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Tuesday, January 22, 2008
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By
Bill Pike bpike@courier-journal.com The Courier-Journal |
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The
showdown could come
tomorrow between Roger
Beets, who wants to
reopen a liquor store on
Preston Highway, and
neighbors who oppose it.
Beets, who bought the store in July, said he has improved the property and has taken measures to curb possible problems, such as loitering. Neighbors say the store, Fairgrounds Liquors at 3318 Preston Highway, caused problems for years before it closed in April. They fear the problems will return. The Kentucky Alcoholic Beverage Control board could settle the argument. It's scheduled this morning to hear Beets' appeal of a Louisville metro official's denial of his application for a liquor license at the store. Bill Schreck, local Alcohol Beverage Control administrator, denied Beets' application in September because neighbors objected and because the city of Louisville has projects under way to improve the Preston Highway corridor. Beets, who wants to call the store Fairgrounds Liquors and Smokes, appealed to the state ABC board. The board can consider public sentiment when it decides cases, according to state law. The board usually does not issue a decision at the hearing. Instead, members usually take more time to consider a case, said Nathan Jones, a spokesman for the state ABC. The chief critics of Beets' application are members of the Belmar Neighborhood Association and the Preston Corridor Planning Group. The latter, working with the city to beautify Preston, is made up of representatives of the cities of Audubon Park and Parkway Village and the Belmar and St. Joseph neighborhood associations. "We hope the state board will support the decision that came from the local ABC," said Liz Martin, president of the Belmar association and the planning group. She said she plans to speak at the hearing. Martin said the store's customers, many of whom work at a nearby day-labor agency, often loitered in the area. Sometimes intoxicated, they left beer cans and other trash behind and made residents wary, she said. "There's been a significant decline in trash since the original store closed," Martin said. She fears Beets' store would continue the practice of allowing customers to drink beer in the store, which would be legal. "They operated like a bar," Martin said, adding that neighbors would prefer a restaurant or coffee shop on the liquor-store site. Beets defended his plans, saying he spent $500,000 to buy and improve the property. He said he repaved and striped the lot, painted the building inside and out, and installed a new roof. He said he also installed a chain-link fence across the rear of the property and a surveillance system to reduce crime and better control what happens on the property. Beets said he probably won't allow beer drinking in his store. Beets, who lives in Shively and owns All Season Heating & Cooling, said he has roots in the area, noting that he grew up on Thrush Road in Audubon Park and graduated from St. Xavier High School. "I'm not an outsider just coming to the neighborhood to make money," he said. Reporter Bill Pike can be reached at (502) 582-4243. |
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