As reported in the Bee, Sacramento County Supervisors have approved the proposal to build a new liquor store -- that also sells gasoline -- at the NW corner of Howe and Hurley. A Shell Oil station was once on the site, functioning as a liquor store that also sold motor fuel. A few years ago Shell tore down the building, leaving the site vacant. Howe and Hurley is very congested intersection. It presents significant issues of ingress and egress for the parcel, which may well be why Shell up and left. Not learning from the past, the Supervisors seemed bound and determined to see another liquor store with gas pumps established at the site. As they have done with other land use decisions, the Supervisors let the applicant have relief from land use regulations everyone else must abide by, and they did so without making the findings required by state law (see CA Government Code Section 69506). We all know it's not news that the County does what it wants no matter what. 

What IS news, though, is that the Supervisors held off on approval of the off-sale liquor license the applicant says is so important to being able to succeed at that location. The site, it seems, is in a place the ABC people at the state say has too many liquor stores and the Sheriff says is a high-crime area. The Supervisors expressed discomfort about the area being awash in liquor stores and voiced concern about homeless people there. Since similar comments could be made about most every other commercial intersection in Arden Arcade, one can only marvel at this turn of events. It is not known whether the flood of emails against the proposal was a factor in the Supervisors' indecision.  Supervisor Susan Peters' office waited until the night before the liquor license hearing to announce (at the CCAN meeting) it would be postponed. At the hearing Ms. Peters said she needed more information.  While some may see that as an invitation for more emails, others might take a clue from the cart-before-the-horse approval of the store. The resolution of the puzzle has been re-scheduled for October 18th at 3pm.