Dear City Council Members,
I was recently informed by mail that the 76 Gas Station on Okeefe and Willow Road is appealing the city's decision to deny their application to run 24/7 operations, inclusive of allowing for the sale of alcohol beverages.
My family and I are deeply concerned about this appeal and the implications for our neighborhood. We've been homeowners here since 2014 and love the Willows neighborhood because of the number of families and sense of community. Since we moved in as a newly married couple, we have had the fortune of raising both of our kids in the Willows, including our son who will be attending Laurel Elementary this week.
According to the WHO, reducing the availability of alcohol substantially decreases violence.
The availability of alcohol can be regulated either through restricting the hours or days it can be sold or by reducing the number of alcohol retail outlets. Generally, reduced sales hours have been found to be associated with reduced violence and higher outlet densities with higher levels of violence. In the former Soviet union in the mid-1980s, strict alcohol regulation, which included among other measures restricted hours and fewer outlets, led to a dramatic fall in violence.
We have huge concerns about the safety of our children if the 76 is allowed to run 24/7 and sell alcohol, especially at night. A couple months after we moved in, there was an armed robbery at night El Rancho market nearby and the armed robbers were last seen on our intersection (Arnold and O'keefe), which was extremely disturbing. We already get quite a lot of car traffic on O'keefe on the way to Willow (at all hours of the night), and we're concerned if the 76 were allowed to sell alcohol at night, this jeopardizes the safety of our neighborhood and community.
Respectfully,
Erika Louie Movsesyan
704 Arnold Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025
