DAO Pros And Cons

An overconcentration of alcohol of alcohol outlets, especially in urban settings, can negatively impact the health, safety, and welfare of a community, residents, and visitors. Likewise, research has found there are higher rates of violence in areas with higher density of alcohol retailers . In response to these findings, many California counties and cities are adopting “deemed approved” ordinances to target preexisting alcohol-related businesses and regulate alcohol sales practices. Accordingly, counties and cities across California are gathering efforts to exert control over new and legal nonconforming off-site and on-site alcohol-related business through the coupling of land use powers and public nuisance standards/police powers. A
o Small businesses often feel DAOs implement discriminatory policies that severely punish them in favor for exempted “big box” retailers who often sell more alcohol than small neighborhood retailers affected by a DAO . These small businesses are often dependent on alcohol sales. o In addition, the added costs, restrictions and limitations presented by a DAO can criminalize and unfairly impact small neighborhood stores, making them the most vulnerable to failure.
• The definition of public nuisances in the context of alcohol consumption can be too broad if a city’s or county’s DAO does not clearly specify which acts constitute as public nuisances. If a city provides a general prohibition of public nuisance activities rather than an extensive list of specific nuisance activities, it may negatively affect a jurisdictions commitment to monitoring and enforcement . For instance, the original Oakland ordinance specifies 21 separate activities, while the Ventura ordinance has a lack of a clear definition which only refers to “nuisance conditions”, litter, and graffiti . This can result in poor