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Pending Liquor Store Raises Ire of San Roque Residents
A state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control sticker recently was affixed to a window at the former Thomasville Furniture building at 3052 State St. indicating that Beverages & More Inc. — more commonly known as BevMo — had applied for an off-sale liquor vending license there, stirring residents of the San Roque, Samarkand and other nearby neighborhoods into action.
A small group of area residents has banded together to protest the store’s potential move to the site, saying that allowing a large liquor store into a section of town that already has several bars and liquor stores would be detrimental to children living in nearby houses, playing at MacKenzie Park and attending Peabody Charter School.
“We’re already dealing with a huge problem in this area with the homeless community and an abundance of panhandlers and drug users, so an added location for them to hang out to bother the public — especially with an alleyway right behind it — is of grave concern to our neighborhood,” said Jerry Vigil, a vocal opponent of BevMo opening a store in the San Roque area.
“It’s a bad spot for it. We already have too many liquor stores around here.”
Vigil also expressed concern that truck traffic from the store would affect the homes behind it, including his.
One question that has been raised is whether BevMo — known in other locales to be a large store generating significant traffic — would have enough room for parking.
“I don’t know where they’ll put parking,” said Gretchen Rosenblatt, who has two children attending Peabody School. “There are about 10 spaces (in front of Thomasville).
“Usually, I see BevMo (stores) in large industrial areas with lots of parking.”
While a few comments regarding a large, corporate store’s potential impact on local businesses have popped up, there is little certainty about the effect BevMo would actually have on the area.
“When you have a big corporation right next to you, it will affect business, but I’m not sure how bad it will affect it,” said Sam Taham, a manager at San Roque Market & Liquors, 3014 State St., one of several small shops in the area selling alcohol for consumption off-site. “I think there’s no benefit. There are too many liquor stores here.”
Vigil said he alone has sent more than 50 letters to the ABC asking it not to grant a license to BevMo, and he has enlisted the help of neighbors, sending in a total of more than 100 letters.
“If they get enough letters, they have to have a public meeting,” he said, adding that his attempts to get more information about the public hearing process — if there is one — have been stymied by ABC officials. “They told me to drop my protest.”
Vigil said that with Friday the last day for public comment, he and other opponents of BevMo’s license application had little time to get their comments in order.
After repeated phone calls Thursday to ABC’s Ventura-based regional office — which Vigil said he had been in direct contact with — agency officials did not respond to Noozhawk requests for comment.
— Noozhawk staff writer Ben Preston can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Comments
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» on 02.18.10 @ 09:51 PM
Oh, shut up, you whiners! We know darn good and well this is about “competition” and the fears of other stores losing $$$$. FACT: BEVMO has some stuff you other stores don’t have—like a killer selection of Prosecco (poor man’s champagne.) I didn’t even know what BEVMO was till I was on vacation—and I don’t see an overlap! I simply like the choice! In this recession, err, depresssion, I’m all for poor man’s champagne!
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» on 02.18.10 @ 10:12 PM
Oh my dear goodness. Another liquor store in town. The traffic! The threat to our children! The sins of the demon rum! Get a grip, people. Bevmo offers huge selection at good prices. How many of you objectors shop at Costco or Walmart. Same thing, folks. The rest is opportunistic BS.
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» on 02.18.10 @ 11:17 PM
Great, limit the dispensaries and let’s have bigger and cheaper liquor stores. You already have one every 150 ft, Longs, Joe’s, San Roque not to mention the bars. Also, employee parking on side streets is already outta control in this area. STUPID
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» on 02.18.10 @ 11:39 PM
I usually don’t, but I agree completely with both of the above. Some people in this town need to get over themselves. BevMo will bring some real honest good ole’ American competition and variety to alcohol sales.
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» on 02.18.10 @ 11:46 PM
It doesn’t count if all 50 letters come from the same person. Prohibition 2010 is getting old.
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» on 02.19.10 @ 01:42 AM
There are plenty of places to get booze, why do we need more?
Yes, the traffic is a consideration. Let’s be honest though, more and more people depend on booze to get them through the day. They’re addicted so by sheer numbers, their way of life takes over.
