The two-member Milpitas Planning Commission subcommittee last week approved a request by a local theater chain to serve its adult patrons alcoholic beverages to add to their movie-watching experience. Meeting inside city hall’s first-floor committee room, the panel, comprised of Planning Commission Chair Sudhir Mandal and Commissioner Demetress Morris, voted Jan. 25 to allow Century 20 Great Mall Theater, at 1010 Great Mall Drive, a minor conditional use permit for the sale of beer and wine. The theater will sell alcohol between the hours of noon and 12 a.m. each day they’re open. “The beer and sales points will be located where existing concessions are sold,” Michael Fossati, the city’s senior planner, told the subcommittee prior to its vote. “The employees serving the alcohol would be of legal age and we have placed a condition that employees receive responsible alcoholic beverage service training.” He added that theater employees would open the can or bottle, pour the beer or wine into a cup and serve those restricted beverages to adult customers.

“Anyone wanting to purchase a drink would be ID’d and have a wristband placed on them,” Fossati said, adding customers wishing to purchase beer or wine would also have to show a movie ticket stub to prove they’re paying theatergoers. “You couldn’t go in and say ‘I want a beer, but I’m not watching a movie’.” Fossasti said the Milpitas police and planning departments reviewed the application and found it complied with all city health and safety codes. “We believe this policy will protect the safety and welfare of customers…we recommend approval,” he added. Fossati further noted that three residents sent letters to the city in opposition to the idea, while one resident sent a letter in support. At the meeting, no one from the public spoke for or against the requested permit. Under questioning, Morris asked Matt Dunne, who represented Century Theatres, why his company was moving toward beer and wine sales. “We’re in a major expansion right now, we have 65 locations that are actively selling (alcohol), Fremont being one of them,” Dunne replied.

“Currently, we’re expanding that program to be competitive with new, at-home theaters — flat screen TVs — as well as the additional competitive nature that’s out there, including AMC at (NewPark Mall).”best white wine christmas dinner Dunne added other alcohol-selling theaters in his company were located in Mountain View, Danville, Napa, Sacramento and San Francisco.food and wine best summer recipes Morris then asked Dunne if Century’s other alcohol-selling theaters had problems with drunk patrons who might compromise the safety of others.best wine to go with fish “I can honestly tell you that we have less incidences in theaters where we sell it ourselves because we are more diligently monitoring the auditoriums at that point in time,” Dunne said.best wine that goes with chicken

He added theater staff, through training, ensure they’re not selling alcohol to someone who’s already drunk.wine boxes online uk For his part, Commissioner Mandal remained concerned about safety.time out new york best wine bars “Milpitas is a pretty family-oriented, small city and taking alcohol inside the theater where children are sitting, how do you control that?” beer and wine names In response, Dunne said the theater only sells to people older than 21 years of age. best wine under 10 canadaHe added anyone who appears 40 years old or younger is ID’d with an electronic scanner at the theater. best cheap italian red wine

Also, alcoholic drinks are served to wristband wearing customers in translucent plastic containers — not opaque cups typically filled with sodas and other soft drinks sold at the theater. “We only allow for one drink per person per ID per transaction,” Dunne said. So you’re only allowed to have the one drink that you’re taking away.” Dunne added that Century remained a family-friendly theater and not a place to get people drunk. “The majority of our locations are in suburban areas…it’s our job to make sure that everybody is comfortable throughout the facility,” he said. “And we aren’t selling this to turn it into a bar, we aren’t selling this to turn it into a night-life spot. We’re offering people that are over the age of 21 a luxury amenity that they see, that they can get a competitors’ locations.” Moreover, Dunne said Century Theatres’ soft drinks sales — like Coca-Cola drinks for example — remains a much higher revenue generator than alcoholic beverages.

“Our coke per capita income, which is how we measure sales, is about a $1.30 for soft drinks. Our alcohol per capita income is about 22 cents,” Dunne said. “So for every five cokes that we sell we’re going to sell one beer.” Mandal later asked about additional security measures. According to Dunne, theater ushers (trained in detecting when people are intoxicated) would increase the number of visits inside the multiple-screen theater site. “They are trained to contact the managers immediately upon noticing issues,” Dunne said. Also, as part of the conditions of approval, Milpitas Police Department pushed to require more surveillance cameras installed within the theater to deter trouble. Still, the subcommittee required the theater come back in six months for a review before the full seven-member planning commission. “It’s nothing about the business, it’s more a concern about our family, we take our children over there,” Mandal said.