Hello City Council,
I received another notice that the owners of the 76 gas station at the corner of Willow Road and O'Keefe Street is appealing the denial of a permit to remain open 24 hours a day and sell beer and wine. I am not sure why they are appealing since it was denied in March of 2020, after many residents spoke against it, and nothing has changed since then.
I will make the same arguments now that I made back in March of 2020 and in a letter to the council the last time I received a notification of the appeal several weeks ago.
Please do not grant the 76 gas station a permit to operate their convenience store 24 hours a day or to sell alcohol in any form. As a neighbor that lives very close to the gas station I can say that we have had many problems with the current operation of the station and convenience store that have been brought to the owners attention but have not been addressed. Allowing them to remain open 24 hours and/or to sell alcohol will just make matters worse for the neighbors. First off this location seems to be a magnet for crime and problems. I have had detectives come ask me for video footage because of an armed robbery at the station in the evening and another time regarding an assault that took place on the property. I have also seen people at the station being loud and causing a disturbance late at night. I recall one large van that pulled into the station and the people proceeded to start yelling at one another while several men started urinating on a neighbors fence. I went to the police station and was able to get a report of all the calls to that address over the past two years. There were 74 different incidents that the police responded to in 24 months at the address of 710 Willow Road. While the report, which I will attach to this email, does not cite the reason the police were there, the description includes several arrests and "Report Taken". I would note these are just the times the police responded. I know of many times where people were yelling and screaming and then just left before the police were called or could arrive. Simply put this is not a neighborhood friendly establishment, not in a neighborhood that is full of young children. It is not isolated away from residential houses, it shares a fence with one house and is very close to many more.
I am very concerned about alcohol sales. This is not something needed by the neighborhood wanted. Alcohol is available at other places in the Willows that are not open 24 hours. Other places that sell alcohol in the neighborhood include The Willows Market, Mardini's restaurant, Café Zoe and La Hacienda market only a block away from the gas station. They close at reasonable hours and have done well to prevent problems that seem to occur at the gas station. I would also point out that selling alcohol, especially late at night across from the Veteran Affairs Medical Center, which has a substance abuse program for veterans does not make sense. Finally I would like to bring to your attention that this location was cited for illegally displaying flavored tobacco after the city had required businesses to stop displaying and selling it. I worry that if they sell alcohol they may not adhere to city laws.
I am concerned about the trash that I, and my neighbors, constantly have to pick up in our yards. This trash consists of receipts from the store, candy wrappers, cigarette wrappers and other trash that people throw on the ground when leaving the convenience store. I shared this concern with the owner of the store when they wanted to expand the convenience store into the repair bay and I was told they would work to address the litter problem. The owner told me they would add additional trash cans and signage but those never materialized.
Delivery trucks constantly park illegally on O'Keefe Street, often in a red zone, to deliver products to the convenience store. I have even see the manager of the store indicating to a driver to park in a red zone to make their delivery. This creates a dangerous situation where cars are forced to move into the oncoming lane to get around these trucks at the place where drivers exiting Willow onto O'Keefe do not have much time to react to an oncoming car in their lane. I have almost been in an accident because of this and have witnessed other close calls. I am happy to provide many photographs of trucks parked illegally to deliver products to the store. It is a very common occurrence.
The city council unanimously denied the request for these two permits, 24 hour a day operation of the convenience store and the ability to sell alcohol, in March of 2020. Nothing has changed and I encourage you to deny this appeal.
Thank you
Brian Gilmer