All I can add is that I wish these people would do their drinking at home and stay there until they sober up. If they want to kill brain cells and destroy their livers at least do it in a way that doesn’t endanger those who use the roads.
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» on 02.19.10 @ 07:13 AM
As I recall, Mr. Vigil lives on the other side of the school, three blocks from the BevMo site. I own a nearby business and do not see how this is going to threaten the neighborhood or its children. Just more NIBYism that Santa Barbara is famous for. My only concern is that the street/alley behind the building is too narrow to run semis through.
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» on 02.19.10 @ 08:32 AM
I love how some of the comments here and on EdHat are making statements like “we don’t need another store”. Isn’t that up to the market to decide? Do you think the folks at BevMo don’t do any market research? They’re just “winging it”?
Why not let the market decide? If people don’t like BevMo and don’t shop there it will close. Either way, that’s how it’s going to work out so you might as well sit back and let things play out. Free market competition is a GOOD THING.
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» on 02.19.10 @ 09:22 AM
I can’t wait for BevMo to open, and hopefully it WILL put the smaller, more OVERPRICED, dingy, scummy shops out of business. I won’t shop at any of the smaller stores because they easily charge $10-20 more than Costco. There’s a BevMo down near my parents house, and whenever I visit if we need to go get anything for a party or family get together, BevMo is a great option. I have long said that what SB is missing is a real liquor store with fair prices.
The local shop owners are freaking out because thy know their shops look like dumps and their prices are too high.
The Children? Seriously? If you parents out there are worried about the addition of BevMo harming your kids, YOU are not doing YOUR JOB as a parent. Its typical in today’s society for bad parents to look for an excuse as to why they are bad parents, they can’t face facts that they’re doing a poor job raising their kids, so they use outside factors and point to everything but themselves as to why their kids are screwed up. Do YOUR JOB as a parent and it shouldn’t matter if there were a dozen BevMo’s in SB.
That Thomasville location has been a dead retail spot for years, its about time something that will actually generate foot traffic and most importantly jobs & sales tax to the City is going to occupy that space.
Get over yourselves and quit whining.
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» on 02.19.10 @ 09:22 AM
Parking is the problem, and it will be a headache for employees, patrons and residents.
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» on 02.19.10 @ 09:49 AM
Bring the BevMo!
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» on 02.19.10 @ 11:12 AM
Right on San Roque Resident! I could not agree with you more. I live two blocks from the site. I would rather see a Bev Mo there than the two scummy bars just up the street.
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» on 02.19.10 @ 11:56 AM
If anything Santa Barbara needs it is more liquor stores!
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» on 02.19.10 @ 12:29 PM
Who needs parking? Just make it a drive through liquor store.
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» on 02.19.10 @ 12:30 PM
Another example of the greedy corporate structure forcing small business out of business. As soon as they close all of the little guys up, then BEVMO will sell you cheap rancid vodka from China.
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» on 02.19.10 @ 01:56 PM
The intersection of State and De la Vina streets is already a mess. Do we really need to congest it more, with high risk turns in and out of their tiny lot?
There’s a little service alley behind the stores that block, but it’s barely wide enough for two compact cars to pass each other at very slow speed.
That part of State Street is already well served by several bars, a large selection of
beer and spirits at Trader Joe’s (1/2 block away), CVS (1 block away), and two beer
and liquor stores within easy walking distance.
It’s challenging enough to deal with the denizens of Mackenzie Park and the bushes
along Mission Creek as it is.
If “sbnative” and Mr. Locke feel the need to save cents on beer and liquor, why don’t
they carpool down to the Oxnard-Ventura super-stores, and shop to their heart’s
content?
As for the residents of outer State Street, we don’t need it, we don’t want it, and we
won’t put up with it.
Let’s see what our new mayor, our up-for-re-election county supervisor, and our
running-for-higher-office assemblyman can do to help us.
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» on 02.19.10 @ 02:24 PM
BevMo plans to tear down part of the building and remove a large storage shed to make room for lots of new parking. So people whining about lack of parking are uninformed and wrong.
