Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

City Heights: More food, less booze

Residents show to oppose 7-Eleven wine-and-beer application

The proposed location is at 37th Street and El Cajon Boulevard, the southwest corner now occupied by an auto-body shop.
The proposed location is at 37th Street and El Cajon Boulevard, the southwest corner now occupied by an auto-body shop.

The 7-Eleven corporation wants to put more stores in City Heights but they should be prepared for a fight if they try to get a license to sell beer and wine. That’s the message City Heights residents emphasized to corporate representatives at a community meeting Monday night (March 6).

“We are saturated with beer and liquor,” said community activist Maria Cortez. “I can see 7-Eleven thriving here with fresh produce, more fruits and vegetables, and healthy choices. Without beer and liquor.”

The community planning group and City Heights residents have fought 7-Eleven before, usually over the liquor and beer sales and parking-lot security. Some of the planning-group members remember back five or six 7-Eleven applications ago. But Kristy Duncan, a corporate operations manager, said the company believes there’s room for a few new stores in the neighborhood.

The proposed location is at 37th Street and El Cajon Boulevard, on the southwest corner currently occupied by an auto body shop.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“[City Heights] is moderately low density as far as the number of sites per population,” Duncan said. “We’re trying to add more stores here because we believe we have offerings that this community would like.”

Almost all 7-Eleven stores are owned by people who paid a franchise fee of between $250,000 and $350,000, company representatives said. Of San Diego’s approximately 250 stores, 3 are owned and operated by the corporation. That gives the company limited control over what franchisers do with the stores, she said.

Recalling past attempts to place 7-Elevens in the neighborhood, residents brought up problems with the existing store on the corner of Euclid Avenue and El Cajon Boulevard.

“Let me tell you about the people getting drunk or sleeping in the bushes, and how you don’t feel safe,” said Kendra. “Our neighborhood is saturated with liquor stores.”

City Heights has the highest concentration of liquor stores per resident or per square mile in San Diego, and residents are increasingly opposing new liquor licenses.

Several planning-group boardmembers indicated they’ve lost count of how many times they’ve fought that fight in the past few years. But the last time it came up, an owner of a 7-Eleven who had a liquor license wanted to transfer the license to a new location down the street. Residents came en masse to scold the planning group for approving the license.

“Are you aware of what happened with the last 7-Eleven that came here?” Ken Grimes asked. “Do you understand how opposed the community is?”

But the community wouldn’t mind having a store that carried foods they like — including ethnic foods in the diverse neighborhood. While the area is saturated with liquor licenses, it has been called a food desert because of a shortage of supermarkets.

“Our goal is to tailor the store to fit the neighborhood, and we are carrying ethnically diverse products for our community,” Duncan said. “We prefer vendors with items that have local interest and come from the area where the stores are.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Domestic disturbance at the home of Mayor Gloria and partner

Home Sweet Homeless?
The proposed location is at 37th Street and El Cajon Boulevard, the southwest corner now occupied by an auto-body shop.
The proposed location is at 37th Street and El Cajon Boulevard, the southwest corner now occupied by an auto-body shop.

The 7-Eleven corporation wants to put more stores in City Heights but they should be prepared for a fight if they try to get a license to sell beer and wine. That’s the message City Heights residents emphasized to corporate representatives at a community meeting Monday night (March 6).

“We are saturated with beer and liquor,” said community activist Maria Cortez. “I can see 7-Eleven thriving here with fresh produce, more fruits and vegetables, and healthy choices. Without beer and liquor.”

The community planning group and City Heights residents have fought 7-Eleven before, usually over the liquor and beer sales and parking-lot security. Some of the planning-group members remember back five or six 7-Eleven applications ago. But Kristy Duncan, a corporate operations manager, said the company believes there’s room for a few new stores in the neighborhood.

The proposed location is at 37th Street and El Cajon Boulevard, on the southwest corner currently occupied by an auto body shop.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“[City Heights] is moderately low density as far as the number of sites per population,” Duncan said. “We’re trying to add more stores here because we believe we have offerings that this community would like.”

Almost all 7-Eleven stores are owned by people who paid a franchise fee of between $250,000 and $350,000, company representatives said. Of San Diego’s approximately 250 stores, 3 are owned and operated by the corporation. That gives the company limited control over what franchisers do with the stores, she said.

Recalling past attempts to place 7-Elevens in the neighborhood, residents brought up problems with the existing store on the corner of Euclid Avenue and El Cajon Boulevard.

“Let me tell you about the people getting drunk or sleeping in the bushes, and how you don’t feel safe,” said Kendra. “Our neighborhood is saturated with liquor stores.”

City Heights has the highest concentration of liquor stores per resident or per square mile in San Diego, and residents are increasingly opposing new liquor licenses.

Several planning-group boardmembers indicated they’ve lost count of how many times they’ve fought that fight in the past few years. But the last time it came up, an owner of a 7-Eleven who had a liquor license wanted to transfer the license to a new location down the street. Residents came en masse to scold the planning group for approving the license.

“Are you aware of what happened with the last 7-Eleven that came here?” Ken Grimes asked. “Do you understand how opposed the community is?”

But the community wouldn’t mind having a store that carried foods they like — including ethnic foods in the diverse neighborhood. While the area is saturated with liquor licenses, it has been called a food desert because of a shortage of supermarkets.

“Our goal is to tailor the store to fit the neighborhood, and we are carrying ethnically diverse products for our community,” Duncan said. “We prefer vendors with items that have local interest and come from the area where the stores are.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego's Year-Round Sunshine: Creating a Patio for Every Season

Next Article

The vicious cycle of Escondido's abandoned buildings

City staff blames owners for raising rents
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader