BUENA PARK — Businesses on a particular stretch of Broadway currently can't serve or sell alcohol because it is a dry precinct, but community leaders are looking to change that.
"We're going to try to overturn that," said David Perry, a representative on the 46th Ward's Zoning and Development Committee, who added that he and other community leaders, including Ald. James Cappleman (46th), are doing it to "make sure the business district is unified."
The stretch in question is in Buena Park on the east side of Broadway from Belle Plaine Avenue to Buena Avenue, according to a city official. It is part of the 34th precinct.
Mina Bloom details how the area would become "wet" again:
Perry said the area became a dry precinct in the 1970s or '80s when "there were a lot of problems in the community." A city official corroborated, saying in order to make a precinct dry, the community has to vote on it.
But the designation "doesn't really make sense anymore," Perry said. He pointed to the fact that 7-Eleven at 4150 N. Broadway had to move across the street because it couldn't sell alcohol on the east side. He also said small theater company, Profiles Theatre, on Broadway might like to sell beer and wine.
In addition to making it easier for existing businesses to sell alcohol, overturning the designation would help attract new businesses to the area, he said. But Perry said they don't have any specific businesses in mind.
"There's no specific agenda — like we need to see A, B and C [businesses]," he said. "We just want to make it so new businesses want to come here."
Tressa Feher, Cappleman's chief of staff, said the alderman has been talking to business owners on Broadway, who would like to see a restaurant that sells alcohol open on the block.
While it's "on their radar," Perry said making the stretch of Broadway booze-friendly is far from becoming a reality. Feher called the plans "very preliminary."
That's because the group has to collect signatures in order to get a referendum placed on the next general election's ballot in 2016, according to a city official.
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