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» on 02.19.10 @ 04:40 PM
For those of you who have lived in Santa Barbara for a long time, I have the following question: Do you think life in Santa Barbara has improved because of all the development?
How does more traffic and longer waits at the red lights make life better?
Remember the days when one could drive on Foothill from Mission Canyon Road to Turnpike without encountering one traffic light?
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» on 02.19.10 @ 05:04 PM
To all you whiners and nostalgists… I think CALIFORNIA was better before all these darn people moved here… but what is the point? A good business, which BEVMO is, is welcome in my hometown, as is TARGET while we’re on the subject. I don’t believe in the “pay more because we’re in SB model” of biz in this town.
Bring on the poor man’s champagne!
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» on 02.19.10 @ 05:52 PM
I am a 47 year resident of Santa Barbara and although I do not like much of the development, changes and “progress” that I have seen over those many years, I am even more upset about the rampant NIMBY mentality of Santa Barbarians! Have you been to a BEVMO? We have needed something like that for quite a while. The local selection of spirits at affordable prices is dismal to say the least. Competition (and selection) serves the consumer well. Most of the completed projects that I have seen the community come unglued over have turned OK in the end and the rampant protesting just makes those folks silly after the fact. Does anybody remember all of the protesting over the Paseo Nuevo mall? It turned out OK….
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» on 02.19.10 @ 06:05 PM
one of the reasons that SB continues to hold on to it’s charm is by the LACK of these gargantuan stores within vision. If they want to bring a BevMo, fine, but let’s put it elsewhere and I swear, with all these smart people in this town you would think that someone could come up with a decent parking lot! That intersection is already way too congested as is!
As to the comment about ridding the scummy small liquor stores, just remember that those stores support families and small business owners is the life blood of this country, not huge conglomerates!
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» on 02.19.10 @ 07:26 PM
ANY retail establishment that moves into the (old) furniture store will generate more traffic. That’ s part of the reason they went out of business.
Sure, it’s probably not the best location for the store, but they really are a wonderful retailer.
Are two of the tree Trader Joe’s in good locations? Is Superica in a good location? Are any of the Mickey D’s in good locations?
I will shop there but won’t make a special trip. I will go when I am in the neighborhood-Ralphs, Trader Joe’s, the golf course etc.
The traffic won’t be bad after the initial first few days.
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» on 02.19.10 @ 07:31 PM
I love how some of the comments here and on EdHat are making statements like “we don’t need another store”. Isn’t that up to the market to decide? Do you think the folks at BevMo don’t do any market research? They’re just “winging it”?
Why not let the market decide? If people don’t like BevMo and don’t shop there it will close. Either way, that’s how it’s going to work out so you might as well sit back and let things play out. Free market competition is a GOOD THING.
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» on 02.19.10 @ 09:00 PM
It will bring business to the “Hood”. Maybe they could sell marijuana too. Mello drunks are OK.
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» on 02.20.10 @ 02:24 PM
To ‘Ridiculous”: I absolute agree with you re let the markets decide. However, this is the Peoples’ Republic of Santa Barbara, where our own Councilman Das Williams has said he “doesn’t believe in free markets” - it’s up to governments [to allocate resources]. I’m not sure what kind of “ist” he is, but clearly not someone I want on the Council.
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» on 02.20.10 @ 03:45 PM
What about all of the money wasted on reconfiguring that intersection? If the city thought they had a traffic problem before, it looks like that argument will be put to rest. They keep creating problems to solve. What a joke our city is.
BTW, we don’t need more liquor or pot stores. For all of you people who are against kids, where are yours? And, further, if it weren’t for people protecting their neighborhoods, Santa Barbara would be an entirely different town. Thank God for people who care enough to fight back.
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» on 02.21.10 @ 10:47 AM
“Against kids”? Hardly. But I am against using “the children” as the justification for everything under the sun. And I am against anyone who is using “the children” as their argument accusing me of being “against kids” because I disagree with them. Cheap theatre and cheap politics. Kinda typical of California thinking.
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