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June 23, 2006
(Olympia) – The Liquor Control Board will hold an evening work session from 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, June 29, at the Seattle City Hall, Bertha Landes Room, 600 Fourth Avenue. The City of Seattle will present information on two Alcohol Impact Areas (AIA) for recognition by the Liquor Control Board: the Central Core area and the University District.
A Liquor Control Board decision on the city’s request will be made later and announced at a subsequent Board meeting.
In the statewide AIA process, local jurisdictions must initially adopt an ordinance creating
an AIA area and provide guidelines for off-premises liquor sales within the boundaries to area
businesses. After the local jurisdiction makes a good faith effort to control the problem through
voluntary efforts, they can request that the Liquor Control Board officially recognize the AIA
and require licensees to follow the restrictions imposed.
Seattle and Tacoma each have an AIA within their city boundaries. In 2001, the Liquor Control Board
approved Tacoma’s request for an AIA in the downtown core. In 2002, the Board approved further
restrictions requested by Tacoma to end off-premises sale of a list of high-alcohol content,
low-cost beers and wines.
The Board approved Seattle’s request for a new AIA in the Pioneer Square area in September 2003
with the following restrictions: no off-premises sale of liquor between 6 and 9 a.m., no
off-premises sale of beer by the single can or bottle, and no off-premises sale of the following
wines: Cisco, Gino’s Premium Blend, MD 20/20, Night Train Express, Richard’s Wild Irish Rose,
and Thunderbird.
AIA Background
AIA rules were created in 1999 to provide a framework for communities, the Liquor Control
Board and the alcohol industry to work together to mitigate communities’ problems with chronic
public inebriation or illegal activities linked to the sale or consumption of liquor. The
rules allow the Liquor Control Board to recognize a geographic area within a city or town as
an AIA (WAC
314-12-210
and 314-12-215).
The state AIA rules require local jurisdictions to take the following actions before requesting
that the Liquor Control Board formally recognize an AIA: 1) adopt a local ordinance declaring
an area an AIA, and 2) attempt voluntary agreements with liquor licensees for at least six months.
Local governments may also request that the Liquor Control Board restrict grocery and
convenience stores in an AIA from selling certain types of beers and wines that are linked
to local chronic public inebriation problems (such as high-alcohol content, low-cost products), or
further restrict the hours that retailers can sell liquor to-go beyond the state rule restricting
liquor sales between 2 and 6 a.m.
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Link: City of Seattle AIA Ordinance Number
121487
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