and here.

On June 25, The City Planning Commission gave their support to RBP and recommended that City Council pass it. However, that was not the final step in the process, and there is still work to do before RBP is official.

Right now, we are waiting for City Council to discuss the RBP in its Planning & Land Use and Ad Hoc Job Creation Committees. If passed by these Committees, it will then move to the full Council for a final vote. Unfortunately, City Council has not scheduled these meetings, so RBP is no closer to being passed than it was last month. We have been fighting for this approval for two years now, but the restaurant community can’t wait any longer. 

We are asking you to contact your city council member’s office and demand that they expedite the approval of the Restaurant Beverage Program.

You can find your council member’s information by following this link and entering your home or business address. 

If you don’t know what to say, here is a template:

I own/operate/work at a restaurant called [INSERT RESTAURANT NAME] located at [INSERT RESTAURANT ADDRESS]. I am asking you to expedite the approval of the Restaurant Beverage Program (RBP). As restaurants navigate the impacts of COVID-19, they need all the help that they can get. The RBP will help neighborhood-serving restaurants recover by removing unnecessary hurdles that disproportionately impact independent business owners. Other cities have implemented similar programs without negative impacts on their communities. It is time for LA to do the same. Please help expedite the passage of the RBP. 

Thank you for speaking out.