Lessons learned in applying a community initiated land use policy to mitigate the impact of alcohol sales and alcohol use

San Francisco Community Action Live (SFCAL), a citywide prevention council of the Youth Leadership Institute conducted local research on how alcohol outlets impact communities. SFCAL worked toward the goal of creating sustainable, long-term solutions to problems associated with liquor stores. As a result of their research, SFCAL advocated for policies that would require off-sale alcohol outlets to take more responsibility for the communities they work in. SFCAL gained support from the SF Board of Supervisors to pass the Deemed Approved Ordinance (DAO).

The City and County of SF passed the DAO in 2006 mandating performance standards and accountability for off-sale alcohol outlet operations. The purpose of the ordinance is to protect neighborhoods from harmful effects attributable to the sale of alcoholic beverages, to ensure that alcohol outlets are not the source of undue public nuisances in the community, and to ensure that off-sale alcohol outlets are properly maintained to protect the surrounding environment from harm. The passage of the DAO, allows for San Francisco to have an avenue to educate and enforce “Good Neighbor” policies for off-sale alcohol outlets. The SF Department of Public Health takes the lead in implementing the DAO education and outreach component of the ordinance and has been actively involved in utilizing community driven policy as a tool to achieve public health.

This presentation will provide participants with a greater understanding of how community-led grassroots processes can be applied to develop health-related legislation and add to the body of public health knowledge about policy and advocacy.