After 11-month review, State of Iowa rescinds license of First Avenue SE liquor store that is too close to storefront church

An 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Division upheld the substance of a Cedar Rapids City Council decision and a state administration law judge's ruling and rescinded the liquor license of Liquor and Tobacco Point, 1545 First Ave.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 state agency's executive director, said on Thursday that the liquor establishment has 30 days to seek a review in state district court of the state agency's decision. Walding said the store can remain open during the 30-day period. However, he doubted the state 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 such judicial stays are not routine.

Rabbani Wahidy, the store's owner who also owns a similar store in Cedar Falls, said Thursday he will appeal the state agency's decision to state 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 Cedar Rapids store, which sits on what is the boundary between the Wellington Heights and Mound View neighborhoods, has been a success. The store is 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 the store would be victory for the neighborhood's quality of life.

Zito initially 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 state Alcohol Beverages Division's review of Liquor and Tobacco Point's liquor license was a lengthy one. It began when the Cedar Rapids City Council revoked the store's liquor license on Oct. 8, 2008, after Zito and others in the Wellington Heights Neighborhood pointed out that the store 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 liquor 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,” the state's Walding states in his ruling issued Thursday against the store.

Walding's decision rescinds the store's license rather than revoking it, a nuance that will allow the store to reapply for a new license at the First Avenue SE location 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 quicken the time when a local jurisdiction revokes a liquor license and the state reviews the matter.