Daily Archives: May 2, 2007

City of Peoria

South Peoria grocery is not a ruse for another liquor store

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Grocery Store Produce

This is a picture of the produce section of the La Princesa Market in Watsonville, California. It’s owned by Ahmad Abud, and is the same kind of supermarket he wants to open on the south side of Peoria.

I got meet Mr. Abud today over my lunch break and take a tour of the old Miracle Mart that he is in the process of renovating. He plans to offer good-quality, fresh produce like you would find at Kroger or Cub Foods. He’s also planning to have a full-time butcher on staff. There will be a lunch counter where one can get fresh, hot foods, coffee, juice from concentrate, etc. There will be standard grocery items (brand names and generic) — dairy items, canned goods, etc. As a special niche, he plans to offer a full line of Hispanic food items.

And yes, in one corner, taking up approximately 1,800 square feet, he will sell packaged liquor, if his liquor license is approved. On that point, Abud expressed many times how surprised he has been that this is such a point of contention. He points out that every grocery store sells liquor, and the reason is because there’s not enough margin on grocery items alone — especially in this poorer neighborhood where he’s locating, where prices will need to be low and affordable.

He had some other things to say about the liquor controversy, too. His cashiers will be required to scan the bar code on the back of the purchaser’s drivers license or ID card in order to sell liquor in order to keep it from being sold to those underage. He also points out that adults on the south side who want liquor are going to buy liquor whether they buy it at his place or somewhere else, so denying him a liquor license doesn’t really solve anything in that regard. All it would do is keep the residents from getting a grocery store, which they sorely need.

He’s using local labor to remodel the store, which is good for the economy. One disadvantage of the site is that Adams street has an unbroken median in front of the store that prevents those traveling north from turning left into his parking lot. He said the city had indicated a willingness to work with him on that, perhaps picking up 50% of the cost of redoing the median if Abud will pick up the other 50%.

Finally, Abud said he was willing to put in writing as a condition of his liquor license that the liquor section will never be more than 12% of the total square footage of the store. That means that if he ever wants to change that percentage, he’ll have to come back before the liquor commission.

I understand the concerns about opening just another liquor store on the south side, but this isn’t a liquor store. It’s a grocery store. And grocery stores today sell liquor. If we’re going to wait until a liquor-free grocery moves into the south side they will never get a grocery store. This project should be approved and the liquor license granted, subject to the square-footage restriction.

Update: I should have mentioned that this property is in the proposed Eagle View TIF district, and Abud is counting on that incentive as a requirement for opening his store. I think one would be hard-pressed to argue against the need for a TIF in this area.

City of Peoria, Southtown

What’s the vision for South Peoria?

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Lately I’ve been driving around South Peoria. I’ve been checking out the housing stock, the parks, the library, the business facades. It’s common knowledge that this is an economically-depressed area, but if you haven’t driven around there, you really need to see it. To say there needs to be more investment on the south side would be the understatement of the decade.

Yet there’s a lot of potential on which to build. In nearly every neighborhood, there’s the remnants of a commercial center where a grocery store or laundromat used to be and could be again. There are a number of parks, most notably Trewyn Park, which are well-maintained by the Park District. The Lincoln Branch of the Peoria Public Library, while small, is very nice with beautiful architecture and a park setting. There are numerous schools and churches.

All other areas of town have big, exciting projects: New construction/annexation in the north, form districts and medical expansions in the center of town and downtown areas. South Peoria, unfortunately, is not known for a lot of new or exciting investment. Now that new investment is proposed, there’s a controversy brewing about it.

There’s a plan to open a grocery store on Adams across from Harrison Homes in the old Miracle Mart building. Businessman Ahmad Abud is requesting a liquor license so he can sell packaged liquor at the new store. He’s gotten the blessing of the Public Housing Authority as well as first-district councilman Clyde Gulley.

But others won’t hear of it. They think the “grocery store” is just a ruse to get a new liquor store on the south side, and that a liquor store will only invite more crime. Abud, according to a recent Journal Star article, “said his store floor plan sets aside only 12 percent of space for alcohol but says he needs those sales to stay in business.” The store would be 15,000 square feet in size, so 12 percent means alcohol would take up 1,800 square feet.

Incidentally, the Journal Star also said Abud was the owner of Pulaski Corp. and “has stores in Chicago, Ohio and California. He just recently moved from Chicago to Bartonville to concentrate on this business development.” However, I searched the secretary of state websites of Illinois, California, and Ohio and could not find an active “Pulaski Corp.” in any of those states’ corporation/LLC databases. I also did a search of the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago phone book and could find no reference to “Pulaski Corp.” I find it a little strange that I can’t find any reference to either Abud or his company anywhere.

But I digress. The question I have is, what is the vision for South Peoria?

First, there was “urban redevelopment,” which gave us Southtown. That’s where the city bought up a huge swath of land, tore down all the houses, then redeveloped it to look more suburban. I don’t believe anyone would consider Southtown a garden spot of the city now. Besides, even if it could be argued that redevelopment works, it’s too expensive for the city to completely rebuild the south side.

Then there was the Heart of Peoria Plan, which was recently codified in legal language known as the Land Development Code. The part of the code that would apply to South Peoria has been tabled indefinitely because there were some minor concerns with parts of it. City staff is now heavily involved in the comprehensive planning effort, so they can’t devote any time to fixing the flaws, which means it will sit on the table for a long time, and could be forgotten completely. I hope not, but it’s not the same as simply deferring it to a future date when you know for sure it will come back for further action; tabling, by definition, is indefinite.

Now there’s the grocery store, which we don’t like because they sell liquor (like every other grocery store does, by the way). Okay, fine. We’ll deny his liquor license and he won’t open a store. Congratulations. Now what? Now they still don’t have a grocery store.

How long will things be denied with no alternative? Is it okay to just let it continue its downward spiral while we focus on annexation and new development to the north? The residents on the south side are our neighbors. They’re not “those people.” They’re Peorians. They deserve better.