Joliet City Council rejects liquor store, OKs alcohol at hotel

The Joliet City Council this week turned down a proposed liquor store on South Chicago Street and approved alcohol sales inside a hotel in the business district around the Louis Joliet Mall.

The liquor store proposed for a strip mall at 412-422 S. Chicago St. faced opposition from community and church leaders.

The in-hotel liquor license for the Best Western Plus at 3231 Norman Ave. was unopposed.

Mayor Terry D’Arcy, the city’s liquor commissioner, recommended denying the license for the proposed Osho’s Wine and Spirits at the Chicago Street location on the south end of Joliet.

According to the liquor commission report, there were 804 calls for police service from the location and immediate area in the past two years, which proved to be a tough statistic to overcome.

Opponents argued that a liquor store would attract more crime.

“We have come a long way in that community,” the Rev. Larry Ellis, pastor at St. Mark CME Church, told the council Tuesday before its vote. “The last thing we need is a liquor store because not only will it attract bad elements in that community, but it will bring others there.”

The liquor store was expected to go into a strip mall that includes a Dunkin’ franchise, which is one of the few private business developments in recent years along that section of Joliet.

“All of these businesses are helping the community,” strip mall developer Kamlesh Patel told the council when making a case for the liquor store at a workshop meeting Monday. “I’ve been very vigilant and careful in selecting tenants.”

Patel said it’s been difficult to find another business to fill the vacancy in the strip mall. He said the council should get more details on what kind of police calls were made to the area before turning down the store.

But council member Suzanna Ibarra, whose District 5 includes the site, pointed to a fatal shooting that occurred in May “within walking distance” of the store. The shooting was at a park on the other side of Chicago Street and several blocks away.

“There are a lot of things that area needs, and a liquor store is not one of them,” Ibarra said Monday. “I have gotten a lot of calls on this, and not one of them has been positive.”

The council voted 9-0 against a license for the store.

The council vote 9-0 in favor of the license for the Best Western Plus hotel.

There was little discussion about the license for the hotel other than to clarify that alcohol would be sold only to hotel guests.

According to the liquor commission report, police did not foresee any problems with liquor sales within the hotel.