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Saturday, May 18, 2013
Practical Solution to Save Sunny's Market within Sight
by Ash Roughani, published on August 23, 2011 at 10:11 AM
Storyline: Sunny's Market
Image by: Ash Roughani
Thanks to the support of so many Marshall School/New Era Park (MSNEP) residents, the Save Sunny's Market campaign was able to deliver eleven pages of petition signatures to the offices of Assemblymember Roger Dickinson and Senator Darrell Steinberg yesterday. The 165 signatures demonstrate broad-based neighborhood support for the new operators of Sunny’s Market to acquire a beer and wine license.
If you are just hearing about this issue for the first time, Josh and Monica Patel – the new owners of Sunny’s, are at risk of closing their doors due to the negligent actions of the previous owner who violated the law several times by selling alcoholic beverages to underage decoys.
Under current law, if there are multiple violations within a specific timeframe, not only is an operator’s license revoked, but the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control must impose a one-year cooling off period on the site itself, even if there is a transfer of ownership.
Upon acquiring the business, the new owners were unaware that the actions of the previous owner would impact their ability to successfully run a small business. This unfairness led to the formation of a grassroots campaign to save Sunny’s Market.
The campaign is asking lawmakers to approve a minor change in the law that would keep the mandatory one-year cooling off period in place, but also allow this provision to be overridden if a new owner acquires the business and a majority of nearby residents sign a petition in support of the new operator’s intent to acquire a license.
Existing law does not provide a way around the mandatory one-year cooling off period, even if a responsible owner takes over the business and neighbors support the new operator possessing a license. Midtown residents in support of the campaign are asking Asm. Dickinson and Sen. Steinberg to author the necessary changes in law to shift accountability from the state down to residents at the local level. Government works best when decisions can be made at a level that is closest to the people.
Because September 2 is the last day bills can be amended, the campaign is urging residents to contact their lawmakers. This goal, however, is completely within reach. We just need to show how much we support exists for the Patel family.
While the MSNEP Neighborhood Association recognizes that existing law was enacted to protect residents in a neighborhood where bad actors willfully violate the spirit and intent of the law, we also believe that it should not be so unduly burdensome that it restricts the ability of good stewards like Josh and Monica to successfully run a small business through the responsible sale of alcohol - particularly when there is demonstrated public support.
What You Can Do
2. Contact our local legislators and tell them you support Sunny's Market:
Assemblymember Roger Dickinson
(916) 319-2009 // assemblymember.dickinson@asm.ca.gov
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg
(916) 651-4006 // senator.steinberg@senate.ca.gov
3. Stop by Sunny's and make a small purchase so that they can get throught this rough period.
Also, don't forget to "like" the campaign on Facebook:
Disclosure:
I live one-half block from Sunny's as a renter and have no financial conflict of interest. I just want the Patel family to succeed. I'm managing the campaign through pro bono services.
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If all those 165 signers will guarantee that they will support the new owner by making Sunny's their primary grocery shopping destination, then the new owner wouldn't need an alcohol license or have the problems that go with selling alcohol. He did say he plans to be "grocery store." Not just a place to stop by “for a small purchase.” That tells the real kind of support the new owners will be getting. He needs more sales than that to survive. How insulting.
BTW, there is a liquor store a few feet to the east and one block to the southeast is a Shell station which has a market and will soon have an alcohol license, AM/PM with market and alcohol is a couple more blocks, so it is not as if neighbors are desperate for a place to buy alcohol.
Further, if and when he gets the license, he will face fierce competition because he is right when he says these kinds of markets are all over the area. He said that he also knew he could not get an alcohol license at that address for a year, so why did he go ahead with just "groceries?"
How sad that those signing the petition (do they all live within 300 feet?) do not feel their neighborhood is worthy of turning the property back to residential or finding another use for the site other than the already over 50 plus off sale alcohol sellers in the central city. As one long time resident said when hearing about this, “You can’t stumble in any direction without finding a place that sells booze.”
