Dollar store fails to get beer permit

The Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control board denied a beer-sales permit application from the Dollar General store on South Broadway after objections from police and neighbors, but the store plans to appeal.

The ABC board will hear the appeal case Dec. 17. A time hasn’t been announced.

The Capitol Zoning District Commission sent a letter to the ABC board after learning of Dollar General’s request for a beer-sales permit because the store falls under the commission’s jurisdiction. The store had to get a conditional-use permit from the zoning district last year and agreed that alcohol would not be sold.

“So, we were surprised to learn a little more than a year later that the tenant is now seeking a permit for retail beer sales,” the district’s director, Boyd Maher, wrote in a letter to the ABC board.

The Coalition of Greater Little Rock Neighborhoods and the Downtown Neighborhood Association both oppose the beer sales. Both groups said there are already an adequate number of alcohol outlets nearby and that the additional store would add to the temptation for recovering alcoholics in the area.

The owners of the property, Damon and Lauren Whitmore of DeWitt, declined to comment on the Dollar General store’s application. They rent the property to Piggly Wiggly, which in turn subleases it to Dollar General. The applicant listed on the beer-sales request is Justin Pelletier, who has a Conway address. He hasn’t returned several phone messages seeking comment.