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Tuesday, May 2, 2006
Beer drinking ruled
legal at Preston Highway
store By
Scheri Smith |
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| The Louisville Metro Board of Zoning
Adjustment decided yesterday that the owners of Fairgrounds Liquors on
Preston Highway have the right to allow beer to be consumed in their
establishment. The decision disappointed neighbors, three of whom testified at yesterday's zoning hearing that serving beer at the liquor store is bad for surrounding neighborhoods. Fairgrounds Liquors, owned by Emile Hawkins and Larry Cunningham, was cited in March by an Alcohol Beverage Control officer with the city's Department of Inspections, Permits and Licenses for allowing beer consumption on its premises. The business is in a commercial zone, C-1, which does not allow alcohol to be consumed in liquor stores. But the owners contended that the zoning does not apply to their business because it was operating there before 1971, when the current zoning laws took effect, and the Board of Zoning Adjustment agreed with them. The store, at 3318 Preston near Gate 6 of the Kentucky Exposition Center, has a license to sell malt beverages and a license to sell packaged beverages such as hard liquor and wine. Only beer is allowed to be consumed on site. In Louisville, liquor stores in a higher commercial zoning category -- C2 -- are allowed to sell beer for consumption in the stores. Customers are not allowed to drink outside the businesses. Fairgrounds Liquors also has a back room with a pool table, a jukebox and about 15 chairs. Metro Councilman Jim King, whose district is just east of the store, testified that some people leave the store intoxicated and go to bus stops near the store and in the small city of Audubon Park. King, D-10th, said the store's customers, many of whom work at a nearby day-labor agency and go to the store to get their checks cashed, litter the area and are detrimental to neighboring communities' cleanup efforts. "I'm here today to let you know that the neighborhoods are suffering as a result of this," King told the board. King, who has been working with the Preston Corridor Planning Group to encourage improvements in the area between Hess and Phillips lanes, also said the store owners have not cooperated with community efforts to clean and revitalize the area. Hawkins, who has been an owner of Fairgrounds Liquors since 1988 and spoke at yesterday's hearing, said he has never been contacted about the revitalization. "Nobody's ever come into my store personally," he said. But members of the Preston Corridor Planning Group testified otherwise. Rhonda Henning, a member of the Belmar Neighborhood Association and the planning group, said she went in the store to tell employees about the cleanup. Liz Martin, president of the Belmar association and chairwoman of the planning group, said she spoke with Hawkins at a recent planning-group event and said that his business was included in mass mailings about group activities. Hawkins said he spoke to Martin, but that he learned about the event from a neighboring business. Metro Councilman Dan Johnson, a Democrat whose 21st District includes the store, said at the hearing that his office has received no complaints about it. Seven store supporters testified yesterday as well. Leon Chevalier said he has been patronizing the store since 1969 and that he's "always been able to get beer to drink there." He said the store should be allowed to continue to serve beer. Hawkins said much of the trash in the area can be linked to other, larger businesses. Reporter Scheri Smith can be reached at (502) 582-4133. |
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