A new convenience store on Dundee Avenue received Elgin City Council approval last week despite some members saying they were weary of businesses selling packaged alcohol in an area already inundated with others doing the same.
“It doesn’t have to do with the store itself, it has to do with oversaturation,” Councilman Corey Dixon said. “We’re talking about the east side of town in a primarily minority, low-income community with a high saturation of liquor stores. To me, this is a problem. It’s a public health issue.”
Zavala Enterprises owns the site at 526 Dundee Ave., which has two tenant spaces. One is occupied by a business that provides tax preparation, money transfers, bill payments and similar financial services and the other until recently had been a Farmers Insurance office.
Zavala wants to convert the 1,300-square-foot space into a convenience store, which requires a conditional use permit if it’s going to sell packaged beer, wine and hard liquor, said Marc Mylott, Elgin’s director of community development. It will also need a city liquor license.
The Elgin Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the plan, which surprised Councilman Steve Thoren, who said he thought they would have rejected it based on its close proximity to other businesses also selling alcohol.
But competition is not one of the criteria planning and zoning commissioners consider when reviewing permit requests, Mylott said. However, the liquor commission could do so, he said.
There are about six businesses, including convenience stores, gas stations and liquor stores, that sell alcohol in the immediate area and even more along the Villa Street corridor, Dixon said.
“This will continue to come up,” Dixon said. “How many options do you need? I believe in competition. I’m not trying to squash it. But at some point, you have to say, ‘What’s happening here?'”
Councilwoman Carol Rauschenberger said she saw it as two different issues. She supported the idea of a store in that location, she said, but “I do hope the liquor commission takes it upon themselves to consider the health of the community and the access to liquor stores in our lower-income neighborhoods.
“There is research that shows having easier access to liquor is not always good for a community,” Rauschenberger said.
Mayor David Kaptain agreed, saying the council approving the permit did not mean the liquor license was guaranteed.
“The liquor license is an entirely different issue. It can be solved by the liquor commission,” he said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
