GRAPES OF WRATH
By Alison Hewitt Staff Writer
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, CA
March 29 2007
Residents, business owner fight over liquor store
SAN DIMAS – More than 50 members of the community turned out Tuesday
night at a City Council meeting in an unsuccessful effort to prevent
a gourmet liquor store from getting approval to sell alcohol downtown.
The issue turned emotional as the Armenian applicant and would-be
owner charged San Dimas residents with discrimination and the city
with imposing excessive requirements on him. Residents accused him
of threatening business owners and trying to open a shop that would
diminish downtown’s reputation.
"I’m just a businessman," applicant Sid Maksoudian told the council,
and then launched into a history of the Ottoman Empire, where the
Armenian Genocide occurred in the early 1900s. "I feel like I’m back
in the Ottoman Empire."
Although Maksoudian’s proposed business received unanimous approval
from the Planning Commission, it came before the council after
Councilman Denis Bertone appealed the commission’s decision.
After more than three hours of testimony, the City Council voted 3-2 to
deny Bertone’s appeal. The three-man majority asked city staff to draft
a modified version of the Planning Commission’s permit requirements,
reducing the conditions imposed on Maksoudian, for approval at the
next meeting.
"Justice was done," Maksoudian said.
The proposed store would sell high-end wine, top-shelf liquor and
micro-brewed beers, as well as caviar, gourmet cheeses, cigars and
other pre-packaged items, Maksoudian said. Residents and business
owners labeled it just another liquor store, and vilified Maksoudian.
They accused him of shuttering downtown’s San Dimas Wine Shop and
Tasting Room and threatening to shut down other businesses that
did not support his application. Maksoudian denied the accusations,
saying established San Dimas business interests were targeting him
to drive him out.
Heidi Daniels, owner of the wine tasting room, said Maksoudian had made
a systematic effort to tear down her business. He admitted to reviewing
her permits to see if she was operating legally, but denied informing
the county health department that she lacked a health permit. The
health department closed down the tasting room last week, Daniels said.
"I acknowledge that it was the legal right of the applicant to report
our oversight to the health department," Daniels said.
"Unfortunately, he did not stop there."
She accused him of demanding that the Chamber of Commerce revoke her
nomination to the board of directors, which Maksoudian confirmed. She
also said he told other business owners that he was going to shut
her down, which Maksoudian denied.
Julie Salazar, an active resident and board member on the nonprofit
Festival of Arts, said business residents had come to her and
complained, too. She acknowledged asking Bertone to file the appeal
that called for Tuesday’s hearing.
"He went down the street merchant by merchant, and through veiled
threats he told them, `You’re either for me or against me, and if
you’re against me, things have a way of happening,"’ Salazar said. He
cited the wine tasting room as an example of his power, Salazar said.
Councilmen Bertone and John Ebiner opposed granting the liquor permit
to Maksoudian’s market, citing a large number of existing businesses
with liquor licenses in the area. Councilmen Jeff Templeman and
Emmett Badar said they believed they needed to give Maksoudian a
chance before condemning him.
Mayor Curtis Morris argued that Maksoudian had every legal right to
open according to the city’s own laws, and that the city must grant
the permit.
"I would prefer something other than a liquor store at that location,
but I don’t think we have that discretion," Morris said.