It seems like the City of LA is ready to hand a liquor permit to anybody who asks for one. It used to be City Planning would just approve liquor permits for bars, restaurants and clubs. Recently they took the unusual step of granting a permit to serve alcohol in an apartment building. But now they’re going even farther. It looks like they’re ready to allow a church to serve a full line of alcohol in their new banquet facility. On top of that, the church will offer live entertainment, and they can keep the party going until 2:00 am.

Holy Trinity Armenian Church, located at 11960 Victory Blvd. in North Hollywood, has filed an application to expand their campus, adding a few new buildings. One of the new structures will be a 14,000 sq. ft. accessory use building with a sports gym/banquet hall on the second floor. The banquet hall will provide for the sale of a full-line of alcohol for on-site consumption, with live entertainment and dancing during events associated with the church.

The report prepared for the City Planning Commission recommends approval of the project. They’re claiming it will have no significant impacts on the surrounding neighborhood. This is interesting, because the church is immediately adjacent to a residential neighborhood. It’s hard to believe that a banquet hall serving a full line of alcohol and offering live entertainment, with events lasting until 2:00 am, will have no significant impacts on the folks who live a few hundred feet away. Noise is the first thing that comes to mind, but it also seems likely that people who have been consuming alcohol will be driving down residential streets in the small hours.

If you’d like to submit comments on this project, you can send them to Stephanie Escobar at LA City Planning.

stephanie.escobar@lacity.org

You should include the project address and case numbers in the subject line.

11960 Victory Boulevard, CPC-2023-891-GPA-ZC-BLCUB-CUX, ENV-2023-892-ND

You can also make comments to the City Planning Commission when they meet on December 19. Here’s the agenda.

City Planning Commission Agenda, Thursday, December 19, 8:30 AM