Time may be running out for Cedar Rapids liquor store

The 11-month run of a liquor store that drew objections in the Wellington Heights neighborhood may be coming to an end.

On Thursday, the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division upheld the substance of a Cedar Rapids City Council decision and a state administration law judge's ruling and rescinded the liquor license of Liquor and Tobacco Point, 1545 First Ave. SE.

Lynn Walding, the agency's executive director, said on Thursday the establishment has 30 days to seek a review in state district court of the agency's decision. Walding said the store can remain open during that time. However, he doubted the agency would grant a stay of its ruling after the 30 days while a judicial review was pending. A judge could grant such a stay, but Walding said that's not routine.

Rabbani Wahidy, the store's owner, who also owns a similar store in Cedar Falls, said he will appeal the decision to district court. He said he will close the Cedar Rapids store if ordered to do so pending a court decision.

“I don't want to break any law,” Wahidy said.

Wahidy said his store, on the boundary between the Wellington Heights and Mound View neighborhoods, has been a success. It's in the same block as a police substation that is slated to open at 1501 First Ave. SE.

Joe Zito, the Wellington Heights neighbor who first raised objections to the store, said Thursday that closing it would be victory for the neighborhood's quality of life.

Zito objected to the store because he said the neighborhood already had enough places that sold liquor. In the time the store has been open, he did not see it as a success. In his view, people loitered outside the store, doing little to enhance the image of the neighborhood.

The Alcoholic Beverages Division's review of Liquor and Tobacco Point's license began when the City Council revoked the license Oct. 8, after Zito and others in Wellington Heights pointed out that the location violated city law because it was within 300 feet of a church.

The Police Department, which had reviewed Liquor and Tobacco Point's application for a license, had given the store the go-ahead in August 2008, not noticing that it was too close to the storefront Mission of Hope church.

“Simply put, a mistake was made,” Walding wrote in his ruling.

Walding's decision rescinds the license rather than revoking it, a nuance that will allow the store to reapply should the church move.

Zito said he has talked to state Sen. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, to see if some steps can be taken to shorten the time between when a local jurisdiction revokes a liquor license and the state reviews the matter.