ELYRIA — Before the state gets a chance to consider issuing a liquor permit to the new Gas USA owners, City Council wants to give area residents a chance to tell the state what they think. 

A unanimous vote calling for a public hearing came out of Monday’s Community Development Committee meeting, where supporters of both the business and the neighborhood squared off over the fate of liquor sales at the south side gas station.

In the end, committee members elected to proceed in a way that gives both residents and owners an opportunity to address the issue, said Councilman Tom Callahan, D-at large.

‘We can’t judge this new owner on what past owners have done, but we also have to be cautious of what residents are telling us,’ Callahan said.

The committee recommendation must still pass a vote of full City Council before a public hearing can be held.

Once a hearing is requested, Matt Mullins, spokesman for the Division of Liquor Control, said the state will decide when to have it, typically within two months. A liquor control staff attorney will preside over the hearing, swearing in witnesses and collecting evidence. 

El Ham Harb, managing partner of Liberty Gas USA, applied on July 2 for a Class C1, C2 and D6 permit that would allow the Middle Avenue business to sell beer and wine for carry out everyday including Sunday from 1 p.m. to midnight.

Gas USA, which has gone through a number of owners in recent years, has tried several times to obtain a liquor permit and each time the Division of Liquor Control denies the requests after hearing complaints from residents that it is a haven for criminals. Gas USA has been without a liquor permit since November 2006, when state officials denied a renewal for a previous owner because the store “saw more police activity than any other permit business in Elyria.”

It is those same concerns that brought residents to Monday’s meeting.

However, not all were in favor of having such a hearing. Former 5th Ward Councilman Herman Larkins, who has been an outspoken and consistent supporter of the business, spoke against having the hearing, arguing that Gas USA’s new owners have a right to do what every other business in Elyria does.

“I took a survey of all the service stations in Elyria and found that all but Gas USA advertises three things: Gas, tobacco products and beer and wine,” Larkins said. “Without the license, there is no way Gas USA can successfully compete against these other businesses. I spoke as an appeal to the fairness and integrity of council members because recommending a hearing would all but guarantee the denial of the permit.”

Gas USA is the place where Qiana Walton, a sales clerk closing up for the evening, was shot execution style during a robbery last month. Vincent W. Jackson Jr., 27, of Chicago, was identified on security camera footage as the gunman and is charged with aggravated murder and aggravated robbery in connection with her death.

Her death set off a wave of renewed criticism on how the business is operated with local activist calls for it to be shuttered and deemed a nuisance.

Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121 or lroberson@chroniclet.com.

 

 

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