D’Arcy does U-turn on Joliet gas station liquor license

Mayor Terry D’Arcy, also the city’s liquor commissioner, this week urged approval of a liquor license he previously wanted to deny.

The City Council on Tuesday joined D’Arcy in voting to approve liquor sales for the BP gas station located at Houbolt Road and Riverboat Center Drive.

D’Arcy initially recommended denial of the license. A deputy liquor commissioner told the council in November that residents were against another liquor license in the area.

At the November meeting, D’Arcy asked that the vote be tabled until he could discuss the matter with the BP station owner, who pleaded he was at a competitive disadvantage with other stations that were allowed to sell liquor.

Station owner Abdul Basit made his case again to the council on Tuesday before the vote.

Basit said he is an independent operator competing with corporate-owned stations in Joliet and neighboring Shorewood that both sell liquor and host video gambling.

“I have lost (sales) volume over the years,” Basit said. “A small business like mine, I need to compete with them.”

The council without discussion voted 8-0 with one member, Larry Hug, absent to approve the license, which allows packaged liquor sales but does not permit video gambling.

D’Arcy could not be reached Wednesday to comment on why he changed from his previous position to deny the liquor license.

The city of Joliet approves liquor sales at gas stations on a case-by-case basis. But larger stations that also sell fuel for semitrailers are granted liquor and video gaming licenses by the state based on their volume of business.