Alcohol Permit Denied For Regal Edwards Santa Maria After Local Youth Spoke Out
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – The Santa Maria Planning Commission rejected a permit that would have allowed alcohol sales at the Regal Edwards RPX theater.
The commission voted 3-1, making the decision final.
Regal Entertainment Group has a few more days to appeal the city’s decision but the corporation has made no statement or announcement of intent to do so.
Across California, 55 other Regal theaters offer beer and wine in cans for customers to consume while watching movies.
The proposed permit would have allowed patrons to buy beer and wine at the concession stand in the Santa Maria mall’s theater lobby, making it the 56th location in the state to do so, but local officials chose not to approve the plan.
Plans concerning alcohol availability near the downtown district have traditionally faced intense local examination regarding their impact on family settings and youth-oriented activities in adjacent public areas.
Several youth advocates affiliated with Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley spoke against the proposal at the September 16th Planning Commission meeting.
“We at Fighting Back are big supporters of the Regal Theater,” says Gabi Delgado, Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley’s coalition coordinator. “And our main concern wasn’t with the theater. It was with the potential threats that alcohol would bring to the community as a whole. So that is really where our students were concerned with. And they were the ones leading this whole initiative. It wasn’t the adults.”
City planning commissioner Tim Seifert noted that he originally viewed the permit as a potential benefit for the community before changing his perspective during the session and voting against the proposal.
With the permit denied, the theater will continue operating under its standard business model and will not be offering alcoholic beverages.
We reached out to Regal Entertainment Group’s corporate offices for comment but have not received a response.
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