February 2, 2009
The Arab
City Council unanimously approved the first
alcohol license request Monday night.
The license application was made by Jimmy
Helms who plans to operate Warehouse
Beverages, LLC at 764 Cullman Road.
The application is for a Class II
(Package)-Lounge Retail liquor license.
The application must now go to the Alabama
Beverage Control Board for issuance of a
State License. If approved by the
State, the application will come back to
Arab City Clerk Tony Willis to issue a city
business license.
Helms said he
plans to have the business open by March 1.
The application
request was opposed by two neighboring
residents during a required public hearing.
Rudy Chambers of 7th Place SW said he was
concerned about the increased traffic
congestion that could result from the
business location. He said that the
entrance to the business is directly across
from the Cullman Road and Old Cullman Road
intersection which handles traffic from the
Arab Junior High School. Chambers told
the council, "I think it would
endanger the school kids."
Chambers also
told the council that he did not receive a
property owner notice of the public hearing
as required by the alcohol ordinance.
Fred Peterson, who handled the notification
process for Helms, told the council that he
sent Chambers a notification letter but it
was returned by the Post Office.
Mike Chambers, of Old Cullman
Road, said he opposes the application
because it would devalue the property of his
and other residences in the neighborhood.
While he did receive a public hearing
notice, he said that several other residents
who he questioned did not receive the public
hearing notice. Helms said the notices
were either mailed or hand delivered and
were based on the Marshall County tax
records. Peterson said, " We can sit
here all night and argue who got the
notices. We have signed a
certification that the notices were
delivered or attempted to be delivered.
We have met all the burden that we have to
meet according to the ordinance." Arab
City Councilman Jimmy Reeves asked how many
notices were sent. Peterson said that
twenty-two registered letters were sent and
ten were hand delivered. Two came back
undeliverable according to Peterson.
Mike Chambers said that he
had talked with Sammy Stewart of the Alabama
Department of Transportation regarding the
current highway access permit from the
business. Chambers said that because
of the change in business status, DOT had
indicated that a traffic study would have to
be conducted. Helms said that he had
also talked with Stewart and that any study
would only be done to determine if a caution
light need to be erected at the
intersection. Helms also said they
would be closing the West most driveway
entrance to the property, mainly to help
with water drainage. Mayor Gary Beam
said that while there was no way to know how
much the traffic would increase, he believed
there would be an initial surge that will
moderate over time and that it would not
create a problem.
Kathy Hang, who owns the Big
H Quick Stop on Cullman Road, asked about
the hours of operation of the business.
Arab Councilman Ronny Shumate said that all
sales must stop at midnight and that no
sales are permitted on Sunday.
According to the alcohol ordinance, sales
may be made from 7:00 a.m. until 12 midnight
each weekday. Alcohol sales are not
allowed from 12:01 a.m. on Sunday until 7:00
a.m. on Monday.
