SAN MARINO : Council Rejects Proposal to Relax Beer, Wine Ban
Bending to intense public opposition, the San Marino City Council rejected a proposal to relax the city’s longstanding prohibition on the sale of beer and wine in restaurants.
Despite backing from three council members, the vote was 4 to 0 against the change, bringing cheers from a crowd of about 30.
During a series of hearings on the proposal this summer, the Planning Commission received petitions signed by more than 800 residents urging retention of the law, believed to have been adopted in the 1930s to prevent patrons of nearby Sanita Anita racetrack from stopping in the city to drink.
The proposal, crafted so tightly that as few as three of the city’s handful of restaurants could have qualified to sell alcohol, was supported by the Chamber of Commerce as a way to draw new businesses.
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