Pomona Council grants 7-Eleven permit

POMONA - For some, the 7-Eleven on Towne Avenue, north of the 10 Freeway, has been a model business with clean surroundings and a vigilant operator.

To others, the business is stable but would become an eyesore if it sold beer and wine.

A majority of the City Council earlier this week determined that the store's operator, Manjit Singh, has been a responsible businessman and granted a conditional-use permit that allows the convenience store to sell beer and wine.

By a 5-2 vote, council members overturned a decision the Planning Commission made in May to deny the permit.

Council members Paula Lantz and Cristina Carrizosa voted in opposition.

Before the vote, a long line of supporters and opponents of the permit went before the council members to make their case.

Supporters included business people, fellow convenience store operators, customers and neighbors.

Opponents included members of neighboring churches and area residents.

The city has a large number of licenses authorizing establishments to sell alcoholic beverages and needs to work on reducing those figures, Pomona resident Bernardo Rosa said.

Rosa is director of Community Wellness Partnership and works to reduce young people's exposure to substances such as alcohol.

He added that "No matter who you give a license to and no matter who runs" the business, the sale of alcoholic beverages will have a negative effect on the neighborhood.

Supporters disagreed.

Pomona resident Ron Vander Mollen said most people agree Singh's store is a clean, well-run operation.

Vander Mollen challenged opponents "to take that energy and turn it against the liquor store around the corner."

He was referencing a nearby liquor store that has been a source of problems for the area.

Vander Mollen said that during the two years he served on the Planning Commission he heard frequently from people seeking such permits. Many had poorly maintained properties and little concern for the neighborhoods where they operated.

"None of them had proven themselves a great neighbor," he said. "I see a guy like Manjit Singh with all the qualities we looked for."

Neighborhood resident Patrick Kelly said he is a customer of the 7-Eleven, which also has a gas station, but had concerns about the store being authorized to sell alcoholic beverages.

"Alcohol, gasoline and the proximity to the freeway" are a bad combination, he said.

Councilman Steve Atchley said he understood the concerns of those on both sides of the issue, but "In the case of this particular applicant, I find I am able to support it fully."

Councilwoman Paula Lantz said she knows of three Neighborhood Watch groups in the city that have concerns about the manner in which other convenience stores have operated and how they act as magnets for pan handling and other nuisances.

"Manjit operates the store, right now," Lantz said. "He's the franchisee. He could be gone the next day, next month or next year."

Councilman Freddie Rodriguez said he would be concerned if the permit was being requested for a store in a high-crime area and if it was one that generated a large volume of calls for police services.

However, none of those factors exist, Rodriguez said.

Council members granted the permit with a series of conditions, including one that requires the property owner to ensure that future tenants are given the conditions the permit was granted under, according to a city staff report.

Future tenants will have to sign a document in which they state they are aware of the conditions and commit to operating under them. If any conditions are violated, then the property owner as well as the tenant will be held responsible, according to the report.