LEMON GROVE REJECTS MARKET’S LIQUOR SALES REQUEST

The Lemon Grove City Council on Tuesday upheld a Planning Commission decision denying the owners of a convenience store the right to sell beer, wine and distilled spirits.

There are too many nearby stores that already sell alcohol, they said, and the business is located in an area with one of the highest crime rates in the city.

The appeal was filed by Peter and Alisha Hormiz, proprietors of Discount Market, a business that has been selling snacks and groceries at the corner of Broadway and Main Street for 21 years.

The 1,740-square-foot site has been under the Hormizes’ ownership for more than three decades. It was previously a smoke shop. The couple moved their smoking paraphernalia to another store they opened around the corner, and had hoped to dedicate a maximum of 10 percent of its floor space to alcohol shelving.

But citing staff findings that were outlined at the Planning Commission’s October meeting, the City Council voted 3-1 to uphold the previous decision. Mayor Racquel Vasquez was absent and City Councilmember Liana LeBaron cast the only no vote.

LeBaron said the city should be more concerned with empty businesses downtown and she said not all crime is related to alcohol. LeBaron said the proprietors were only asking for 10 percent of their store to have alcohol, and that was not akin to the market asking to be a liquor store. She claimed that the City Council was “fueling an unfair bias” in the appeal process.

Lemon Grove Community Development Manager Noah Alvey said that the census tract where the store sits already has an overconcentration of alcohol licenses.

The census tract where

Discount Market is located is only supposed to allow for two licenses as granted by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. However, because of the grandfathering in of licenses granted to existing establishments over decades, there are currently 10 in that area.

Alvey also said that the crime rate for the area — 467 offenses in 2020, including those reported as alcohol-related — is more than double the citywide average.

Nearly a dozen community members spoke on the couple’s behalf, including the venue’s landlord. Steven Zybelman vouched for the

Hormizes’ experience, credibility and responsible ownership and said, “I honestly believe these people deserve to have this license.”

Craig Reed and David Shorey of the Institute for Public Strategies both told the City Council that they were troubled by the data showing the overconcentration of establishments selling or serving alcohol in the city. IPS, a nonprofit, advocates for healthy and safe communities. They said that adding more would be a disservice to the community as a whole.

The City Council said other businesses had asked to add liquor sales, including a Walgreen’s and two gas stations. All were denied for similar reasons.

City Councilmember Jerry Jones, who ran the meeting in Vasquez’s absence, ran a successful automotive repair business in Lemon Grove for decades. As a former small business owner, he said he understood the disappointment of the Hormizes.

“But if the customers that showed up to testify on their behalf were any indication, they will be successful without the alcohol sales,” he said.