7-11 Defeated by Overwhelming Opposition

Rogers Park, Chicago - Tuesday night's community meeting proved the power of the people as they overwhelmingly spoke out against 7-11's request to apply for a liquor license. An existing moratorium against liquor licenses would have to have been overturned by the City Council to allow the 7-11 store at W. Pratt and N. Glenwood sell booze. Representatives at the meeting told the crowd of approximately 70 neighbors that the license, were it granted, would have allowed the store to sell alcoholic beverages from 7:00 a.m. until 2:00 a.m.

49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore turned down the request, to his credit. The alderman, however, had little choice. With bloggers and representatives of the press in attendance, Moore could not possibly have approved the request against such overwhelming public opposition in the full light of media view. There were approximately 30 people who spoke against the request, and only one person spoke in favor of it.

The Bench video taped the entire meeting. We hope to get it posted in the near future, but please bear with us - it is in high def and very long, so it will take a little time to put it in a presentable format. Below is the text of Alderman Moore's message:

Alderman Moore's Decision on 7-Eleven's Request to Lift Moratorium

Dear Neighbor,

As you know, I was asked by Mr. Hashim Sayed and the 7-Eleven corporation to lift the 49th Ward's moratorium on new packaged liquor licenses for their store at 1414 W. Pratt (at Glenwood). Lifting the moratorium would have enabled 7-Eleven to apply for a liquor license.

I hosted a community meeting on Tuesday, October 24th, to give Mr. Sayed and 7-Eleven an opportunity to present their proposal and solicit the opinions of community residents.

Nearly 100 community residents attended the meeting, and nearly every resident spoke out against the proposal. In light of the overwhelming community opposition, I have informed Mr. Syed and the 7-Eleven representatives that I will deny their request to lift the moratorium.

I would like to thank Mr. Sayed and 7-Eleven for their willingness to present their plans to the community. And I would like to thank everyone who took the time to attend the meeting or send an e-mail expressing their opinion on this issue. By most accounts, Mr. Sayed runs a good, clean store, but the residents who live closest to the store agree that the community is not able to absorb another packaged liquor license.

I respect their opinion and will abide by their recommendation.

Sincerely,

Joe Moore