Cape council to reconsider Cape Mart liquor license request

Cape Girardeau leaders will take a second look at a liquor license application Monday that they had previously denied, with one city council member saying that they have little choice this time but to approve it.

Residents who oppose granting a liquor license for the new Cape Mart store on Fountain Street say they will repeat their concerns that it will primarily be a liquor store and will bring crime and traffic to what they describe as a historic downtown neighborhood.

"We are absolutely going to be there to fight it," said Bryan Langlois, whose family owns the nearby Bellevue Bed and Breakfast.

The Cape Girardeau City Council will review Shah Faisal's second liquor license application at its 7 p.m. meeting Monday. At its March 8 meeting, the council effectively denied Faisal's first request when no member made a motion to vote. The council heard from several neighbors who opposed the request, while Faisal did not attend.

Faisal has since filed a new application.

Faisal, a 42-year-old native of Bangladesh, wasn't at that meeting because his wife had an immigration hearing in St. Louis that day, according to his attorney, Gordon Glaus.

"He didn't miss it through any negligence or blowing it off," Glaus said. Faisal and Glaus will be at the meeting Monday, Glaus said.

Neighborhood opposition is based on a misunderstanding of what Faisal intends for the store, planned for 238 N. Fountain St., Glaus said. Faisal, who previously operated Cape Mart at the corner of Mason and Main streets before it was bought by Isle of Capri, plans to open a small, neighborhood convenience store, Glaus said. Faisal also operates similar stores in Scott City and Perryville.

"Mr. Faisal has no intention of putting in a seedy, crummy, rundown liquor store," Glaus said.

Only about 15 to 20 percent of the store's cooler space will be for alcoholic beverages, in addition to a small stock of hard liquor and wine behind the counter, Glaus said. Glaus compared Faisal's store to area convenience stores like Rhodes or Kidd's.

If it's going to be a convenience store that sells other grocery items, it will be similar enough to the previous occupant of the building, which changes everything, said council member Mark Lanzotti, a lawyer. Ganix Market, which sold certain types of alcohol before it closed last year, is the previous occupant.

"I was basing my decision on my understanding that it would be a full, bars-on-the-window liquor store," Lanzotti said.

If that had been true, Lanzotti said, that would have given the council latitude to deny the request. The property is zoned for mixed uses, but it is primarily for single-family homes. That does allow some commercial uses with a special-use permit. Ganix, an organics food store, had been a nonconforming use in that residential zone.

A recent change to the zoning code extends the special-use permit for nine months after it's vacated if the new business is substantially similar to the previous one. Lanzotti said if Cape Mart was going to be strictly a liquor store, the council would be able to legally deny the request.

After having a conversation with Glaus, he doesn't believe the differences are significant enough to deny the request.

"I think we have to, as a ministerial act, approve the application," Lanzotti said.

A ministerial act, in this case, means the council is legally obligated to grant the license because Faisal's application follows the city's established procedures and protocols. The Cape Girardeau Police Department has recommended approval from the start because Faisal passed all background checks and his Main Street location only had one minor infraction within the past 12 months.

"I don't see that there's any wiggle room," Lanzotti said. "Just because he has a cooler with some beer in it doesn't make it a bad place. Having something in that building is better than having it sit empty."

Other council members, including Mayor Harry Rediger, said they did not know how they would vote until they gathered more information Monday.

After hearing about Faisal's plans for a convenience store, Langlois, however, remained unconvinced.

"That's not what his stores have been in the past," he said. "I don't believe that. We'll be there to fight it."

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent Address:

238 N. Fountain St., Cape Girardeau, MO

Mason Street and Main Street, Cape Girardeau, MO