About 70 neighborhood people attended open meetings on Wednesday, May 30th and Thursday, May 31st, 2007 to give input about liquor sales at convenience stores in the South San Pedro, Parkland Hills, Trumbull Village and La Mesa neighborhoods in District 6.
The 7-Eleven was ordered to stop selling miniature containers of alcohol in April, after Heinrich worked with neighborhood leaders to bring the issue to the state’s Special Investigations Division.
The Circle K has the most calls for service to APD of any convenience store in Albuquerque, according to police records. Both convenience stores are located well within several blocks of elementary schools and parks.
What is important, though, is that calls for service for almost all of the 14 convenience stores across the city that signed a nuisance abatement agreement Heinrich introduced in October 2005 have decreased, police records show. Heinrich pushed for the agreement because it made convenience store managers know that they had to take the proper precautions when selling alcohol, especially around neighborhoods and schools, he said.
“Appropriate oversight is very valuable,” Heinrich said at Wednesday’s meeting. “I want to thank everyone who came for standing up for their neighborhoods.”
Convenience stores that sell alcohol have a responsibility to the neighborhoods they impact, Heinrich said. Even though calls for service have gone down across the board, Heinrich said public meetings like the ones held last week are a necessity, so state officials can understand how constituents feel about convenience stores in their neighborhoods.
“It’s important, when you situate these stores next to neighborhoods and schools, to monitor how alcohol sales occurred,” he said. “These meetings are a good first step, and they let us hear exactly what problems are going on.”
Citizens who have complaints about convenience stores that sell alcohol can fill out an online form through the Licensing and Regulation Department They can also print out a form to enter and mail.
