With Liquor Stores Nevertheless an issue, Arias Wants Even Tougher Guidelines

The city attorney’s office provided this directory of complaints about Parkway Liquor dating to Jan. 1, 2019.

GV Wire? contacted Parkway Liquor. A person responded the device and said, ” “We don’t have actually to work well with the town. We now have no nagging issues at all. ” He hung up before giving their title or name.

  • Feb. 13, 2019 – inoperable vehicle parked in a driveway on jack stands (case closed)
  • Sept. 26, 2019 – non-permitted electrical, junk/rubbish (situation closed)
  • June 5, 2020 – graffiti problem (addressed)

Parkway Liquor sits from the south side of motel row in west Fresno. City Council Member Miguel Arias says it is a known meeting spot for pimps dispatching intercourse employees over the roadway. (GV Wire/Jim Jakobs)

Safe Market Neighborhood Ordinance

The council in 2019 passed a suggested ordinance — the Safe marketplace Neighborhood Ordinance — requiring that new companies planning to offer alcohol in Fresno must purchase an existing permit instead than include another.

According to the size of the establishment, numerous alcohol licenses could be required.

Examples for brand new establishments would consist of:

  • Retail square footage not as much as 10,000 foot shall move two ABC licenses in good standing, and surrender those types of to ABC.
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  • Retail square footage between 10,000-30,000 legs shall move three ABC licenses in good standing, and surrender two of the to ABC.
  • Retail square footage more than 30,000 feet that are square move four ABC licenses in good standing and surrender three of these to ABC.

Another stipulation when you look at the ordinance would be to reject a conditional-use license to a start up business if giving it can cause the amount of internet sites attempting to sell alcohol for off-site usage surpassing one license for almost any 2,500 residents.

The thing is, Arias states, that ordinance could be circumvented.

“So that, you realize, a council or even a preparation payment can just, you understand, entirely, produce an exemption, ” says Arias.

Into the coming months, a few committees like the airport region and preparation payment are considering techniques to result in the ordinance everlasting.

Arias believes the method should finally find yourself straight back during the town council by August.

This is basically the ordinance passed away by the council in 2019.

Youth Leadership Institute

Christina Garcia, 17, of Roosevelt senior high school assisted pass the Neighborhood Market that is responsible Ordinance. This woman is area of the Friday Night Live system in the Youth Leadership Institute. FNL is targeted on performing research and creating jobs to cut back underage consuming and medication usage among minors.

“As a person that is young I encourage the town council to reduce the total amount of alcohol stores and alcohol based drinks to young adults even as we are usually oversaturated with alcohol shops into the town, ” stated Garcia.

In 2019, FNL youth leaders carried out a storefront evaluation of 17 liquor stores — Sunnyside senior school is surrounded by 20 alcohol shops inside a mile of this campus. Eleven of this 17 stores alcohol that is advertised had a lot more than 15% of liquor adverts as permitted.

In addition, 66% of Fresno County youth reported seeing more than one liquor advertisements just about every day. Studies have shown that the greater people that are young subjected to alcohol advertising, a lot more likely they truly are to begin consuming.

This is actually the presentation the Youth Leadership Institute assisted come up with for the council.

Payday Lenders Upcoming on Arias’ Radar

“We have a saturation of payday loan providers, ” says Arias about their region. He claims one of the good reasons is mainly because banks have actually prevented starting in lot of elements of their region, including southwest Fresno. Payday loan providers have relocated in to fill in those gaps.

Arias states he used a payday lender when he had been in university to help make ends fulfill. He claims a major issue that|problem that is big manifest it self as a consequence of the pandemic’s economic chaos may be the quantity of security individuals must put up — a motor vehicle, as an example, to obtain high-interest loans.

“We’re likely to see plenty of automobiles being turned over, and lots of individuals losing their livelihoods because they’ve applied for that loan on a deteriorating asset, ” claims Arias.

As to or perhaps a town council does one thing comparable with payday lenders as they’ve completed with alcohol shops remains on his to-do list.

“After we have the structural changes from the liquor shops and motels, ” he claims.

Based on CalMatters, southwest Fresno is teeming with payday loan providers, while its only bank is with in Chinatown.