Gas Station Gets Late-Night Reprieve

Judge Blocks City Action On Permits

HARTFORD — A Superior Court judge has granted a temporary injunction allowing a gas station on Woodland Street to remain open around the clock, despite a city order last summer requiring it to close overnight.

Digvijay Bansal, the owner of the gas station known as “Andy’s Mart” on Woodland Street and a convenience store at 1180 Broad St. sued the city in July, seeking a reversal of its mandate. For years, Bansal and others were granted so-called “extended hours permits” that allowed their businesses to remain open from 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m.

But in June, the city denied 13 establishments — a combination of gas stations, convenience stores and food markets — the overnight permits, citing recommendations from the police department and feedback from residents. The police suggestions were based on the number of calls for service, Mayor Luke Bronin has said.

Bansal said that since he was denied the permit, revenue at his gas station, located near St. Francis Hospital, has dropped by 50 percent — to $17,000 a week, down from $34,000. Gas sales have plummeted to 59,000 gallons per month, down from 80,000, he added, and he was forced to lay off two employees. He used personal funds to help pay last month's rent for the business.

“Besides the loss of the nighttime business, the store has seen a loss in its daytime business because customers go to a different nearby store at night that is open 24 hours, and continue to patronize the same store during the day,” Judge Jane S. Scholl wrote in her decision, which was issued Thursday.

She also noted that Bansal would likely succeed in his assertion that the city's method of denying permits was “arbitrary and capricious.”

Reached by phone Friday, Bansal said he was relieved that he could keep his gas station open overnight, and hoped the court would eventually allow him to do the same at the Broad Street convenience store.

While the gas station had for years been open 24 hours, this was the first year that Bansal sought an overnight permit for his convenience store. His request was denied.

“They screwed me over very badly,” he said of the city. “I'm very happy with this judgment.”

Howard Rifkin, Hartford's top attorney, said the city would comply with the order and remains “willing to consider negotiated resolutions … on a case-by-case basis.”

“As we have always said, the granting of 24-hour permits is a question of balancing quality of life and public safety concerns with businesses' desire to maximize revenue,” Rifkin said.

Every year, gas stations, convenience stores and bodegas that operate 24 hours a day must reapply for an all-hours license and pay a $100 application fee.This year, though, the Bronin administration adhered closely to the city's municipal code, which links licensing of all-night stores and gas stations with concerns about “loitering, the illegal sale of narcotics and other serious criminal activity.”

The city has granted six gas stations and convenience store owners all-hours licenses, and denied them to 13 others. One was given a provisional license to stay open until 1:30 a.m.

Domenic Vallera, who owns the Shell gas station on Broad Street, told The Courant in September that his revenue had dropped by 38 percent and he laid off two cashiers since he was denied the all-hours permit last summer.

Vallera was looking into posting private security outside his station to help get his 24-hour license back.

Bronin has said he's open to discussing security at the gas stations. But the shift away from widespread 24-hour service is still new, he said, and he wants to see what effect it has on improving Hartford's quality of life.

One owner who went the diplomatic route, with some success, was Mike Frisbie. Frisbie's gas station and convenience store on Buckingham Street opened after other owners were denied licenses; Frisbie initially was denied one, too.

But after meeting with council members and showing city officials his mixed-use development, which includes gas pumps, a convenience store and apartments, Frisbie was granted a permit to stay open until 1:30 a.m.