Healdsburg, Raven strike deal on serving alcohol at theater

Elizabeth King, a Healdsburg High School junior, recently saw "The Dark Knight" with an audience that included many of her peers.

King, who doesn't drive yet, walked six blocks to the Raven Film Center, the only cinema in Healdsburg.

Until recently, it looked as if she and her friends weren't going to be able to go to movies in town anymore. The Raven's plans to serve alcohol to moviegoers meant minors would be excluded.

But the Raven and city officials have worked out a tentative compromise that will allow beer and wine to be served without excluding juveniles from the four-screen complex.

City officials said the cinema owners have agreed to serve alcohol in only two of the theaters and keep the other two alcohol-free.

"The owners will put up a barrier where individuals under 21 will not be able to cross," City Councilman Mike McGuire said.

The front two larger theaters, he said, will be for all ages, and the back two will be only for moviegoers older than 21.

"It's a hybrid approach. Everybody wins," McGuire said.

"I'm happy," King said, explaining that if the theater became off-limits to kids, "it sort of eliminates one more thing we have in Healdsburg for teens. There are very limited things for us to do."

McGuire, member of a council subcommittee that met with the theater operators and community members, said the agreement was reached last week.

"It's not official, as of yet. They're still working through permitting," he said.

The compromise was an agenda topic at this week's City Council meeting.

Dan Tocchini, president of North American Cinemas, the company that runs the cineplex, was reluctant to comment when contacted by The Press Democrat.

He said an agreement has not been finalized. "We're working on it," he said.

The Raven Film Center is tucked into a small shopping center off Center Street and is distinct from the Raven Theater around the corner, a former cinema that now features concerts and plays.

The Raven would be Sonoma County's only movie theater selling beer and wine. There are fewer than a dozen movie theaters in California allowed to serve alcohol, and they have a variety of conditions to ensure alcohol does not get into the hands of minors.

Last year, Raven Film Center operators said they intended to allow minors during the day and restrict the theater to adults at night, when alcohol and restaurant food would be served. Months later, they altered their license application to serve wine and beer with no one under 21 allowed on the premises.

That set off a protest. A community group, the Healdsburg Coalition to Prevent Underage and High Risk Drinking, gathered more than 350 signatures to oppose the Raven's plans.

"All of us in the community who raised kids and went to the movies thought this (excluding minors) was absurd," said Sonia Beck, a member of the coalition and a mother of two kids under 21.

She said Healdsburg already has more than enough places to get a drink.

"There's such an emphasis on alcohol venues and serving that population of people. We need the balance of addressing community needs," she said.

The theater had a license that was conditionally approved by the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control this spring, but the challenge by opponents delayed its implementation.

An ABC staffer said this week that the license application is still "pending investigation," but declined further comment. It appears a Sept. 8 hearing will likely be dropped as a result of the compromise.

It was not immediately clear how soon the physical modifications can be made to the theater lobby, or when beer and wine will be served.

You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemocrat.com.