Bars, restaurants and retailers applying for a new liquor license can make things go faster by sending the application to the Phoenix office - there is no Tucson office, at least for the time being.

In an effort to "streamline the process," the Department of Liquor License and Control says it temporarily closed its office in the state building at 400 W. Congress St.

"We had a couple people leave the agency which presented the opportunity for us to say let’s see how this works for the licensees and if we can set things up more efficiently for them," said Lee Hill, the communications and special projects director for the department. "So now all our license agents are up in Phoenix."

Hill emphasized it is a temporary closure of the licensing agents and auditors and investigators still work out of the Tucson office.

"Want to make sure we have everyone covered," Hill said. "Our biggest challenge will be processing the special events licenses. We need 10 days to process them and sometimes they are turned in late. We need to encourage those applying for special event permits to get them in as soon as possible."

Hill also said a many forms are available online for download and submittal.

"People can download an application online, download and submit renewal paperwork, get the permit paperwork for special events," she said. "It should save time, money and paper."

Steve Schultz, owner of Red Sky Café, 2900 N. Swan Road, is among those who are not thrilled about the loss of the local office.

"There were a couple of really nice ladies there who had been here for years and they knew what was going on," he said. "Now, there are no local, knowledgeable people. You have to get on the phone with Phoenix. It is twice as confusing and there is no one here to help us now. I don’t think they are streamlining, I think they want to save money. "

Schultz recently said he couldn’t get anyone to answer his questions when he recently sought to submit a request for an extension.

"You need to be able to go down there and talk to them in person so they can say, yeah this is right, this is wrong. You can’t do that now unless you want to drive to Phoenix. Why should Tucson not have an office?"

Schultz is in the application process for his new restaurant, Luna Bella, which he hopes to open in mid-October at 2990 N. Swan Road.

Kevin Fink, of Market Restaurant Group, is also in the process of applying for a license for a new restaurant, Harvest, at 10355 N. La Cañada Drive in Oro Valley. He said he’s been pleasantly surprised by the process.

"We were worried about it too," he said. "To be honest, with this restaurant as opposed to the others, we’ve actually gotten more feedback and they have been more on top of it than when we went through Tucson."

Fink, whose group also operates Zona 78 and the Grill at Hacienda del Sol, said the department’s assistant director of licensing, Connie Wagner, told him the department planned to reopen the Tucson office for licensing.

Contact reporter Joe Pangburn at jpangburn@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4259.

Arizona Department of Liquor License and Control

800 W. Washington Street

Phoenix, 85007

(602) 364-1936 for general questions

(602) 542-5141 for the licensing office

www.azliquor.gov

To expedite liquor licenses send them directly to the Phoenix office.