Ocala City Council rejects Spot On Liquors application

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Ocala City Council members delivered a swift and unanimous denial at a Nov. 18 meeting to Spot On Liquors’ request to sell beer, wine and liquor at its 1500 W. Silver Springs Blvd. location. The site is in the same strip shopping center on the edge of West Ocala that council rejected in June 2021.

The 5-0 vote came after more than 20 residents who live near the proposed plaza location urged the council to vote “no.” The applicant’s attorney told the council his client met all the necessary criteria for approval, but the council’s denial rests on city code that lets them block alcohol sales when they’re too close to churches, schools, parks or homes and could bring more litter, noise or trouble.

Endira Madraveren, the chief planning official for the city’s Growth Management Department, told the council, “The applicant, Spot On Liquors, is requesting a new alcoholic beverage location permit to sell beer, wine and liquor for off premise consumption. They’re proposing a 1,700-square-foot liquor store with no seats, four employees and utilizing 12 of the existing parking spaces.

“Staff did recommend approval,” she said, “but we find it necessary to inform council that a similar alcoholic beverage license permit was denied back by council on June 1, 2021. Minutes from that meeting indicate that there were a number of citizens who spoke out in opposition of this permit and it was ultimately denied.”

Residents reminded the council that neighborhood children walk past the plaza to the E. D. Croskey Recreation Center, Howard Academy, the Boys & Girls Club and two churches within 760 to 800 feet. They also shared raw stories about violence and loss they linked to alcohol abuse.

Barbara Brooks, Ph.D., president of RAMAL Educational and Social Services, said the area doesn’t need another place selling booze.

“We live in an area that’s a food desert, a financial desert, and here’s someone asking to put up a liquor store,” she said. “If we agree with something like this, we will become like so many cities where predominantly Black people live, poor people, and you have liquor stores on every corner. We don’t want the image. We don’t want this for our kids. We don’t want this for our churches. We do not want this in our community.

“We just think it’s a bad idea,” Brooks continued. “It is just not a place that we would consider to be something that’s uplifting for our community. We, and many of us, have been trying for decades to uplift that community, to redevelop it, to revitalize it and this is not keeping up with what we’ve been doing for all these decades. We ask that you please deny this.

“We just found out about this. So many of the people I contacted, they have the same feelings. They’re not here tonight because they work or the short notice and they have other plans. But believe me, there are many more people than myself or people who may be here tonight who asked you to please deny this. In essence, what I’m saying is, please help us to develop our community,” she said.

Shatara Taylor, a former city of Ocala employee and former recreation leader at the E. D. Croskey Recreation Center, said the establishment would not be a good idea.

Taylor recounted an incident where she claimed her father was hit in the head with a hammer by someone in the same vicinity where the proposed liquor store would operate.

“The damages that that caused were detrimental to him,” she said. “He has now passed away. I’m not going to specifically blame it on alcohol, but I’m pretty sure that played a part. My father at that time was not on alcohol or anything, but someone who was partaking in that caused him harm, which potentially led to his health failure and death. Also, as a community member that’s about to get a brand-new home that you all are about to sponsor over $150,000 for, I do not want that in my neighborhood. I have children and grandchildren on the way. We all have children and family members in that neighborhood who are in objection to it.

“If you all are going to propose something in that neighborhood, put our West Ocala resource center back, put things of nature in our neighborhood that we can utilize. A liquor store is not going to be beneficial to me or anybody else on the west side of Ocala. To have that in the middle of our neighborhood, it’s not going to benefit any of us. No jobs are going to be available for any of us who look or talk like me. It’s not going to be a benefit to us, so that’s not something that we need,” she continued.

Willie Rogers addressed council members to question what the liquor store would promote for kids in the area.

“I stay right in front of the Boys and Girls Club. That’s probably the only thing we have right now that’s good for us in our community, everything else, I really don’t see anything good for it. What does a liquor store promote? Our kids walk down the roads. Most of our kids walk to school; most of our kids walk to the bus stop. So, when they walk with it, they see people hanging out, they see people with trash around them. They see people up there drunk. They see people driving away drunk. Putting that there is nonsense. Why not build our community up by putting more things that’s going to promote growth in our community, because that’s not going to build growth,” Rogers said.

Latasha Long said she opposes bringing a liquor store into the neighborhood because it is already a high-crime area.

“Like many others have said, we have a few churches right there on the corners. We have children, we have the bus stops, we have the schools. And I think by putting a liquor store into an already high-crime area, it’s going to add more crime, more craziness, drugs, which is already everywhere, and a lot more accidents and fatal tragedies. So, I oppose it,” Long said.

Jason Tolbert cited an FBI statistic in his plea for the city council to vote “no.”

“Statistically speaking, the FBI says that 40% of all violent crimes in America are committed by those under the influence of alcohol of some sort or another. I would ask you to vote no on this, not only this, but any future liquor license within the city of Ocala. It’s a powerful tool for the devil to degrade our integrity, our morals and our character across the board,” Tolbert said.

After the residents finished, Zarian Shikarporia, co-owner of the liquor store, stepped up.

Shikarporia runs 14th Street Liquor on the northeast side of Ocala with a spotless record of zero alcohol-related incidents in five years, according to Marion County Sheriff’s Office reports he submitted. He promised the new store would hire people from the west side, said that he pours money into cameras and security, and that he hands over footage to the Ocala Police Department the moment they ask.

He also pointed out that the convenience store right next door already sells beer and wine.

“Stores already over there have alcohol permissions, but that alcohol is beer and other stuff,” Shikarporia said.

“I understand people can get high and cause problems, but that’s why the bottle says, ‘Drink responsibly,’” he continued.

He finished by noting that retail giants like Walmart and Sam’s Club are crushing small family stores like his.

James Tarquin, a local attorney who has lived in Ocala for more than 30 and is representing the applicant, told the council members he found parts of the public testimony “very concerning,” particularly repeated references to the “Black community” and claims that the store would not hire people who “look and talk like us.”

“As this council knows, there are very specific rules and ordinances that apply to such an application,” he said.

Tarquin pointed out that city ordinance requires “competent evidence” showing a nexus between alcohol sales and increased crime before a permit can be denied on public safety grounds.

“There’s been no evidence of that,” he said.

He also noted that more than 90 people had signed a petition either supporting the new store or registering no opposition and reminded council members the city has lost similar lawsuits in the past.

“(The applicants) have met all the criteria,” he concluded. “It would be illegal to deny the application… it could be on a temporary basis so that if those concerns reared their head, it could be revoked. But with half a decade of responsible operation, I think it should be a very easy decision.”

None of what Tarquin stated swayed the council.

Councilman James Hilty said he was not on the fence at all.

“I think one of the earlier people hit the nail on the head when they said that that’s a food desert in that area. We’ve all known this for years. It’s a financial desert also, with the close proximity of the E. D. Croskey Center and all that goes on there with the schools and churches, I just don’t think there’s a need for that type of business in that area and it doesn’t promote what the city is trying to do with having a safe place environment for our neighborhoods,” Hilty said.

“We’ve worked hard to make sure that that area is safe. There’s a lot of things going on there that bring all kinds of people there,” he continued.

“I looked at the police activity. It wasn’t really violent activity or anything of that nature, but still, there was a lot of activity in that particular area where people were calling for help or police officers were stopping other people. So, in my mind, it’s just not the right location for it,” he concluded.

Mayor Ben Marciano was blunt in his opposition.

“If I could veto this, I would,” he said. “Why add another one when we’re trying to build West Ocala up and make it healthier for the people who live there? What’s right is to not pass this tonight.”