A BP gas station on Hunt Club Road will be allowed to sell beer and wine after the village of Gurnee approved its first-ever liquor license for a gas station Monday.
Prior to this year, gas stations within the village’s boundaries were not eligible to apply for such licenses.
In March, the board approved an ordinance that would allow gas stations to sell alcohol, in a vote that split the six-person board. Mayor Tom Hood voted to approve the ordinance, which gives strict requirements for gas stations to be eligible for a liquor license.
Monday’s vote was not unanimous. Village trustees Greg Garner and Cheryl Ross both voted against the ordinance, and Trustees Quin O’Brien, Karen Thorstenson and Kevin Woodside voting for it. Trustee Jeanne Balmes was not in attendance. Because the majority was only decided by one vote, Village Attorney Bryan Winter said that Hood should also cast a vote. Hood voted with the majority.
“I’m uncomfortable with this,” Garner said before the vote. “In this case, I think we’re opening up the door, and we’re going to create a different identity for Gurnee. We have the community that we have because of what we’ve been doing, so I’m really careful about where we may be going. It’s going to change our community.”
Hood said that he was going to “agree to disagree” with Garner.
“Throughout the community, alcohol has been made readily available,” Hood said. “I have a difficult time trying to distinguish between a facility like this and Cardinal Liquors, or other places that are able to sell alcohol in town.”
The mayor also said that he hadn’t heard anything from the village’s police department that would indicate that gas stations selling beer and wine would lead to any problems.
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Village Administrator Patrick Muetz said that Gurnee received one email from a concerned resident before the meeting, and two more residents spoke up during the meeting after the liquor license was approved.
“In March, three of you voted against the change in the ordinance,” resident Art Stevens said. “Your worst nightmare at that point was that you were going to open up the ability of other businesses in Gurnee to apply for liquor licenses. This is your worst nightmare.”
The BP’s manager, Amin Khalid, said that he and the gas station’s owner, Dixit Patel, decided to apply for the liquor license to generate additional income to offset property taxes paid for the business, Khalid said.
According to the ordinance passed in January, gas stations that are interested in applying for a liquor license have to meet certain requirements to be considered eligible. The gas stations must also serve as a convenience store, and have a commercial kitchen on the property. The building also has to be 4,000 square feet or more to be eligible.
Currently, there are two gas stations in Gurnee that are eligible — the BP that was approved, and the Speedway on Grand Avenue. A Casey’s Fuel Station that’s being built on Hunt Club Road will also be eligible to receive a liquor license once it’s completed.
Under the ordinance, any gas stations approved for a liquor license can only sell alcohol from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m., and are only allowed to sell beer and wine. They’re only allowed to sell the alcohol within certain areas of the store, as well. Alcohol must be kept in a locked walk-in cooler that’s a maximum of 300 square feet that’s only accessible through swiping an electronic ID card.