Can California ABC Liquor License Conditions be modified or removed and if so when?

Answer 1

ABC often places conditions on your liquor license because either someone protested your license or the location has been a problem in the past.

-Feb. 17, 2013 - ABC often places conditions on your liquor license because either someone protested your license or the location has been a problem in the past. Once the conditions have been placed on your license and you have signed and agreed upon the conditions, you may not petition to remove the conditions for one year.

The penalty for violating your liquor license conditions can range from suspending your license, paying thousands of dollars in fines and even the revocation of your license. As a former investigator for the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, I realize that bar, restaurant and/or nightclub owners are hard working people and they should never have to go in front of a District Administrator at one of the Alcoholic Beverage Control District Offices and plead for mercy based on a "Condition Violation".

These violations of your conditions could have been avoided if you knew someone who had the expertise to remove or modify the conditions on your liquor license. Wouldn't it be great if you know longer had to close your business at 10, 11 or even 12 midnight if you didn't want to? Maybe the sale of beer and wine in certain size containers is prohibited at your location. Maybe the business that was in your location before you had a lot of problems with litter and people drinking in front of the location.

If for no other reason, when and if you ever decide to sell your business or liquor license it always easier to sell a liquor license that doesn't have conditions placed on it rather than one that does.

What if you have conditions placed on your license? This can have a serious impact on the revenue that your operation will take in over the course of a week, month or even year. Wouldn't it be nice to have no restrictions on your license? Wouldn't it also be nice not to have someone limiting how much revenue you should be allowed to generate by opening your business?

There are many different kinds of conditions that can be placed on your license and many different reasons the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control can place them on your license. I have seen in many instances where conditions were placed on a license based on the past history of a neighborhood, even though the neighborhood has been totally revitalized and it is nothing like it was fifteen years earlier. I have seen conditions placed on a license based on old crime statistics, old protested applications, neighbors that used to live in close proximity to your business but do not live there any longer.

You can't afford to have accusations against your license and if you're violating a condition on your license and you get caught, it can be rather costly. With the slowing in the economy, I don't want to see you throw your hard earned money away, especially if all it will take to stop violating your conditions is for someone with the expertise to properly conduct an investigation and submit all the necessary documentation to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.