City Hall

“We don’t want that mess in our neighborhood!” exclaimed west Birmingham resident Geraldine Jackson during a heated discussion at the September 16 city council meeting. She was referring to the request for a license from a liquor store opening near Elmwood Cemetery. Jackson joined Titusville community residents and Councilor Carole Smitherman in bitter opposition to On the Way Spirits opening at a new development currently under construction at Sixth Avenue Southwest and Martin Luther King Boulevard. The building will house a service station and adjoining convenience store in addition to the package store. Complaining about present traffic congestion, Jackson told councilors that recently she was stopped in traffic for 45 minutes, while two funerals simultaneously entered Elmwood. Allowing a liquor store to move into the area would only complicate traffic, said Jackson, who was also irate that city councilors would try to exert their will into neighborhood matters concerning the sale of alcohol: “People that live in the community have a say-so as to what they want to do in their neighborhoods . . . you [the council] don’t live in these neighborhoods!” At a recent neighborhood meeting, of the 35 people in attendance, 19 voted against the liquor store, with 16 in favor.But what wasn’t stated until near the end of the debate was that the same neighborhood group that opposed the liquor store had voted earlier in the year in favor of a beer and wine license for the convenience store. The city council approved the convenience store’s beer and wine license on March 25. The approved applicant, however, has since decided against moving into the convenience store space.

Also, City Traffic Engineering Chief John Garrett said that the new development will increase traffic by “less than one half of one percent,” and the service station “will drive the majority of the traffic flow that will be in and out of this site.” Garrett added that 22,000 vehicles presently traverse MLK Boulevard per day, while 19,000 use Sixth Avenue Southwest.

Noting that the Titusville Community is one of the oldest in Birmingham, Councilor Carole Smitherman was not happy at the prospect of another liquor store moving into her district: “There was a monument company there before [at the service station location], which was very compatible to Elmwood Cemetery. A lounge where you sell liquor, beer, and wine is not the image that we want in Titusville. We don’t want people coming into our neighborhood and going into Elmwood and then seeing some people coming out with brown packages of liquor tied at the top. That’s just not what we want. The churches oppose it, the residents oppose it. We find it to be a nuisance.” Smitherman acknowledged the need for revenue. “We need the business, we truly do, but we also need to preserve our neighbor-hoods to the best character that we can.” Smitherman said that there is already another gas station two blocks away, so the new one across from Elmwood will only complicate traffic, forcing customers to use neighborhood streets to avoid turning left off MLK Boulevard.

Councilor Bert Miller, who in the past has vehemently objected to the easy accessibility to alcohol in communities, was more diplomatic: “We live in a land of opportunity. This young businessman [Reginald Bryant, owner of On the Way Spirits] saw an opportunity to put a business here.” Miller asked Bryant if he’d consider placing “a sporting goods store or tutoring center” for neighborhood children in the space instead of a liquor store. Bryant said that he hoped to do something like that later, adding, “I wanna build houses, low income houses, apartment buildings . . . but I’ve got to start somewhere, and this is where I chose to start.”

Before the Council finally voted in favor of granting the liquor license, however, Smitherman, an attorney and former municipal and circuit court judge, expressed shock that City Attorney Tamara Johnson had advised the city council on what criteria can be used to deny a liquor license. According to Johnson, the three reasons for denial are: if the business creates a nuisance, if it’s detrimental to adjacent neighborhoods, or if it’s a violation of zoning rules and regulations. “This is the first time I have heard the city attorney comment on discussions by the council. I’m surprised by that,” said Smitherman. Johnson, who has advised the council on several occasions during meetings, replied in no uncertain terms, “My job is to follow the law and to advise you on the law. You, of course, as the client, can choose to do whatever you wish. But in my opinion, I don’t think you have enough to rise to the level of denying this application. I just wanted to make myself very clear on this.”