That and the over concentration of on-sale alcohol sellers was no doubt a primary consideration when Men’s Health Magazine ranked Sacramento 20th in the United State’s drunkest cities—something to be real proud of and attract businesses and other residents with children, right Ash?
My guess is that the "one long time resident" you quote is actually the one true blight on our neighborhood. Most of the businesses and buildings - including Sunny's - were here long before he chose to move here at the end of 1991. He's attempting to act as a one-man zoning commission by closing every business and school nearby, and harassing any new owners into closing so the buildings remain vacant for the requisite 3-year-period. He's said as much at community meetings.
The actions of our Neighborhood Napoleon are so over-the-top that the vast majority here support the Save Sunny's Market campaign whether or not we intend to purchase beer or wine there. Homeowners, renters, families, and individuals have joined forces to stop him from closing the best market with the most responsible owners we have. That's why I go to Sunny's instead of Shell, Chevron, AM/PM, or other nearby stores.
Also, it's unlikely that the Shell station you mentioned will get a beer/wine license while he lives here – they've been trying for at least 5 years.
I think you're right on two counts: It's unlikely the law will change, no matter how much community support it has. And the Patels knew it might be a problem to retain the beer and wine license the store had when they took over. What they didn't know was the lengths to which one person would go to in order to ensure their failure.
It's probably more effective to start a campaign to rein in the one person who believes that his job affords him more rights than the entirety of the neighborhood. I've already drafted a letter of complaint with respect to his acts against our community and egregious abuse of his position with the State of California, which I'll be sharing with my neighbors.
Save Sunny's Market is a grassroots effort to help our neighborhood market. I live across the street from Sunny's Market. I am very happy Josh and Monica Patel have taken over the business. They are working very hard to be a part my neighborhood. Laws are meant to serve the needs of the community and when that no longer is the case, then perhaps we need to change the laws. The proposal is asking that community feedback be considered regarding the one-year suspension. Is there something wrong with the community having a say in what happens here? It is well established from previous posts that Mr. Kooyman has a very strong opinion about alcohol in Midtown. Mr. Kooyman, however, does not live on my street. Mr. Kooyman will not have to look at an empty blighted building if Sunny's Market closes nor does he have to deal with associated problems of an empty blighted building. It is an economic reality that people who bought commercial buildings during the height of the real estate market are walking away and allowing those investments to fall into foreclosure. I fear the same will happen at 2800 G Street if Sunny's fails. There are already too many empty buildings on this block. We do not need another one. This market has community support. That is demonstrated by the petition signatures gathered. If no one supported this market or this proposition then this discussion would not occur.
While I started out in this neighborhood as a renter, I have been a property owner for over 20 years. The majority of people who live in Midtown are renters. Many who rent fall in love with this neighborhood and buy homes here. To question Mr. Roughani's commitment to this neighborhood is insulting to everyone who is or was a renter in Midtown. Mr. Roughani is attempting to give a voice to the people who live in the neighborhood - - Marshall School/New Era Park. I admire his commitment to the democratic process. Last time I checked, Midtown was still part of the United States and the people who live here had a say in their community.
Secondly, I do live across from a building that has had several non-alcohol businesses open and fail over the years in two of its addresses; also two nearby large historic structures on H Street. I think it is fatalistic and does not speak well to people's confidence in their neighborhood when they assume that the only option for a vacant building is blight and related problems.
I became acquainted with owners of each of those vacant properties and offered to let them know about any of what you call problems related to vacant buildings and through my limited sphere of contacts, worked with them to find businesses which may have wanted to locate in those properties. I helped to find a buyer for one. Problems that did occur while vacant and even after new businesses moved in were caused by the disrespectful and inebriated customers of the market/liquor store on the corner. Economic times were tough then too.
As to your interpretation of what is an insult to renters, I only repeated what my several rental property owner friends and I experienced (when I was a landlord) when asking tenants for support on neighborhood livability issues.