Hermosa Beach : Alcohol Warning Ordered

The City Council voted 4 to 1 to tentatively approve an ordinance requiring businesses that sell alcohol to post signs warning that drinking wine, beer and other alcoholic beverages during pregnancy can cause birth defects.

The council is expected to adopt the ordinance in two weeks and it would be effective 30 days later.

Councilman Tony DeBellis, who voted against the proposed ordinance, said: “I’d rather see us getting rid of the bars. . . . I think it’s an intrusion--this is a liberal saying this--of over-government regulation.”

Gerald Breitbart, director of chapter relations for the California Restaurant Assn., said he opposed the wording of the sign but not the intent. The restaurant association appeal of a similar Los Angeles ordinance was recently rejected by the California Supreme Court.