As the date of implementation for an overnight gas station curfew in Hammond looms, business owners are seeking exemptions to the new rule.
The ordinance, passed by the Hammond Common Council in a 7-2 vote on Aug. 14 and set to take effect on Nov. 1, requires that gas stations in the city close between midnight and 5 a.m. Championed by Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. as a means of reducing crime, the legislation was the subject of weeks of deliberation by the council, with critics warning of the potential for lost jobs. It allows gas station owners to seek exemptions through the city’s Board of Public Works and Safety.
The ordinance lays out a list of criteria for the board to use in deciding whether to allow a gas station to remain open overnight, including the level of security measures taken, compliance with other city ordinances, history of calls to police, and whether the gas station’s owners cameras are enrolled in the Hammond BlueNET program, which gives law enforcement access to camera feeds.
City spokesperson Alex Stahura told the Post-Tribune on Thursday morning that of fifteen total petitions, three have been approved so far, one on Calumet avenue, one on Kennedy Avenue, and one on Indianapolis Boulevard. The manager of the Kennedy Avenue station told the Post-Tribune that two overnight employees would have had their jobs impacted had the petition not been approved.
Laura Ebling, who manages the Witham’s Sav-A-Stop on Indianapolis boulevard, said that the station’s petition process went smoothly.
“I’ve worked here over five years and we’ve never had violent issues here,” she told the Post-Tribune.
The station employees one overnight worker, Ebling said.
One station’s petition has been withdrawn and seven more have received hearings and are under advisement, Stahura said. Three more were scheduled for later in the day on Thursday and one applicant will receive a hearing on Nov. 2.
“This process is bringing them into compliance and in the process making both the city and the gas stations safer,” McDermott said in an Oct. 20 statement.
Sunny Tiwana is waiting to hear back from the board about his petitions. He owns five gas stations, three of which are in Hammond. Of those, two are open overnight, one located on Calumet Avenue and another on Columbia Avenue.
If his stations are not granted an exemption before the curfew goes into effect, he told the Post-Tribune, it will impact the jobs of between three and five employees who work overnight.
adalton@chicagotribune.com
